Winter Storm

The Inventory #4

by Andy Briggs

In the fourth book of this gripping series, the Inventory's final secrets are revealed. Having learned a troubling truth about himself in the Black Zone of the Inventory, Dev is called back into action to defend the world's greatest store of futuristic tech, and he'll need all the help he can get from his friends. Someone has stolen Winter Storm, a swarm of powerful biobots, and is using them to infect and control people! Who can be trusted now?

304 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2018

About the author

Andy is a screenwriter, graphic novelist, author and conservationist – writing on movie projects such as “JUDGE DREDD” and “FREDDY VS JASON” and “FOREVERMAN” for Paramount Pictures, Spiderman creator Stan Lee and legendary producer Robert Evans. He has worked on TV projects for Syfy, Netflix, ITV and Amazon and is working extensively between the UK, US and China.

Andy went on to work on Warner Bros.’ animated “AQUAMAN” – while at the same time landing an eight-book deal with Oxford University Press for “HERO.COM” and “VILLAIN.NET”. His comics and graphic novels include MADISON DARK, RITUAL and DINOCORPS.

He wrote and Executively Produced the UK/Chinese movie – LEGENDARY – starring Scott Adkins and Dolph Lungdren. In 2018 his latest movie, CROWHURST (directed by Simon Rumley, Dist. Studio Canal),was released this year to critical acclaim. SUPERVIZED (directed by Steve Barron, starring Tom Berenger, Beau Bridges )was released in 2019. In 2020 his latest theatric drama-documentary, THE BASTARD KING was release in France to huge critical acclaim.

He has rebooted the classic character TARZAN, with a series of contemporary books TARZAN: THE GREYSTOKE LEGACY, TARZAN: THE JUNGLE WARRIOR and TARZAN: THE SAVAGE LANDS. His latest series of middle grade novels – THE INVENTORY – and DRONE RACER – are published by Scholastic. 2019 saw his debut novel for adults, CTRL+S, published by Orion.

His latest venture, The Shingle Media, is a new production company that will make theatre, TV and film, and it already has an exciting slate of projects…

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Inventory series was a series I was late to, only really reading it ready for publication of the previous book in this series, so when I was asked to participate in the tour for the final book in the series, Winter Storm, I didn’t hesitate, and eagerly awaited the arrival of the book.

One of the main things I love about this series is the tech side to it, all of the gadgets and gizmos that were deemed unsafe or unfit for the population, but kept safe in storage away from unwanted hands. I look forward to seeing what new item we will hear about in each book, and Winter Storm was no exception. Onslow Winter has created Bio-Bots, a collection of small bots that work together, but what makes these different is that they can think for themselves, and adapt to changes and attack’s against them. But the bots are stolen by the Collector, and Dev and his team, the Scavangers, must find a way to retrieve the bio-bots and stop them from destroying everything. But the task wont be easy, and the team must learn how to work together, as well as part of a duo, to complete their mission.

Winter Storm takes the team on one big journey, as they travel not only around the world, but also beyond. I really liked seeing how this misfit team have really bonded with each other, even if initially there was some hostility. Seeing them go their own way and take on their own missions in order to stop the bots from destroying everything was new, it really showed their personalities and skills in a new light. Dev really comes out of his shell within the pages of Winter Storm, using his abilities for far more than I imagined he would have been able to do.  I loved seeing the ingenuity and ideas that the team come up with when put under pressure an left in difficult situations.

Winter Storm is a book that holds nothing back. We get to see some death defying leaps, ingenious ideas, old faces, and some surprising revelations, but make sure to arm yourself with tissues, especially as we say goodbye to characters that have become close to me in such a short space of time.


Final Verdict
This is a series I have really enjoyed, and although I am sad to see this world come to an end, it's been an amazing journey. Winter Storm has everything you could ever want for a finale and definitly ends this series with a bang.

[Ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm on the edge about whether this book was good or not.
While it kept it's trademark wicked pacing, and action packed scenes the characterisation slipped a lot. The coding also become glaring as Riya is the only one to consistently be put in danger AND suffer physical consequences, consequences not faced by any other of the leads who all happen to be white. Coincidence? Honestly, I bloody hope so.
There was also more blatant sexism which I've come to notice is always present in so-called 'boys' books. Which is stupid because this is the best place for feminism.
The twists were great as always, I don't know if Andy may be a genius in pulling the wool over his readers eyes to make for the big reveal or if I'm just stupid, either way I'm always surprised.
Hopefully, as the series continues the sexism and racist coding can fade out. Like seriously, have someone else have a broken bone instead of breaking three of Riya's. Have someone else get knocked out because the mission is suicidal and only Dev can do it, instead of 2/3 of the females of the ENTIRE cast. Or better yet have Dev COMMUNICATE that it's a literal suicide mission and everyone else has to sit tight. Bring on more supportive, platonic friendships amongst the crew, they've been through so much in such a short time they should be bonded for life now.

Am I asking too much from a middle-grade? Maybe from this series in particular but honestly, middle grade can step up its game. The genre is the first step into becoming a bookworm and it shapes the new generation more than anyone will ever realise. And I really think it could stand to become a little more progressive, to lead the new generation.

[FinlayClark (The Scottish Flapjack) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kind of enjoyed Winter Storm. It answered all the questions I had about it although I still think that Andy Briggs should do another series to link this one. Like "The Inventory Returns" or something like that. The one problem with this book is that the deaths weren't very emotional. It was just like "Tyker died. Ok. Moving on." The betrayals as well, didn't seem very dramatic.