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The Gunn Files #2
Overdose
People say, "Keep Austin Weird!" If only they knew.... Bounty hunter Anderson Gunn has had enough of this alien stuff. He can accept that offworlders live among us. He can even be friends with them. But that doesn't mean he wants to be involved in their affairs.So, naturally, it’s just his luck that when Gunn tries to go back to his normal life of collecting bail-jumpers and minding his business, the Gatekeeper - Austin’s kingpin of extraterrestrial commerce - offers him a job.Worse, after Gunn refuses to take the gig, his buddy Vinny winds up in a drug-induced coma. Is this Gatekeeper's dirty work? Or is there a new big ugly in town?One thing's for sure...Gunn's life won't be going back to normal any time soon. The Gunn Files series continues with Overdose, a rollicking sci-fi mystery filled with wonders and curiosities. If you've ever asked yourself what it would be like to have aliens living among us - or you're a fan of Men in Black, The X-Files, or Fringe - buy this book!
- GenresScience FictionFantasy
262 pages, Paperback
First published April 28, 2020
50 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
M.G. Herron
42 books95 followersM.G. Herron is the author of The Gunn Files, The Translocator Trilogy, and other stories of science fiction and fantasy.
His work is published both independently and through publishing houses such as Audible Studios and Aethon Books. Altogether Herron’s novels have sold tens of thousands of copies.
Based in sunny Austin, Texas, MG’s alter ego, Matt, works for a product design agency as a content strategist. He enjoys traveling with his wife and their dog, hiking, rock climbing, and making up stories.
Learn more at mgherron.com.
His work is published both independently and through publishing houses such as Audible Studios and Aethon Books. Altogether Herron’s novels have sold tens of thousands of copies.
Based in sunny Austin, Texas, MG’s alter ego, Matt, works for a product design agency as a content strategist. He enjoys traveling with his wife and their dog, hiking, rock climbing, and making up stories.
Learn more at mgherron.com.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 26, 2020
“The borrower is slave to the lender.”
“What made Earth such an attractive getaway destination?”
Love the cover! It’s very different from the ones I’m used to seeing lately. And I love the protagonist, he’s so down to earth, anti-hero type of person! I just can’t help myself but love him. Gunn is a fabulous bounty hunter! The narrative is so fluid, informal, witty and sarcastic that even during tension filled moments it always brought a smile on my face, constantly, with downright hilarious other moments. There are harrowing scenes, of splitting life-death, heart in mouth, action filled situations, the detective-style investigations, with lots of suspense and intrigue. The diversity of aliens is so immense and well described, it’s as if I already know them. Lol. I already have my favourites! It's a terrific blend of high-concept and wild action, all tied up together with tough-as-nails characters that you care for as they face impossible odds. What an unexpected surprise at the end! An exciting new take of bounty hunter/private investigator, kind of reminds of the 50s classic SciFi. I want to read Quantum Flare #3 now!
I received a complimentary copy from the publisher and my review is entirely voluntary.
“What made Earth such an attractive getaway destination?”
Love the cover! It’s very different from the ones I’m used to seeing lately. And I love the protagonist, he’s so down to earth, anti-hero type of person! I just can’t help myself but love him. Gunn is a fabulous bounty hunter! The narrative is so fluid, informal, witty and sarcastic that even during tension filled moments it always brought a smile on my face, constantly, with downright hilarious other moments. There are harrowing scenes, of splitting life-death, heart in mouth, action filled situations, the detective-style investigations, with lots of suspense and intrigue. The diversity of aliens is so immense and well described, it’s as if I already know them. Lol. I already have my favourites! It's a terrific blend of high-concept and wild action, all tied up together with tough-as-nails characters that you care for as they face impossible odds. What an unexpected surprise at the end! An exciting new take of bounty hunter/private investigator, kind of reminds of the 50s classic SciFi. I want to read Quantum Flare #3 now!
I received a complimentary copy from the publisher and my review is entirely voluntary.
April 28, 2020
What a story. Might be short, but definitely powerful. Love the main character and the plot. Can’t wait for the next.
August 8, 2020
In Book 1, Anderson Gunn, a Bounty Hunter and Skip Tracer, came to learn that Aliens were real, and that they were living on Earth, have been for some time, and even more surprising, his best friend Vinny, is actually one of them. In Book 1, Gunn helped 2 Peacekeepers, Dyna and Kilos, track and capture an alien fugitive called Elekatch, a dangerous Pharsei fugitive sent by a group called ‘The Tetrad’ to stir up trouble on Earth as a part of an ongoing intergalactic conflict.
Whilst capturing this fugitive, Gunn’s long time friend, Police Detective Sheila Gonzalez assisted Gunn in cleaning up the mess left. As a result, she is in a fair amount of trouble with her own Dept, and at the start of Book 2, we find her desk bound, relegated to lock-up, having lost her Detectives badge for now.
During Book 1, it became apparent that Gunn was in some financial difficulty, and his Boss and Friend, Alek Ludwig (Alek organises most of Gunn’s bail jumper jobs for him), organised for his Accountant Annabelle Summers to come help him with his books. Gunn has always had a huge crush on the stunning Annabelle, turning into a drooling idiot whenever she is around. However, during Book 1, several things happened with Annabelle, it was revealed she too had feelings for Gunn, she was captured and used as a hostage by Elekatch, and nearly killed, and it was revealed she has a dual identity, that of Marsha Marshall, who writes a blog about alien conspiracy theories, as well as other conspiracies, big foot, the JFK shooting, that sort of thing. Anna’s mind was wiped by the Peacekeepers to protect her after she was abducted by Elekatch.
In Book 2, life is continuing on for Gunn, the Peacekeepers have left, Dyna desperate to get help for a seriously injured Kilos, as well as dropping Elekatch into formal custody. Annabelle Summers continues to try and find out what happened to her, as she is now having nightmares, and losing sleep. Gunn is back to just normal jobs, no aliens, when he comes across a woman who has overdosed on something, something that is not only giving her weird physical symptoms, but is making her eyes glow fluorescent orange.
When the Gatekeeper – the Alien version of the Mob Boss – tries to get Gunn to investigate what is happening with these overdoses to avoid Peacekeeper interference, Gunn initially doesn’t want to be involved, until his friend Vinny is found in the same condition.
Gunn decides he has to follow up, but this time, he is on his own, with Gonzalez benched, Vinny in a coma, and Dyna and Kilos away on other Peacekeeper duties, he has no one to help him, that is, except for Annabelle Summers.
Together Gunn and Anna delve into the alien underworld, to try and discover where this drug, known as ‘Ora’ is coming from, and how it is being sold to humans.
This is a really fun and interesting story, as we get to see another aspect of the ‘Offworlder’s’, being introduced to Jel’Ka racing, Jel’Ka’s being Velociraptor type creatures with high intelligence, that are trained to ride a wheeled device around a track, so that they can get up to incredible speeds, all the while attacking each other with their razor sharp claws.
Jel’Ka are worth a fortune, and the betting on them is intense.
The world building in this book is again, absolutely outstanding, with so much creativity and such depth. There is a huge range of alien races, each with their own background, and unique culture, description, etc, making for an incredible array of species and a really fun read.
Added to this is just an exceptional cast of Characters. Gunn, whilst still the skip tracer with an attitude and a bit of a losing streak, has grown somewhat since book 1, the events of that first book having changed him. He views the world differently now that he knows that there is so much more than just his little planet in the universe. This book sees Annabelle get a lot more attention, and she is such a great character, intelligent, and brave, but at times, quite naïve, making her totally lovable. There is a variety of Aliens again, which I am not going to go into so I don’t give away spoilers, but the depth of these characters is exceptional, they are so well written.
Overall, this is just a great story, with a lot of humour, action, all wrapped in a clever mystery and thriller with a mixture of a kind of 1950s Detective Movie, crossed with Men in Black. The end result is just a fantastic read that leaves you wanting more – can’t wait for part 3.
Whilst capturing this fugitive, Gunn’s long time friend, Police Detective Sheila Gonzalez assisted Gunn in cleaning up the mess left. As a result, she is in a fair amount of trouble with her own Dept, and at the start of Book 2, we find her desk bound, relegated to lock-up, having lost her Detectives badge for now.
During Book 1, it became apparent that Gunn was in some financial difficulty, and his Boss and Friend, Alek Ludwig (Alek organises most of Gunn’s bail jumper jobs for him), organised for his Accountant Annabelle Summers to come help him with his books. Gunn has always had a huge crush on the stunning Annabelle, turning into a drooling idiot whenever she is around. However, during Book 1, several things happened with Annabelle, it was revealed she too had feelings for Gunn, she was captured and used as a hostage by Elekatch, and nearly killed, and it was revealed she has a dual identity, that of Marsha Marshall, who writes a blog about alien conspiracy theories, as well as other conspiracies, big foot, the JFK shooting, that sort of thing. Anna’s mind was wiped by the Peacekeepers to protect her after she was abducted by Elekatch.
In Book 2, life is continuing on for Gunn, the Peacekeepers have left, Dyna desperate to get help for a seriously injured Kilos, as well as dropping Elekatch into formal custody. Annabelle Summers continues to try and find out what happened to her, as she is now having nightmares, and losing sleep. Gunn is back to just normal jobs, no aliens, when he comes across a woman who has overdosed on something, something that is not only giving her weird physical symptoms, but is making her eyes glow fluorescent orange.
When the Gatekeeper – the Alien version of the Mob Boss – tries to get Gunn to investigate what is happening with these overdoses to avoid Peacekeeper interference, Gunn initially doesn’t want to be involved, until his friend Vinny is found in the same condition.
Gunn decides he has to follow up, but this time, he is on his own, with Gonzalez benched, Vinny in a coma, and Dyna and Kilos away on other Peacekeeper duties, he has no one to help him, that is, except for Annabelle Summers.
Together Gunn and Anna delve into the alien underworld, to try and discover where this drug, known as ‘Ora’ is coming from, and how it is being sold to humans.
This is a really fun and interesting story, as we get to see another aspect of the ‘Offworlder’s’, being introduced to Jel’Ka racing, Jel’Ka’s being Velociraptor type creatures with high intelligence, that are trained to ride a wheeled device around a track, so that they can get up to incredible speeds, all the while attacking each other with their razor sharp claws.
Jel’Ka are worth a fortune, and the betting on them is intense.
The world building in this book is again, absolutely outstanding, with so much creativity and such depth. There is a huge range of alien races, each with their own background, and unique culture, description, etc, making for an incredible array of species and a really fun read.
Added to this is just an exceptional cast of Characters. Gunn, whilst still the skip tracer with an attitude and a bit of a losing streak, has grown somewhat since book 1, the events of that first book having changed him. He views the world differently now that he knows that there is so much more than just his little planet in the universe. This book sees Annabelle get a lot more attention, and she is such a great character, intelligent, and brave, but at times, quite naïve, making her totally lovable. There is a variety of Aliens again, which I am not going to go into so I don’t give away spoilers, but the depth of these characters is exceptional, they are so well written.
Overall, this is just a great story, with a lot of humour, action, all wrapped in a clever mystery and thriller with a mixture of a kind of 1950s Detective Movie, crossed with Men in Black. The end result is just a fantastic read that leaves you wanting more – can’t wait for part 3.
May 28, 2020
REVIEW IS VALID FOR THE TRILOGY!!
OK, here goes:
Part 1 - "Culture Shock"
Read this a few weeks back and REALLY enjoyed it. At the time it struck me as being pretty heavily "MIB"-like but with good action and characters. Well worth the read and made me really look forward to parts 2 and 3, which I was going to wait on until the last book came out so I could read them together.
Well, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum... for some reason, when I tried to return this Kindle Unlimited offer back to amazon, well, they left it on my device. No worries, right, it's not like Bezos can't afford to give me a free book. But with that in mind I read it again AND ENJOYED IT EVEN MORE! So I'll be going back to not update my review per se except to raise the ranking to a solid 4-stars, up from the 3 1/2 I previously gave it. Good fun!
Part 2 - "Overdose"
4+ stars rating. Easily the best book of the trilogy and I was glad that we got away from most of the more obvious popular culture references. Still, there was a good sprinkling of not only MIB again but also Star Wars and especially Jurassic Park. No worries there Chewy, it was all in good fun (and much less egregiously handled than the Yoda bits in part 3). The great thing about book 2, however, is that the characters - now sans Intergalatic Peacekeepers - really come into their own. Our main protagonist, "Andy" Gunn turns out to be a really decent detective and true heroic figure. The mystery element involved including the new settings go a long way to making this a damn fine read. Again, its well-written, fast paced, funny when it needs to be and stays on point. I mentioned in my last review that I've read more than a few fantasy-mystery-detective books in my days, but this one really nailed it in terms of balancing all those elements. Needless to say I was glad I waited for part 3 to be in hand because I started that immediately.
Part 3 - "Quantum Flare"
3+ stars. A good but not a great ending to the trilogy but lacked the clear WOW moment I was looking for (think the final scene in the 'Bobiverse' by Dennis E. Taylor in terms of how that war end). Yes, there were a lot of elements in play here, however, not all of them worked for me and not all of them were satisfactorily wrapped up either. Book 3 is a noticeably darker book in many ways, what with elements like PTSD and even fatal gun battles included. There were also some grammatical errors that made my eyes twitch as well as some editing oversights (there's one point where Herron mentions 5 people in a room but even with the AI being counted there's at max 4).
Still, the book is really really good! I'm just sorry we didn't make a commitment one way or another to either having the Peacekeeper (singular, no spoilers) involved or completely left out. As it was, that aspect in particular was lacking in substance, even if part of the exercise is obviously to leave the reader with the real feeling of ambiguity about the whole 'goodness' of the Federation. Also, the weird 'infinity' house was just borderline way too bizarre for comfort, as well as the kind of half-assed scheme the Tetrad launched towards the end. Both could have contributed a lot more than they did. Oh well. Like I said, I was looking for more of an 'Independence Day' big bang and not just a chaotic free-for-all with a bunch of conspiracy enthusiasts crowding around and a final 'gee golly aren't we swell' final fadeout.
Bottom line though is that THE SUM OF THE PARTS IS BETTER THAN yada yada yada. This is a trilogy well worth your time - which I'd rate a solid 4 overall - particularly if you love scifi with good, even subtle humor and don't mind single-sitting tales. This was very entertaining and I'm really and truly glad I read all 3 books together! And if Herron has more planned, well, sign me up because they'd be fun to read, too!
OK, here goes:
Part 1 - "Culture Shock"
Read this a few weeks back and REALLY enjoyed it. At the time it struck me as being pretty heavily "MIB"-like but with good action and characters. Well worth the read and made me really look forward to parts 2 and 3, which I was going to wait on until the last book came out so I could read them together.
Well, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum... for some reason, when I tried to return this Kindle Unlimited offer back to amazon, well, they left it on my device. No worries, right, it's not like Bezos can't afford to give me a free book. But with that in mind I read it again AND ENJOYED IT EVEN MORE! So I'll be going back to not update my review per se except to raise the ranking to a solid 4-stars, up from the 3 1/2 I previously gave it. Good fun!
Part 2 - "Overdose"
4+ stars rating. Easily the best book of the trilogy and I was glad that we got away from most of the more obvious popular culture references. Still, there was a good sprinkling of not only MIB again but also Star Wars and especially Jurassic Park. No worries there Chewy, it was all in good fun (and much less egregiously handled than the Yoda bits in part 3). The great thing about book 2, however, is that the characters - now sans Intergalatic Peacekeepers - really come into their own. Our main protagonist, "Andy" Gunn turns out to be a really decent detective and true heroic figure. The mystery element involved including the new settings go a long way to making this a damn fine read. Again, its well-written, fast paced, funny when it needs to be and stays on point. I mentioned in my last review that I've read more than a few fantasy-mystery-detective books in my days, but this one really nailed it in terms of balancing all those elements. Needless to say I was glad I waited for part 3 to be in hand because I started that immediately.
Part 3 - "Quantum Flare"
3+ stars. A good but not a great ending to the trilogy but lacked the clear WOW moment I was looking for (think the final scene in the 'Bobiverse' by Dennis E. Taylor in terms of how that war end). Yes, there were a lot of elements in play here, however, not all of them worked for me and not all of them were satisfactorily wrapped up either. Book 3 is a noticeably darker book in many ways, what with elements like PTSD and even fatal gun battles included. There were also some grammatical errors that made my eyes twitch as well as some editing oversights (there's one point where Herron mentions 5 people in a room but even with the AI being counted there's at max 4).
Still, the book is really really good! I'm just sorry we didn't make a commitment one way or another to either having the Peacekeeper (singular, no spoilers) involved or completely left out. As it was, that aspect in particular was lacking in substance, even if part of the exercise is obviously to leave the reader with the real feeling of ambiguity about the whole 'goodness' of the Federation. Also, the weird 'infinity' house was just borderline way too bizarre for comfort, as well as the kind of half-assed scheme the Tetrad launched towards the end. Both could have contributed a lot more than they did. Oh well. Like I said, I was looking for more of an 'Independence Day' big bang and not just a chaotic free-for-all with a bunch of conspiracy enthusiasts crowding around and a final 'gee golly aren't we swell' final fadeout.
Bottom line though is that THE SUM OF THE PARTS IS BETTER THAN yada yada yada. This is a trilogy well worth your time - which I'd rate a solid 4 overall - particularly if you love scifi with good, even subtle humor and don't mind single-sitting tales. This was very entertaining and I'm really and truly glad I read all 3 books together! And if Herron has more planned, well, sign me up because they'd be fun to read, too!
April 29, 2020
"OMG! I LOVED this book so very much! I mean, the story telling went next level with this installment. The fight scenes were so detailed and (I know a pet peeve of mine overall) did NOT clout out the actual story with tech "stuff" (over describing alien tech). The introduction of new characters who could be bad or not (you'll find out when you read this), was very twisty (as in I thought they were bit players). Brining Anna back into the loop and really showing ...
June 9, 2020
"Overdose", by M.G. Herron, is the second in the Gunn series.
Andy Gunn is a bounty hunter for a bail bondsman who has troubles enough without discovering that Austin, TX is a hotbed for alien activity and the possible target for an interstellar rebellion. A nicely crafted mystery that weaves scifi and detective work seamlessly into an entertaining novel. It is a good read for a rainy afternoon on the deck or a sunny one at the beach.
Andy Gunn is a bounty hunter for a bail bondsman who has troubles enough without discovering that Austin, TX is a hotbed for alien activity and the possible target for an interstellar rebellion. A nicely crafted mystery that weaves scifi and detective work seamlessly into an entertaining novel. It is a good read for a rainy afternoon on the deck or a sunny one at the beach.
May 26, 2020
I got hooked on M.G. Herron’s The Gunn Files on reading it’s first book, Culture Shock (separately reviewed). Now, in Overdose (Book 2), bounty hunter Anderson Gunn is back and the ante is definitely upped in this crazy mashup of X-Files / MiB sci-fi and mystery. Wonderfully written, this exciting adrenaline rush of a tale is totally fun - and totally (highly) recommended.
July 5, 2020
The Gunn Files is Awesome!
The Gunn Files series continues to satisfy my need for ORIGINAL, and well thought out plots, with very believable characters! If you enjoyed reading SciFi from the Golden Age, or authors like C J Cherryh, you will love this series! Time for me to move on to book 3!
The Gunn Files series continues to satisfy my need for ORIGINAL, and well thought out plots, with very believable characters! If you enjoyed reading SciFi from the Golden Age, or authors like C J Cherryh, you will love this series! Time for me to move on to book 3!
November 1, 2020
If you like the first one, enjoy.
Reads like an old-fashioned detective story, but with aliens on Earth and an interstellar war brewing in the background. The characters are interesting, the story was interesting, overall it was worth reading.
There are a few technical problems in the text, but I'm not dinging the author for that. That's poor performance on whoever edited it.
Reads like an old-fashioned detective story, but with aliens on Earth and an interstellar war brewing in the background. The characters are interesting, the story was interesting, overall it was worth reading.
There are a few technical problems in the text, but I'm not dinging the author for that. That's poor performance on whoever edited it.
April 29, 2020
The Austin gang is back!
Drugs, aliens, and humans what could go wrong? Anderson Gunn , a bail jumper bounty hunter, travels a twisted road of clues - who’s bringing in an off world drug? And weirdly, Anderson finds love too!
Waiting impatiently for the next adventure!!
Drugs, aliens, and humans what could go wrong? Anderson Gunn , a bail jumper bounty hunter, travels a twisted road of clues - who’s bringing in an off world drug? And weirdly, Anderson finds love too!
Waiting impatiently for the next adventure!!
May 1, 2020
If you like your books with a lot of aliens, mystery, a bounty hunter and a futuristic arena death racing then you will love this book. It was not at all what I expected so it was a nice surprise. Aliens on Earth that changed to look like humans made this an enjoyable read.
May 3, 2020
Outstanding!
MG Herron writes a terrific book! Storyline and editing are fantastic. Some Indie authors tend to be so hurried to get on the market that they have dozens of auto-correct errors. Not so with this author. Concise, to the point, and so entertaining.
MG Herron writes a terrific book! Storyline and editing are fantastic. Some Indie authors tend to be so hurried to get on the market that they have dozens of auto-correct errors. Not so with this author. Concise, to the point, and so entertaining.
May 22, 2020
Another fun romp in an MIB/Star Wars esk setting. The characters that I enjoyed in the first book were every bit as fun in this one and their relationships are getting fleshed out as well.
There was an enjoyable mystery, lots of action and promise of more fun to come.
There was an enjoyable mystery, lots of action and promise of more fun to come.
August 19, 2020
Better than book one
I think it's hard to say at at times books are better than the first one you like of a writer, but it's true here. The world building continues slowly and the humour increased.looking forward to book 3
I think it's hard to say at at times books are better than the first one you like of a writer, but it's true here. The world building continues slowly and the humour increased.looking forward to book 3
October 24, 2024
Fun sci-fi read - fast adventure, some humor and action
I breezed through book 1 and found I wanted to get book 2. It was also fast and entertaining. Herron’s Gunn series are a good read.
I breezed through book 1 and found I wanted to get book 2. It was also fast and entertaining. Herron’s Gunn series are a good read.
April 30, 2020
A bounty hunter in a world where humans share earth with off-worlders. Written with imagination and creativity. M.G. Herron continues The Gunn Files with this entertaining read.
May 22, 2020
No where near as enjoyable as the first, but not bad, not bad at all. Will definitely give the 3rd installment a go.
September 30, 2020
Great Series
First two books were terrific.. Characters are engaging. The storyline of aliens living among is is almost believable. Lots of action. Hard to put down.
First two books were terrific.. Characters are engaging. The storyline of aliens living among is is almost believable. Lots of action. Hard to put down.
December 19, 2020
A very enjoyable read, reminiscent of scifi I read in my youth. But funnier! This author has great ideas, writes with a light touch, and paints great characters. I like the way it is set in a real place, and may make you want to peer down darkened alleyways if you ever visit.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews