Deathstroke

by Richard Kelley

*After watching the movie Jaws, you stayed out of the water. *

*After reading Deathstroke, you'll stay out of the forest.*

"Hurry! It's coming!" A desperate young mother shoves her infant son deep into a crevice between two logs. Will her baby survive? Will anyone? "Hurry! It's coming!"

That scene, and the hundreds of others like it, are everything Algar Kersek could have hoped for. The alien general has traveled deep into the Sonora desert to be present for the recording of the memories of a dying human. Dr. John Richardson is the last surviving witness to the horrors of a Prosian Deathstroke. His memories of the event will be captured on a crystal, there to be copied and distributed to every corner of the Empire. It is the most eagerly awaited crystal in history. The sights, the sounds, even the sense of touch will soon be available for every Prosian to experience for himself. For the first time, everyone will know what it was like to face the Gorgoth, the ultimate weapon of mass destruction.

As the recorder's probe burrows deep into Richardson's mind, the terrifying flow of his memories shows how an unsuspecting world was plunged into a desperate struggle for survival. In that struggle, the very soul of humanity is laid bare. Deathstroke is a chronicle of humanity's darkest hour. So, too, is it the story of mankind's finest.

But above all, Deathstroke is a warning. It is an allegory of an approaching world brought on by an exploding population utterly addicted to carbon: storms of unprecedented violence, lethal viruses, and most of all, a species that devours everything in its path. Do we not see the coming reality? Will we act in time? Deathstroke can be our call to action, or it can be our epitaph.

476 pages, Paperback

First published February 19, 2013

Reviews

[Stacinator · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book manages to engage and embrace multiple modern sciences (genetics, virology, microbiology, geology, climatology, physiology, zoology, etc.) without minimizing them. Furthermore, it does it without demonizing faith traditions. At the same time, it sets a stage of mythic proportions with an apocalyptic event that is as clever as it is horrifying. Unfortunately, there are way too many separate instances of , while the ending is painfully lacking.

3.5⭐️

trigger warnings: murder, gore, extreme violence, child death, pet death, spouse death, massacre, apocalypse.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

My parents brought me this book from the Kalaloch on the Olympic Peninsula. Apparently, it had been written in the lobby they had been staying at. It reads very well and has an inventive storyline. The suspense wasn't as good as in Scott Smith's The Ruins - and I, unfortunately, never got a very good investment in the main characters emotionally.

Still, I found it an enjoyable read and would recommend it.

[Paul Doke · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little slow at the start, strong for the most part throughout and a disappointing ending. Would have been a 3.75 if we could do fractional stars

[T.J. Sullivan]

Yeah this book is overly detailed in some areas and disconnected and not organized trying to make a coherent story. it's like the main character watched an Army recruitment commercial while at a youth ministry cult party thinking gender roles and dumb Christian "values" thinking he is soldiers gentlemen. yeah this book is zero stars. it could have had potential but the book is so scattered and so dumb while world is under attack planning on dumb stuff. The Bible is so fake he tries to use it like its a scientific text.

[Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A different take on Alien invation. A Must Read!

[Micowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A co-worker asked me to read this book and I was a little skeptical at first but there was no need to fear. This book makes you think long and hard about the things we are doing to the world we live in and how ones faith can pull you through the most hopeless times. Excellent read. When you finish the book you will want to re-read it.

[Jennifer Kennelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really disturbing book, but strangely, I liked it. Maybe it's because I sat next to the author on a plane. I can see this become a movie.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you liked this book, you should read Paradigm Shift, by Harry S Franklin.