Not your average post-apocalyptic tale

Push Back is the second book in an ongoing series of books written by R.E. McDermott and narrated by Kevin Pierce. The book is not your typical post-apocalyptic story, but that does not mean is lacks excitement or action; not at all. Mr. McDermott knits a very believable and compelling story of just how quickly society, as we know it today, devolves into a survival of the fittest mentality. The story continues where the first book in the series left off; “Under a Tell Tale Sky”. The author does include a rather brief prequel section to bring people up to speed on previous event, however this is more to remind those who read the first book awhile back of what happened. I would highly recommend anyone interested in this book to read the first book in the series before attempting to jump this one.

Book two picks up right where book one left off. The reader is placed about 25 days after a large solar storm impacts North America and the rest of the world. This global disaster illustrates how dedicated we all are to having electricity. One quickly sees how the things that we worry about day in and day out no longer matter when faced with a disaster situation. When our normal comforts are no longer available, the world quickly devolves into a survival of the fittest attitude. The book does not focus on the earlier storm nor much of the other parts of the world, but instead follows a band of characters trying to right the many wrongs while needing to staying alive. The book includes survival, political corruption, gang violence, and escaped convicts, and intrigue. It is an adventure thriller at its core. This book seemed to be bigger, having more action, and more in-depth than the previous one.

I have to give credit for the excellent research and time taken to make the book feel real. There was never a time that I had to suspend belief because all the proposed situations are plausible. Not only does the author come across as a knowledgeable seaman (his background), but also a trapper, weapons expert, evasion specialist, and so much more. In one setting the characters improvised making a powerful weapon using soda cans for ammo. I enjoyed all of these along with the detailed explanation of the many nautical occurrences. Sometimes it was the little attention to detail that caught my attention while reading the book. One such situation was the focus on HAM radio communications and how it was leveraged during the disaster for both good and bad. There was also a focus on the importance of oil for lubricant and not only gasoline as with other stories in this genre. The author drew a fine line by also including points of humor to help release the book’s built up tension at very strategic points.

I will say that this book is no way intended for younger audiences. There is use of both vulgar and sexual language peppered throughout the story. It is not excessive, but not easily ignored. There were a few places where the book contained quite vivid and graphic violence, often caused to others by a weapon. There are points where the book describes sex or sexual situations; some implied violence. Events nearing on rape are included in this story. Again, none of this would be unexpected in a post-apocalyptic world. It is used more to show how quickly mankind devolves into a near animal status when given the choice.

Let me turn to the audio narration by Mr. Pierce. He has already narrated nearly ninety books on Audible, at the writing of this review. I do not question his ability to tell a great story and it seems others would agree. All of his Audible pieces are rated either four or five stars for performance; and I can say that he did an exceptional job narrating this book. From a more personal perspective, I like more characterized narration in my audiobooks than a narration using a single voice. At times I had to go back and listen to make sure who was saying what or why as I missed the transition to a different character. I would rather a narrator read this way than to try to read using different character voices and fail in the process. Again, more a personal choice on my part.

The audio itself was clean, clear, and professionally done. No extraneous background noise or other audio artifacts were observed while listening to the book. I would recommend Mr. Pierce’s work if they are all like this one. I can say that I did enjoy his work in both this book and the first in the series. I know this not an easy thing for a narrator to always get correct, and I’m only mentioning it for those who it matters. Mr. Pierce does mispronounce one of the towns in Massachusetts a couple of times. Being one from Massachusetts myself, I understand how easy it can be. The narrator does pronounce the word as it is written; but it is really slightly different when spoken in the state.

Disclaimer: This book was provided to the reviewer at no charge by the author, narrator, or publisher in exchange for posting a non-bias review.

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1 person found this helpful

Thrilling

I very much enjoyed this book, I like the Author, I like the narrator, and i Like this genre. McDermott delivers!

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Awesome author, narrator, and story listen.

If you could sum up Push Back in three words, what would they be?

Exciting, Believable, Twists

What did you like best about this story?

I love the research that makes this book amazingly believable. It has good background as well as showing how society would break down during this type of distaster. There's always someone wanting power and those that are trying to stay alive.

What about Kevin Pierce’s performance did you like?

I absolutely love Kevin Pierce. I try to listen to anything he narrates. He's awesome.

Any additional comments?

This is just a great series, I know I have to wait for the next book. I will be impatiently patiently waiting. I absolutely love this author and narrator. Keep up the good work.

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Can't wait for the next.

Can't wait for the next.

Kevin Pierce is fantastic. I search for books that Kevin Pearce is narrating and choose from there. I listen to many many books of his. Always spot-on.

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A solid second book

I loved the first book and was really waiting for the second book to come out. The plot is very realistic and the characters very believable. In lots of ways it is as good as the first book (which was very very good), but I did not enjoy the second book as much.

My biggest problem was the sex in the book. I'm not sure that the sex scenes really made the book better as I was not expecting them as the first book didn't go that way.

The narration was excellent again and I did enjoy almost all of the book.

I was given a copy of the book to review by the author in exchange for an unbiased review.

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3 people found this helpful

great story line with good characters to follow.

I'll be looking for the next book. being that the story has potential to go in any direction. with the new president in office now I can see this story going global

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Good Second Book

Parts are excellent. But I don't get why the Pecos Trader doesn't just leave Beaumont?

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The author writes amazing books

The author is a amazing story teller and the narrator is the best there is with the two of them teamed make for a great listen

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Multiple plot lines

One typical characteristic of the SHTF survival genre is a main protagonist. Sure there might be significant supporting characters but undoubtedly one main character. I love how this series weaves several characters each with their own journey into a riveting and realistic set of intertwined stories.

I was glued since the first chapter of book one and this second installment does not disappoint. I can't wait to hear how these stories all resolve in the upcoming last book.
Definitely worthy of all 5 stars.

The narrator Kevin Pierce does a masterful job at voicing the various characters and I have been a fan since hearing him in The Borrowed World series.

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Awesome storyline...can't wait for Book 3

Probably one of the best survival books I've read.....and I've read them all. Kevin Pierce brings it alive expertly so it's not a struggle to listen to. I'll be buying Book 3 asap.

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