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Saturday, August 30, 2014

A New World: Storm

Synopsis

A vengeful darkness… 
Gathers in the night… 

One threat has been destroyed - another grows stronger. 

Even though Jack and the teams have won a major confrontation, their lives still hang by a thread. There are decisions to be made, and ones that have never been more critical. 


Leonard continues to try to keep his crew together after being hit by another soul-shattering blow. They’ve only recently become aware of this new world, and it doesn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon as they silently plunge through the Pacific, looking for answers Leonard knows they may never find. 


Michael knows he can no longer stand idle and wait as he feels thousands of his kind disappear from his mind night after night. The weight of the survival of his kind weighs heavily on his shoulders and he pushes forward to end the threats to their existence. 

The new world must find its balance… 
And the scales are about to tip… 


Publisher: Self
Print Length: 264 pages

Review
I purchased this book from Amazon for my Kindle.
I gave A New World: Storm 5 out of 5 stars on Amazon and Goodreads

I finished reading A New World: Storm a few minutes ago. I was going to wait to write the review until I had a chance to process the story and its ending but decided not to. I want to write while my mind and emotions are still bound to the story. 

I am simultaneously "wowed" beyond words and feeling something else that I will not describe. If I try, I will fail miserably and will most likely end up creating an unintentional spoiler.

In past reviews, I think I have made it clear that John O'Brien is my favorite writer in this genre. I hope I've also made it clear that he is one of my favorite writers of all the genres I've read. Storm solidifies that conviction for me. Why? The answer is simply this: John O'Brien is a talented writer and an amazing story-teller.

The first part of the book is dedicated to tying some loose ends together and setting the stage for the rest. There is not much action during this portion, which is unusual for most of the books in the series.  Rest assured, the necessity to slow down for a bit does not mean it's boring. I mean, this is John O'Brien. Are his stories ever boring? No.

The action picks up once Jack hits the road sky in order to take care of some unfinished business. It continues through the rest of the book as he and his group encounter new threats, as well eliminate some old ones.  In addition, a couple new groups of survivors are introduced and plans to work with them are established. Meanwhile, Jack is doing his best to lead, although he is tired and not always certain he knows the direction he needs to take.

It is the last part of the book that made me clench my Kindle in a state of tightly-wound emotions and caused me to scowl at any poor soul who dared to interrupt my reading. As I write this, I am still reeling from the roller coaster ride Mr. O'Brien created. The ending packs a punch so be prepared, but do NOT read ahead. You will be kicking yourself forever.

As with all of the A New World books, I appreciate the hard work and pride O'Brien obviously poured into writing Storm. He is a first-class writer and can tell a story with the best of them.

If you have not read A New World series, you can find a chronological list of his books here.


About the Author
John O'Brien is a former Air Force fighter instructor pilot who transitioned to Special Operations for the latter part of his career gathering his campaign ribbon for Desert Storm. Immediately following his military service, John became a firefighter/EMT with a local department. Along with becoming a firefighter, he fell into the Information Technology industry in corporate management. Currently, John is writing full-time on the series, A New World.
As a former marathon runner, John lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest and can now be found kayaking out in the waters of Puget Sound, mountain biking in the Capital Forest, hiking in the Olympic Peninsula, or pedaling his road bike along the many scenic roads.

A New World
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