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77th out of 291 books
—
166 voters
Breakers (Breakers #1)
by
Edward W. Robertson (Goodreads Author)
In New York, Walt Lawson is about to lose his girlfriend Vanessa. In Los Angeles, Raymond and Mia James are about to lose their house. Within days, none of it will matter.
When Vanessa dies of the flu, Walt is devastated. But she isn't the last. The virus quickly kills billions, reducing New York to an open grave and LA to a chaotic wilderness of violence and fires. As Raym...more
When Vanessa dies of the flu, Walt is devastated. But she isn't the last. The virus quickly kills billions, reducing New York to an open grave and LA to a chaotic wilderness of violence and fires. As Raym...more
Kindle Edition, 309 pages
Published
(first published August 6th 2012)
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This has been on my kindle for a while and I finally got round to reading it. The story of a world on the brink of extinction as seen through the eyes of two ordinary american guys from opposite sides of the country. There were things in here I'm sure I've seen before, not just the freely-acknowledged borrowing of ideas from classic films such as Independence Day. The characters themselves make references to these kind of films as they try to imagine what their heroes might have done (nice touch...more
Okay, I'm giving it five stars - "it was amazing" - because it exceeded my expectations by a bunch. I've read a lot of post-apocalyptic fiction, including a few self-published works, and I'm sort of a sucker for that sub-genre of books. I still put King's THE STAND at the top of the list, with stuff like LUCIFER'S HAMMER right there.
So why am I loving on this book so much? Well, I'll start with the characters. I downloaded samples of this and MELTDOWN (another book set in the same fictional uni...more
So why am I loving on this book so much? Well, I'll start with the characters. I downloaded samples of this and MELTDOWN (another book set in the same fictional uni...more
The black plague returns. On steroids.
People begin dropping dead. In any population, there are naturally resistant genes but few survive. Like Night of the Living Dead, the survivors can take what they want and live where they want. Mansions, cars, camping equipment, whatever you want. Think of the The Road before everything is pilfered and people start feeding on each other.
However, it's not a natural disease. It's just the natural order of the food chain and we're not on top anymore. Robertso...more
People begin dropping dead. In any population, there are naturally resistant genes but few survive. Like Night of the Living Dead, the survivors can take what they want and live where they want. Mansions, cars, camping equipment, whatever you want. Think of the The Road before everything is pilfered and people start feeding on each other.
However, it's not a natural disease. It's just the natural order of the food chain and we're not on top anymore. Robertso...more
Although not my usual genre, I found myself captivated by this novel, Breakers. It was like watching the downfall of man-kind in technicolor. In fact, I could see this novel hitting the big screen at some point.
Although(to me) it started a little sluggish, within a few pages I was hooked and I ended up reading Breakers in one sitting. I won't mention that I completely forgot about a "thing" I was supposed to attend, and instead spent the time deeply invested in the characters and their tribulat...more
Although(to me) it started a little sluggish, within a few pages I was hooked and I ended up reading Breakers in one sitting. I won't mention that I completely forgot about a "thing" I was supposed to attend, and instead spent the time deeply invested in the characters and their tribulat...more
When I read the description of this book it reminded me of a mash up of Stephen King's The Stand and the TV series Falling Skies. I was surprised at how different it turned out to be. This story describes what two men do during an alien attack in which the first wave consists of a plague that kills off over 90% of the human population.
Walt, from New York, decides to walk all the way to LA because that is where his dead girlfriend always wanted to go. It was his way to try and stay sane. During h...more
Walt, from New York, decides to walk all the way to LA because that is where his dead girlfriend always wanted to go. It was his way to try and stay sane. During h...more
I've read a lot of the end of the world dystopian novels from on The Beach to The Stand to Lucifer's Hammer, and I can say with all honesty that Breakers can easily stand with any of them. Robertson might not have reinvented the end of the world novel but with his engaging characters, clever ideas and plot twists, and very solid writing chops he's created a very real world that I didn't want to leave -- even though it's a world with awful things happening to it.
Normally, I don't care for books t...more
Normally, I don't care for books t...more
Breakers
Breakers is an apocalyptic tale dealing with a biological attack from an alien species.
Edward W. Norton has crafted a fairly good yarn which moves at a rather good pace. The characters are well fleshed out but at times their actions tend to grate against their character stereotype. This is just a small flaw and only apparent in small sections of the book. The author tends to have fun with the readers constantly quoting phrases or action from movies that tend to fit the given scene. This...more
Breakers is an apocalyptic tale dealing with a biological attack from an alien species.
Edward W. Norton has crafted a fairly good yarn which moves at a rather good pace. The characters are well fleshed out but at times their actions tend to grate against their character stereotype. This is just a small flaw and only apparent in small sections of the book. The author tends to have fun with the readers constantly quoting phrases or action from movies that tend to fit the given scene. This...more
If you like post-apocalyptic stories, give this one a go. For its flaws, there are redeeming qualities that make this a decent read.
I liked two of the main characters (Raymond & Mia). They're young, fairly realistic, and cute together.
I HATED Walt.
I mean really- he is entirely obsessed and pathetic. He's a constant moaner. As someone who at one point experienced suicidal depression, I would have thought I could feel for this guy a bit more. Nope. There wasn't a thing I liked about him or tha...more
I liked two of the main characters (Raymond & Mia). They're young, fairly realistic, and cute together.
I HATED Walt.
I mean really- he is entirely obsessed and pathetic. He's a constant moaner. As someone who at one point experienced suicidal depression, I would have thought I could feel for this guy a bit more. Nope. There wasn't a thing I liked about him or tha...more
I thought that I might have bought another cheap-o pulp sci-fi alien invasion novel like MANKINDS WORST FEAR, and this book definitely had some pulp elements, but I felt like Robertson used those elements to his advantage rather than being trapped by them. The story was surprisingly good, even if it did contain some predictable twists. There were some classic alien invasion moments in the book, but there were also some unusually reasonable elements. There was even a decent amount of character pr...more
After a virus wipes out nearly everybody on earth, the survivors are all full of theories about where the virus came from. None of them suspect the true origins of this super-flu though, or why it was released on the people of earth. After all, didn't we use disease to thin the ranks of the Native Americans so we could move in?
The author uses very good pacing and character development in this suspenseful post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller. Although the Kindle version had a few rough spots in the e...more
The author uses very good pacing and character development in this suspenseful post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller. Although the Kindle version had a few rough spots in the e...more
Do you remember all of those pandemic flu scares? Well, this one will probably kill you. And if that's not bad enough it wasn't American agricultural practices to blame~it was squidy, crabby aliens that caused it.
I read this in about three days because it is definitely one of those just-can't-put-down stories~and I'm not a science fiction fan. But Breakers doesn't read like a typical scifi story~the main characters are flawed humans who just want things to get back to normal, but know that it is...more
I read this in about three days because it is definitely one of those just-can't-put-down stories~and I'm not a science fiction fan. But Breakers doesn't read like a typical scifi story~the main characters are flawed humans who just want things to get back to normal, but know that it is...more
A good story, nice character development. High tech vs low tech--with a bomb of course :)
An apocalyptic story without zombies (I do like zombie stories though), but this does not need it with the aliens, a virus, and a payback. The aliens soften us up with an unknown virus that kills off most of the population, the author didn't go into the problems with many dead lying around--kinda assumed that nature would get better fast rather than have polluted water sources with dead bodies everywhere...b...more
An apocalyptic story without zombies (I do like zombie stories though), but this does not need it with the aliens, a virus, and a payback. The aliens soften us up with an unknown virus that kills off most of the population, the author didn't go into the problems with many dead lying around--kinda assumed that nature would get better fast rather than have polluted water sources with dead bodies everywhere...b...more
I stumbled across this book while playing around and window shopping. I almost didn't buy it because it was both a biological apocalypse and an alien invasion but in the end, that's also what got me to buy it. This is a sub-genre mashup I hadn't read before and felt it needed to be tried out. So, I put the book I was reading aside and started.
It starts with some decent character building. The two main characters, Walt and Raymond are at very different points in their lives and on different sides...more
It starts with some decent character building. The two main characters, Walt and Raymond are at very different points in their lives and on different sides...more
If it wasn't for the inherent spazmoidness of my internet connection, it could have been a while before I read Breakers. But I was looking for a Kindle book to read, and lack of internets meant I only had a few downloaded, and I was in the mood for a post-apoc, so I started reading.............and even when my internets was (sporadically) restored, I kept reading.
What I liked best, and what will stick in my mind the longest, about Breakers is the characters. Often in post-apocalyptic books, with...more
What I liked best, and what will stick in my mind the longest, about Breakers is the characters. Often in post-apocalyptic books, with...more
Breakers is the story of an alien invasion of earth told mainly through the eyes of Walt, Raymond & Mia.
The story itself is quite good with some nice touches of humour throughout but my main gripe with this book is the numerous spelling errors.
The main characters are well written and the plot flows along nicely, if you like sci-fi you will like this book.
It's just a shame it wasn't proof read better (if at all) as with a little more effort on that part would have gone a long way to matching...more
The story itself is quite good with some nice touches of humour throughout but my main gripe with this book is the numerous spelling errors.
The main characters are well written and the plot flows along nicely, if you like sci-fi you will like this book.
It's just a shame it wasn't proof read better (if at all) as with a little more effort on that part would have gone a long way to matching...more
Mar 12, 2013
Dominique
is currently reading it
So far I am having a hard time "getting into" this book. I have to force myself to read this since, and I've already finished at least 3 other titles since starting this one. But I take a sick sense of pride in finishing every book I start, so keep trying to go back to it.
Most books hat start of poorly like this one pick up somewhere n the middle, so we'll see were this one stands.....
Most books hat start of poorly like this one pick up somewhere n the middle, so we'll see were this one stands.....
I received this novel using pixel of ink's service. Like many of the books I get from their website, I will decide immediately whether to read it in the next few months or to forget about it indefinitely. This one I read a month or so after getting the free copy.
When I actually started reading, I had forgotten the plot tagline, and just thought it was some novel about a super plague. It was fairly decent for an end of the world kind of book, and I was keeping amused by reading about everyone try...more
When I actually started reading, I had forgotten the plot tagline, and just thought it was some novel about a super plague. It was fairly decent for an end of the world kind of book, and I was keeping amused by reading about everyone try...more
A plague kills off 98% of human life on earth, the survivors try and make a life for themselves until suddenly the real source of the virus pays the planet a visit... Started really well, then veered into a serious sci-fi vein and sort of became like a crappy tv movie... I actually thought it was well written and not bad, but part 2 left me saying "huh?!"
This was an excellent read and was free on Amazon. Although I rarely read apocalyptical stories, this one really drew me in. There might not be enough blood and gore for the hard core fan, but I prefer it that way.
After reading 2 free bombs, this was a joyful find. Well written, good pacing and a satisfying ending. I will look for more from him.
After reading 2 free bombs, this was a joyful find. Well written, good pacing and a satisfying ending. I will look for more from him.
Plot seemed intriguing, and probably could have been if written by someone else. First book I have read in years where I kept thinking that it had to get better and didn't. Author is vulgar and character development was weak, and unbelievable from beginning to end. Obvious why Amazon made this a free pick. Still felt ripped off!
The book was good. The beginning seemed to be a bit long the characters were established, but it could have been done more quickly. The concept was very good. The middle part of the book was excellent. The ending seemed to drag a bit as well. However, overall I enjoyed the book and would consider reading more from this author.
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The Stand meets Independence Day meets V. With that said this book is an interesting read. I didn't become emotionally involved with the characters like I usually do but its still worth a look in the genre. Don't expect worlds to crumble but it will take your mind off your problems for a awhile. :-)
I was very invested in this book from the beginning until nearly the end. For some reason the last bit of it caused the whole story to deflate for me somewhat. I'm not even entirely certain WHY, I guess maybe I found it a little hard to believe after the rest of the story seemed quite believable. Or it might have been somewhat anticlimactic and over too quickly. I'm still glad I read it though.
It starts out a little slow, but the last half is well-worth the wait. A well-written and very engaging description of an alien invasion, with good character development. The main character's portrayal of the making of a hero is one of the most plausible such portrayals I have ever seen in print.
I picked up this book because the synopsis looked interesting but mainly because it was on sale - for cheap. Had I paid $15, it would have gotten way fewer stars. But I was actually entertained by my purchase. The United States is hit by a virulent strain of some disease that is killing people right and left. A handful of people appear to be immune and this story focuses on how some of them cope, discover and deal with the cause and the aftermath. It dragged in places, got too crazy in others bu...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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A good read in the international plague/alien invasion genre. Lots of action, suspense and plot turns. The two main male characters were in many ways similar at the beginning of the book, but each developed as events occurred. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.
A decent yarn about three survivors of a plague that kills off most of humanity trying to survive and fight of the aliens who set it loose. not sure if this was a self pub because the text is littered with spelling issues. Still a worthwhile read for those of us who like post apocalyptic fiction.
This was a good post-apocalyptic adventure. I quite liked the characters, thought I feel like they occasionally voiced the author's personal thoughts instead of their own. Other than that, it was well written and entertaining.
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Ed is the author of the post-apocalyptic Breakers series and the epic fantasy series The Cycle of Arawn. A former New Yorker and Idaho-guy, he currently lives in the LA area. His short fiction has appeared in a whole bunch of magazines and anthologies.
More about Edward W. Robertson...
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