My full review: http://coffeecookiesandchilipeppers.b...


Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of this book free from the author via a Librarything Member Giveaway, in return for an honest review.

As you can see from the description above, this looks like an interesting premise, so I was pleased to receive a free copy from the author. I am partial to good Sci-Fi and I like the way that post-apocalyptic novels can explore society and show character development. However, this book left me confused, frustrat More...

I thought this book had a lot of potential, but really feel like there were a lot of holes. I finally finished it last night, but honestly, I made it half way through the book with the daily thought of "It's going to get better." And then, by the time I was half done, I felt like I had to finish to justify the time I had invested. There were a lot of great ideas and I really liked some of the plot twists, but almost none were really explored or fleshed out. I thought it was strange that the main More...

At The End: a post-apocalyptic novel (The Road to Extinction, Book 1)

by John Hennessy

Innovation Today Publishing (2012), Kindle Edition, 230 pages

One of the most important, and often overlooked, elements of a useful book review requires that the reviewer decipher who the intended audience is, and what the proper genre of the work is. It would be senseless, for example, to compare Paradise Lost to American Psycho. Well, I suppose it could be done - but it would be an academic exercise in literary More...

Let me preface this review by saying that I didn't hate this book. In fact, its a quick read that has some interesting moments that I didn't completely forget about right after I was done reading. And I finished it, so there's that.

The opening of the book is strong. Hennessy creates a pretty cool apocalypse concept of many people simply going missing. I also liked that the story begins during-apocalypse versus post-apocalypse. The main character Darrel (is likeable enough, although perhaps a lit More...

The world as we know it is at the end. 38 billion people have disappeared in only three days, strange marks are appearing on peoples doors and a giant spaceship can be seen in the sky. Inexplicably best friends Darrel, Felix and Maggy have remained untaken. Armed only with stolen hunting gear and maggy’s trusty axe, they must fight for their continuing survival against the aliens – make that alions – that have invaded the planet.

Living in this post-apocalyptic world is hard; not only are there More...

Disclaimer: I was made to read this book. Here is my take on the book: it had potential. I really felt like I was reading a first draft, one that if given to a traditional publisher would have returned with a laundry list of needed fixes.

I agree with the summation that it was a rocky and slow start, but when action picked up it got better. Well, just a little better. I hated the main characters, they were two dimensional based upon poorly understood cultural stereotypes. I don't care that it wa More...

I was given this book with the intention that I would review it within a month. When I read the premise, it looked like a really cool read, so I was excited to delve into it. I've been reading in some of the other reviews that the first couple of pages were the slowest to get through and I agree with that only in the perception that it was a confusing opening to the novel, just from the whole losing track of time thing. Other than that, I felt like the first few pages were similar in tone to Col More...

This is a book in one of my favorite genres, post-apocalyptic, young adult, Sci-Fi thriller. And the author, John Hennessy, left me a personal note in the book which I thought was a great touch. So the book is off to a good start before I even started reading it!

I liked how this was a short quick read and it wrapped up the whole story by the end. The glimpse you had of the world they were living in before the abductions was also really good and I felt like it some of it could actually be in our More...

AT THE END by John Hennessy

In the author’s words;

“When I ran for Penelope, no sensor gave away my position, or alerted the dining hall full of alions of my presence. The buckles that held her down were difficult to undo, and the faster I tried to go, the longer it took, as the uncooperative buckles fought against my trembling fingers. The eyes of the alions seemed to stare directly at me. I had no idea how long the stasis cloud lasted, but with every passing second, my nerves told me they would More...

I'll start by saying that I have yet to finish the book and that I'm struggling to do so. I'm just over half way in and whilst I'm interested enough in the characters to want to know their fate, I'm becoming increasingly irritated by the plot holes and unlikely twists.

I'm a massive fan of apocalyptic and post apocalyptic novel. Some I find brilliant due to their clear vision (e.g. Earth Abides) and others faintly ridiculous (e.g The Stand) because they don't deal with the reality of the situatio More...

I received this book for free with the promise I would review it when I was done.

How would I describe this book? Well you know them lazy Sunday afternoons where you find youself just flicking through the TV channels, and you end up stumbling across some B-movie, that doesn't have the best acting, is clearly low budget and has a pretty standard plot? Well that is what this book is.
Is this a bad thing? No. I love them kind of movies, they keep you entertained from beginning to end. They may not More...

I will preface my review of At the End: A Post-apocalyptic Novel by John Hennessy by stating that I am not the intended audience for this story. I am not a teenager, I have never been a gamer, and other than The Hunger Games I've never really been into futuristic fantasy-type books.

Okay. With that being said, I gave this novel 2/5 stars. The plot was really the only thing I enjoyed. It was a different concept - it didn't feel tired or already done (except the connections I could draw to the Mel More...

This book had so much potential. I wanted to like it. I really did. Unfortunately, I just didn't like it at all. The idea is great, but the writing and flow need a lot of work.

I would have liked a lot more information on the world before everyone disappeared. The description mentions the soaring population and the outlawing of birth control. I would have liked to know why and how this happened; it sounded so interesting.

I've read several reviews that said the beginning of the book was slow. Yes More...

This was an okay story but not one I'll go back to or am overly interested in seeing a series develop from. The story is about a group of friends that have to deal with a world forever changed by the appearance of alien ships over their major cities & the disappearance of over 30million humans in a matter of days.

The characters are not ones I felt any real connection with as they were somewhat 1 dimensional.

Darrel, aka Jelly, is a wimpy, frightened young man waiting for death after his par More...

This is a book review based on a free copy from the author. Many thanks go to the author for this generosity.

The same review is also available in my blog:
http://bookunderthesun.blogspot.sg/20...

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Let's just face it, for whatever warped reasons which infest our minds, we are drawn to stories of apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic scenes, envisioning a future where the end had come and gone, with the survivors living in a world where nec More...

I was lucky enough to be gifted a copy of this book, but that will not have any impact upon my review. . .

I enjoyed this book, which surprised me a bit, as I am no longer into the super scary (of anything). I must have OD'ed on scary as a child reading Steven King's books under the blankets with a flashlight - when I was eight.

Anyhow - the author does a nice reveal of the plot to the reader through the main characters' experiences. Imagine waking up one day to an almost totally silent world - More...

*I received this book from Basically Books ARR*

Unfortunately I had a very hard time connecting with this book. After reading the summary, I was super excited to read this especially because I'm a big fan of science fiction alien invasion type books and they aren't that common in this dystopian era of writing. But for me the beginning was hard to get through and I hard time relating to most of the characters. Maggie annoyed me quite a bit, and Tortilla wasn't anything special. Darrel and Penelope More...

Review of At the End
Reviewed via Basically Books Goodreads Group, of an ebook copy received August 4 2012 in exchange for my fair and impartial review.

Through the first couple of pages, I wasn’t sure I was going to like this book (I prefer the reader’s hook to reach for me immediately) but once I read just a few pages, I was hooked-and no complaints after that, this novel is literally non-stop page-turning. There is no deceleration of tension; the plot line moves at nearly hyper-drive speed, car More...

Before getting this book I had never heard of John Hennessey and have never been a bit fan of alien books but I was looking for something different to try and ended up with this book on my Kindle.

The book features a group of teenagers who have managed to stay alive on Earth despite billions of other people being mysteriously taken from the planet. I don't want this review to give away the story; but if features plenty of action and has enough twists in the book to keep you hooked, and the main t More...

I received this book via Basically Books Goodreads Group for the purpose of a review. I read the synopsis of the book and thought I would really enjoy the book. I started reading and it was a very slow start. I immediately realized that this book was not for me. I could not connect to any of the characters on an emotional level. I think this book's target audience is pre-teen/young teens. Unfortunately, I did not complete the book. However, my daughter began reading it and really liked it. She e More...

This book started off a little rocky but quickly became better and better. This book follows the lives of a few teenagers and how they manage to survive when billions of people suddenly go missing. This book was filled with plenty of action and suspense. The more I read of this book the more I became hooked. This book even had a twist thrown in that I honestly didn't see coming. I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend this book to others.

[I received this book from a LibraryThin More...

I really enjoyed this book little to no grammatical/spelling errors my pet peeve. The plot was interesting and well developed the story line could have flowed a little better we seem to get stuck a few times in the beginning. I am not usually fond of stories with more than one point of view but John Hennessy did a great job with showing personalities in the different styles between the two and it flowed really well it did not hinder the story! over all i give the book 4 stars I really enjoyed it More...

*Spoiler Stuff*

This book had some potential. One of the biggest issues with the book are the characters. Their interactions with each other doesn't seem normal for a group of 17 year old nerd/geek teens. They are constantly using the word 'Melted,' but it never really sticks out like the word 'cool' would. The way they act, such as blowing up houses, wrecking cars, and everything else they do or talk about, seems more typical of preteens. If the main character's ages were scaled back a few years More...

The Catholics finally got their way, birth control was eliminated. The world population stood at 39 billion in the year 2048.

I turned on the news and heard there was another 2 million people gone missing in the Seattle area. I heard a noise and footsteps outside the door and was so afraid I passed out. When I awoke, I saw my friend, Felix. He asked me why I was watching cartoons instead of the news and I asked him if he'd seen the mark on the door. He said yes. They had already taken the rest of More...

It was entertaining, that is all. The chars are flat and don't evolve, they are shallow and lack depth. The story evolves continually, and although I could sense some discrepancies (how come the "alions" are so physically developed? Isn't technology supposed to be an enemy of physical evolution?) On the bright side, it entertained me for a couple of days and could hardly put it down.

I wasn't really impressed with this book, though I feel like if I was 5 years younger I might've been. Written for teens, from the perspective of teens. I found myself questioning the characters throughout.

Like so many others have said, it had potential. I love the idea of the plot. Just wasn't quite up to what I expected.

I have to say.. not sure why this hasn't gotten at least a four star rating. I thought the book was full of events and action that just kept going until the very end. I, also, think this author is really good at changing up the usual ideas on stories like this. Am looking forward to the next one. :)

Bromigo and Bramiga... if you can take reading that every other sentence, the story is well written and a positive delight to read. I couldn't put it down and read it in less than a day. As far as post-apocalyptic nightmares go, this one has some great creatures (no zombies) and many surprises throughout.

Well I finally finished this

It was an o.k. read - very confusing on who was "talking" - kepy on thinking it was one person and then a chapter or so later would go OH - not the person I thought it was.

Also what 16-17 year old does not curse like a trooper!!!!

I think there are a few scenes which mean this book should ideally have a content warning, and there are a few editing issues. However, despite that I think this is an excellent book, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading!