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CANYON IS THE ACTION-PACKED SEQUEL TO THE EXPLOSIVE #1 BEST SELLING NOVEL "HOME"

HE’S HOMELESS. HE’S ON THE RUN. AND HE WANTS REVENGE.

Marcus Battle has left behind his home.
Now he’s on a seemingly impossible mission to find a missing child. But can he balance that responsbility with his deep, primal desire to exact revenge on the men who destroyed his solitary existence?
The world he discovers on his journey isn’t the one he remembers before a pneumonic plague called The Scourge killed two-thirds of the world’s population. It is lawless, depraved, and far-deadlier than the disease which created it.
Battle made a promise to find that child. It’s a promise he regrets more acutely with every step of the journey where he is as much the hunter as he is the hunted.

280 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 22, 2016

667 people are currently reading
285 people want to read

About the author

Tom Abrahams

71 books343 followers
Tom Abrahams is an Emmy and Edward R. Murrow award winning television journalist and member of International Thriller Writers.

He is also a Kindle Unlimited All-Star, an Audible 5 Star Favorite, and author of more than forty novels.

He writes in several genres including dystopian, sci-fi techno-thriller, post-apocalyptic, and political thrillers.

The dramatic rights for his "A Dark World" trilogy are optioned for television and film.

He's married with two children and lives in Southeast Texas.

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5 stars
541 (37%)
4 stars
578 (40%)
3 stars
250 (17%)
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52 (3%)
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14 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
Profile Image for Chrissie.
302 reviews120 followers
December 8, 2019
Puh... Wo mir der erste Teil richtig gut gefallen hat, versagt dieser zweite Teil für meinen Geschmack auf ganzer Linie. Total oberflächlich, durchschaubar, platt und unrealistisch. Damit endet auch mein Interesse an der Reihe, sollte sie weiter fortgesetzt werden. Schade, denn wie gesagt: Teil 1 fand ich wirklich gut.
32 reviews
March 16, 2020
Personal Response:
Canyonis an interesting sequel in the Travelerseries. The book has plenty of action. For example, Battle took down the Cartel’s men outside Lubbock like they were fish in a barrel. They even outnumber Battle by at least 50 times. The book has a good amount of sentimental parts to contrast the carnage. After Battle avoids death through multiple shootouts while holding Buck, a doctor runs into Battle and they go into the doctor’s house. The doctor patches up Buck and the doctor has the men spend the night in his house. Battle learns about the doctor’s family and how much of a close-knit family the doctor has. Buck is the sergeant Battle saves after Buck suffers injuries from an IED.

Plot:
Canyon has an intriguing plot. The book occurs five years after the Scourge wipes out most of humanity’s population. The Scourge is a disease with pneumonia-like symptoms. The main protagonist, Marcus Batlle, is a soldier before the Scourge happens. The book incorporates flashbacks, from Marcu’s point of view, to before the Scourge happens. After the Scourge occurs, Battle takes his family and hides out in Texas. His wife and son pass away from the Scourge. The deaths of the two haunt Battle. After their deaths, Battle promises a woman, Lola, to help find her son. The son’s name is Wesson. Battle must fight the Cartel to get Wesson back. The Cartel is formed directly after the Scourge occurs. A group of drug lords, gangs, and criminals combine their forces to overtake a weakened U.S. government. The United States government agrees to concede Texas to the Cartel. Later, the Cartel lets the U.S. government build a wall around Texas.

Characterization:
In the beginning, Battle is not personable to Pico or Lola. He is a by-the-book type of person due to his military background. As the story progresses, Battle starts to like Lola and he thinks with more emotion; however, his efficiency in battle is always superb.

Cyrus Skinner is a satisfying character to analyze. As a captain in the Cartel, Skinner is seen as a cold and unstoppable person. As Battle proves to be a thorn in Skinner’s side, Skinner becomes afraid and looks less unstoppable. For the first time, Skinner realizes he can not solve a problem and it shows.

Impacts of Setting:
The book takes place in the late 2030s in the present area of Texas. A big epidemic is mentioned in the book and, as a result, modern-day equipment is mentioned throughout the book. Cell-phones, the internet, and other common modern-day commodities are scarce. Austin and Lubbock are cities mentioned in the book. The setting has influence over the plot. The Texas Tech Stadium in Lubbock is used as a fighting arena for the Cartel. After Battle and the rest of the group survive the arena, they have to trek to a canyon. Due to the lack of vegetation, there is a threat of heat exhaustion, dehydration, and sunburn.

Theme:
Perseverance is a common theme in the book and helps drive the plot. Battle spends days carrying Buck to safety. He survives gunfights and disease doing so. He perseveres in a situation that a normal person simply cannot. Even though the situation seems bleak, Wesson finds a way to persevere. Wesson is Lola’s son. He survives days of captivity and oppression and finally reunites with his mother

Recommendation:
I recommend this book to males ages 12-18. Males would appreciate this book more because of the large amount of action. Anyone younger than 12 would have a hard time comprehending this book because the vocabulary is too complex for that age range. People older than 18 would think this book is under their reading level and think it is childish.
Profile Image for Sabrina.
452 reviews10 followers
February 22, 2016
This second book is a wonderful addition to 'The Traveller series' by Tom Abrahams. In the first book, 'Home' we met a man named Marcus Battle who lived a solitary life outside of any town's influence or interest in Texas. His trials and tribulations were painstakingly brought to life, with flashbacks of a family life and his interactions with others who threatened his very survival. But why did he attempt to continue such a hermit-like existence?

In this second book, 'Canyon', answers begin to emerge as Battle continues his own mission to help a runaway, Lola rescue her young son from the Cartel; the self-appointed rulers of the area.

The initial chapters vary between the current events with Battle and the Cartel, and time spent in Syria; before the Scourge event and before his wife and son. The intensity of what he faced in the Army (in Syria) is so powerful and vital to understand how and why Battle is the man he is today. His true self is revealed in such a simple and yet, intricate way with the actions that occurred so very long ago.

While I won't delve into details and risk spoiling any part of the book, it is truly an amazing story. Mr. Abrahams' writing is exceptional, not only in the details of every moment; entwining all of the reader's senses, but also in his descriptions and mannerisms of each character's ideas of morality and humanity, or lack there of. The story flows consistently and although it traverses from Battle's past (in Syria) to present day (in Texas), the movement and evolution of the characters is not compromised. This is a book worth reading and overall, a series to invest with your time. Highly recommended and well done!
Profile Image for Dennis Crotts.
351 reviews45 followers
July 24, 2020
So well written there was no lost of time or speed of the action between book 1 and book 2 the transfer from the books was so smooth that would never have know. The story continue with the starting with the final battle between the Cartel and Battle at his home he trying to defend his home and the women he had saved. Even though he won the battle he lost his home and everything he held dear and he had to make a decision to stay and try to rebuild or get revenge on the Cartel and take the war to them and destroy them but at the same time save the women son he said he would do.
As in book 1 the story is told as if it a diary being read one day at a time and the story has many flash back to Syria and then back to the present and you see who Battle is and why he takes the action he does also you see he is a very complicated person a perfect mixture of compassion, angry, warrior and a loving family man. In the flash back of the people who Battle met or saw who tried to help the Americans and died for trying to help them. Also you hear how Battle take a fellow wounded soldier back across to safety and later it turns out the fellow wounded soldier in 18 years later is a General in the Cartel and rules a designated area with an army to defend the area and keep thumb crew on the resident of the the area.
If you like action, bloodshed, cruelty you will enjoy this series because as you listen you find you can not stop listening and want to know more plus you find you the characters are more alive and than in most audibles.
Profile Image for Emmi.
44 reviews
August 29, 2022
I think I liked the plot of this part even more than the one in the first book! It's super exciting and Marcus' throw-backs to his time in Syria were an interesting twist so the ending was even more shocking! Some violent bits were a little too detailed for me though.
Profile Image for George.
80 reviews4 followers
March 28, 2018
Book 2 in the series, another end of the world book. They are like the westerns I read when I was a kid, fast, easy, fairly mindless but very entertaining (kick-ass, ex-soldier/cop/special forces/super-duper tough guy with dead women/wives and lots of dead bad guys in his past and many more to come in the future). This one had lots of all of that. I enjoyed the momentum of the story but the development (or lack thereof) of the main character's emotional life seemed to fluctuate from book to book and he seemed stuck after awhile and that disappointed me for some reason. It's hard to rate these kind of books - I could rate it 2 stars or 4 stars. If I look at these titles (I read 4 of these in this series) in a few months and can't remember how I felt about them, I will lower my star rating). At least it wasn't another zombie apocalypse. I've read a bunch of those the last few years and they start to all run together in my mind.
15 reviews1 follower
March 13, 2016
A fantastic read

Canyon is a fantastic read that continues the storyline from the book Home. The twist in the second book is that in now involves 2 plots covering before and after the Scourge which gives the main character more depth and the reader a better understanding of who Battle is and what he represents. A truly good read that I could not put down. I highly anticipate that book 3 will be just as good
Profile Image for Samyann.
Author 1 book84 followers
October 27, 2020
This is a 22 hour listen about a post-apocalyptic world. A flea born illness wipes out over two-thirds of the world population. There is no cure, but there is natural immunity. This review references Books 1 - Home, 2 - Canyon, and 3- Wall.

Plot. Marcus Battle, a PTSD victim, returns to Texas and loses his son and wife to the plague; he speaks to them and hears them speak to him. Marcus also lives as a hermit on his land, defending it with shoot-first, so you don't need to ask questions. After months of solitude, Marcus rescues a woman being chased by a cult of marauders. The marauders have her son. They successfully burn Marcus's house down. Under a facade of revenge, Marcus and the woman set out to rescue her son and rid Texas of these thugs. The story has a considerable slice of flashbacks to Marcus' time in service - when he nearly dies to rescue his badly injured friend. Will Marcus conquer his own demons, rescue the boy of a stranger? Stay alive?

Liked. Good character development, easy to visualize action, well-organized plot over three novels. No sex, no explicit language. Decent narration and production.

Not so hot. There are some holes in an apocalyptic world, in my opinion. No mention of shortages of essentials like gasoline, medicine, etc., all that would surely be horrific.

There is more to the story - and, I'm sure, in sequels to come. Too much left to happen!

Written by By Tom Abrahams, narrated by Kevin Pierce in unabridged audiobook format, released in March 2016-19 by Piton Press LLC.
Profile Image for Boomer.
394 reviews5 followers
September 11, 2022
The first book in this series Home was a pleasant surprise - I found the world and characters the author created fascinating, and the only negative I had was the cheap cliffhanger ending. So I came into Canyon with high expectations.

The continued journey of Battle, Lola, and Pico to rescue Lola's son Sawyer from the evil Cartel was fun to read. I think Battle is a great main character, and despite being a little over the top, his exploits here are highly entertaining. Unfortunately the structure of this book is immensely frustrating. I've never been a fan of flashbacks, and here you have two timelines running - the book's present day story of Battle and the Cartel, and another storyline set 12 years earlier featuring Battle's military days where he's trying to get an injured comrade out of a war zone. The author switches between these almost every chapter so it's a very jarring read and makes it impossible to really get invested in either scenario. There was only one reason I could think of to spend almost half the book on a guy from 12 years ago, so the final pages weren't particularly surprising to me on how it all tied together.

I'm torn on this one because I'm loving the Fallout style wasteland world the author has created, and Marcus Battle is an intriguing character. The Traveler series has the potential to be that fast and casual read I've been looking for in between heavier books, but the annoying structure of this one really brought it down. Book 3 is on sale for 99 cents as I write this, so I'll pick it up and see if things improve.
Profile Image for Susan Tydings.
77 reviews5 followers
July 17, 2019
Well, I had such high expectations because the first book in the series I thought was just smashing. It gave me everything I needed, strong men and women, interesting characters, fantastic and unusual character development. He is an emotionally scarred perfect characterization of PTSD, but through it all raises a family in the worst of times. Although it is rife with blood sweat and tears,Goriness made sense because of the story. It wasn’t gratuitous violence but it did push the limits. Unfortunately it got a little boring and dry. It was, the same old same old description and over and over again of the good guys particularly the bad guys. He is one of my favorite author , so I will stick with reading his books.
Profile Image for Michael  Keller.
941 reviews11 followers
February 20, 2020
Major Marcus Battle, U.S. Army, Retired, a true warrior in every sense of the word

He has taken on the best and worst of the Cartel's troops and won every time. He makes his own luck and comes out on top. He promised Lola that he'd get her son Wesson back for her, but he'll have to join their circus maximus in the old Jones Stadium to keep that promise.

The characters are brilliant like diamonds with sharp edges - nothing harder, cutting deep and true. The storyline grows better and more defined with every chapter. The action couldn't be better, more bloody, or more true to reality. This is a great read. If you enjoy Tom Clancy, you'll love this series! A post-apocalyptic Jack Ryan.
279 reviews3 followers
August 29, 2020
This series just keeps getting better. After Battle’s house is burned down he agrees to help Lola find Sawyer. It is interesting that he talks to his wife and son and they talk to him. We also have it jumping back and forth to Syria where Battle saves another soldier gets him out of Syria and then flown to the American hospital in Germany. Along the way Lola, Pico and Battle are constantly running into the cartel and killing them. Some things happen at the end that explains the Canyon and there is another surprise or two. Now on to Book 3 the Wall
Profile Image for Nunyah Biznuss.
447 reviews41 followers
February 23, 2023
OMG. This book was so much better than book 1. There was loads more hurt-me-bad action and almost no awful bible/god nonsense in comparison with the first book that was so preachy. Marcus Battle and Lola grew as characters, and there was some time switching to when Battle was back serving in Syria. I guessed the twist to this early on, but that didn't detract from the action.

I'm going straight on to the next book, so can't wait to see what evil ar$eholes Marcus, Lola & crew (yeah no spoilers) have to face next.
Profile Image for Jordan Dossett.
164 reviews1 follower
May 28, 2025
I’m leaving the same review for books 1-3 as I read them as a series.

I know how can an audiobook be a page turner. Well it’s one of those things where your wife rolls over and says so you’re gonna stop listening to that book or what?

I binged the first three books pretty much nonstop and bought the next two sets in the series and I’m all geared up with things to do for a good listen. Maybe I’ll even charge my AirPods but my wife seems interested so maybe not. It’s got that bit of suspense and bit of adventure add in some danger and sadness and top it off with maybe some not so sappy love.
150 reviews
August 26, 2020
Solid 3.5 stars. This was a good continuation of the first book. My only disappointment (and the reason I didn't give it 4 stars) was the constant "back and forth" between present day and 18 years earlier. I understood the reason to provide the backstory, but I felt like it detracted from the more important story. Since both books were this way, I guess this is just a matter of "style" from this author. Nevertheless, an enjoyable read and I am looking forward to book 3.
Profile Image for Chris Sherwood.
Author 3 books6 followers
June 19, 2020
I wasn’t gonna give this book more than 4 stars at first. There’s dual storytelling here, alternating between chapters that often took me out of the moment and left me wondering what the author was trying to do.

However it finally made sense in the end ( I don’t want to say more than that and risk spoiling it for others ) but in the end it works and it works well.
Profile Image for Michael Mercer.
89 reviews
October 25, 2020
Returned this book to Audible for a refund when the main character reminisced fondly about a faded MAGA(t) shirt (in book 1). Nope! I'm not supporting that crap. This was a 3 book set, so all 3 books were returned for a refund. Book was only OK to that point in the story anyway, so nothing lost, except to the author.
Profile Image for Ami.
2,423 reviews14 followers
February 12, 2021
Canyon, 2nd book in this series, is filled with action and danger. I’ve become quite attached to some of the characters. They seem so realistic. The world is well-described and makes it very easy to picture in my mind. There is also a shocking development that blends the past with the present! I highly recommend it but advise reading book 1 first.

Read via Kindle Unlimited
Profile Image for Ann237.
427 reviews5 followers
February 15, 2022
Battle moved to an isolated area, he was ready to protect his family his wife & son when the SHTF. He felt the time was coming…he was correct! It is a number of yrs after it has taken place, not seeing ANYONE for a very long time, it all changed only to find out their was a CARTEL Controlling everyone & everything…except Battle, who now are aware of him
499 reviews5 followers
March 1, 2020
Great story

I read the first installment a while ago and just stumbled across this in my library. Don't know why I put it down the first time. Very intriguing story and nice twist at the end of this book.
Profile Image for Andy Horton.
226 reviews5 followers
September 1, 2020
I love these books. It offers a realistic storyline, with an awesome post-apocalyptic setting, but without the profanity or gore that many books like this have. I'm thoroughly impressed that Tom Abrahams pulled this off the way he did. Great books!
827 reviews7 followers
October 25, 2020
Entertaining

This novel presents intriguing situations and characters who have survived the scourge but are trapped by the vicious cartel. Battle’s time in the army is explored. A twist in the story is revealed. Let no good deed go unpunished.
Profile Image for Beruthiel.
580 reviews7 followers
February 17, 2024
So while this was somewhat entertaining and I still would like to know how it goes on and ends, I quickly lost interest in the series once I had put it down and turned to something else.
Maybe I'll pick it up at a later date ...
Profile Image for Nathan Daniel.
1 review
May 17, 2017
Great book

Great read. Finished up where the last one left off. Tom Abrahams with another winner. Would highly recommend this book to a friend
353 reviews3 followers
August 17, 2017
Better than the first, I am getting to like the characters and the story is getting more interesting
Profile Image for Peggy Pancherz.
1,173 reviews6 followers
October 12, 2017
Good book

Read all of the books in order to really enjoy. Characters are realistic and get better and better. Storyline continues to grow and develop.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews

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