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Retribution: An Alivia Morgan Thriller

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2021 Readers' Favorite Gold Medal Winner!"Comparable to a James Patterson or Jack Carr thriller, this sensational novel promises to thrill everyone who loves terrorism novels jam-packed with action" - Susan Sewell for Readers’ FavoriteShe assassinated the most wanted terrorist in the world. Now they're coming after her.The Rally for US was meant to be a day of celebration. Instead, that crisp October morning turned into the bloodiest terror attack to strike the city of Boston in more than a decade. And the terrorists are just getting started. To hunt down the insurgents, the New England Special Terrorist Division—NEST—turn to their most senior and capable agent, Alivia Morgan. Ripped from her home and family to join the battle, she had no idea just how deeply personal the fight would become. Captured, alone, and armed only with her years of training and experience in Special Ops and the elite Army Rangers, Alivia realizes she’s in a race against time. Can she escape with her life and stop the impending attacks before the clock runs out?What Amazon Reviewers are ★★★★★ 'Fast-paced action that never slows down until the end sentence.'★★★★★ ‘David Antocci has written a thrilling first book to what looks to be a fantastic new series.’★★★★★ ‘This is a riveting action-packed thriller that I could not put down.’ ★★★★★ ‘Great characters, fast action and a female hero! What more could you possibly want?’★★★★★ ‘Want a fast-paced action novel to read? This is it.’

291 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 19, 2017

795 people are currently reading
342 people want to read

About the author

David J. Antocci

8 books52 followers
David J Antocci is a noted wordsmith, blogger and author. His work can be read regularly on the Worcester Telegram and Gazette website where he has spent many years writing about the trials and tribulations of being a real life Mr. Mom. While his first love is music, he has put down the guitar in recent years in order to pour his passion into writing… and the gentle tap of the keys on his laptop are much less disruptive late at night when the children are sleeping. The ESCAPE books are his first published foray into fiction. He lives in New England with his beautiful wife and children.

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5 stars
469 (54%)
4 stars
267 (31%)
3 stars
92 (10%)
2 stars
19 (2%)
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9 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
Profile Image for Bob.
1,984 reviews21 followers
April 30, 2018
Following a terrorist bombing at a womans's rally in Boston, Alivia Morgan is called back from a vacation at her parents home in Vermont. A chopper is sent to pick her up and it leaves behind a squad of NEST operatives to provide security for her family. When she arrives back in Boston she learns that she is the terrorists prime target as well as more bombing targets. Alivia Morgan was instrumental in the take down of a terrorist leader wile in the Army and now some of his followers are out for revenge.
What transpires is a series of battles between NEST and a terrorist cell in Boston where Alivia is the person in the cross hairs. She is captured and escapes (several times) before the final page. It was a good keep reading tale and I will follow up on more of her adventures.
Profile Image for David Pospisil.
613 reviews3 followers
November 4, 2022
Great terror thriller.
Loved the characters and the action.
Would have been a 5 except at some point the escapes and amount of punishment that Liv took just became unrealistic.
I do look forward to the next book in the series.
Profile Image for Lynn Worton.
869 reviews31 followers
October 28, 2017
This is the first book in a new series which follows the New England Special Terrorist Division (NEST for short). I loved it!

Alivia Morgan is a fantastic character. She is capable, strong and determined. When a terrorist cell targets her in retribution for her killing one of their leaders in an earlier mission, Alivia finds herself in a fight to the death. Held hostage, but knowing her team is looking for her, she is determined to bring the cell down. As the danger increases and the threat to innocents rises, can she stop them in time?

Having read this author's previous Escape trilogy, when he contacted me with regards to reading a complimentary copy of this book, I eagerly accepted as I knew I would be taken on an amazing roller coaster ride of not only danger but emotion. However, I also purchased a copy of this book when it became available to pre-order and re-read it as soon as it was released. This review is based on my own opinion and have not received remuneration for it.

As I said previously, I knew I would be taken on an emotional journey. However, I wasn't expecting the intensity, though in hind-sight I should have anticipated it. The story is told through mainly Alivia's point of view, but other characters, including the bad guys also have their say. I was pulled in from the first page and didn't put the book down until I had finished it.

The reader is introduced to the NEST team. NEST is one of several anti-terrorist task forces set up after the 9/11 attacks. The leader of the group is Director Luis Huerta and he is hands-on in his approach to leading the team. An ex-sniper, he has lots of experience in war. Then there are several other operatives that work under him, including Alivia and JJ. There is a hint of romance to go along with the danger as Alivia and JJ are involved in a forbidden relationship.

Then there are the bad guys. They are not the most pleasant of people and have the intention of causing as much chaos and terror as they can. The leader of the terrorist cell, Syed Ashear, has a personal grudge against Alivia and is determined to use her as a pawn in his deadly game against those he sees as infidels and nonbelievers.

I found myself holding my breath several times when reading as the intensity was almost unrelenting. There are some lighter scenes to counteract some of the more gruesome aspects of the storyline, but the fast pace kept me wanting to know what was going to happen next. Although this book has a fast pace, it is not rushed. The author has a talent for describing scenes in such vivid detail that it made it easy to picture and it ran like a movie in my mind's eye. In fact, I think this book would make a good movie thriller or TV series similar to NCIS. There are scenes of terror, as well as car chases, gun fights and explosions. Just when I reached the end of the book (or so I thought) with a feeling of happiness, the author throws a curve ball and ends the story on a chilling note in the epilogue. It doesn't quite end in a cliffhanger, but it's close and sets the reader up for the next book. I hope he's busy writing it because I am dying to read it!

David Antocci has written a thrilling first book to what looks to be a fantastic new series. His characters are extremely lifelike and this made the story feel incredibly real. I said in my review of Escape: Dead End that this is an author to watch, and I was right. I love his fast paced writing style, and the story flow is fantastic. I have already added this author to my favourite authors list, and will definitely read more of his books in the future.

Although there are no explicit scenes of a sexual nature, I do not recommend this book to young readers, or those of a nervous disposition, or those who may be affected by a triggering event due to extreme violence and/or abuse and/or terrorism. I highly recommend this book if you love crime thrillers, suspense novels and/or military fiction. - Lynn Worton
Profile Image for Cynthia Hilston.
Author 25 books264 followers
November 6, 2017
While I am not normally one to pick up a thriller, this novel turned out to be one of those pleasant surprises. From the very first word of this page-turner, I couldn’t stop reading. I was reminded of watching a fast-paced action movie. The scenes in this well-written novel certainly kept me wanting to know what would happen next!

David Antocci’s novel opens with an Islamic extremist suicide bomber standing in a crowd in Boston, where a Congresswoman is about to speak. You know it’s not going to end well. NEST, New England Special Terrorist Division, of Homeland Security is on it, but they have the wrong suspect. As imagined, the bomb goes off, killing and injuring several people, including two NEST officers.

We shift to a heartwarming scene of a young woman named Alivia Morgan playing football with her nephew outside her parents’ home. She has finally been given a break from serving her country, but after the Boston atrocity, she is called in.

It turns out the terrorists set off the bomb to get back at Alivia. It’s personal because Alivia led a mission to find and kill an Islamic extremist leader. Being a female that high in position went viral back home for her heroism, so with her name and face all over the media, there was no hiding from the world what she did…even though she didn’t want the recognition and hoped to return to a more peaceful life of serving her country back home instead of across the sea.

Now it’s become a game for the terrorists. They demand the U.S. government hand over Alivia to them or more bombs will go off. While Homeland Security doesn’t wish to give in, Alivia insists on playing along, in the hopes that the U.S. will prevail by saving her and taking down her captors.

It’s certainly a scary situation to imagine yourself in Alivia’s shoes. What’s to say the terrorists won’t set off more bombs anyway? What’s to stop them from killing her right away? The stakes drive higher and higher as the story advances, so you can see why this novel is a real page-turner.

In addition to the gripping plot, the characters’ dialogue is spot-on for what I would imagine soldiers talking like when working under pressure. There’s no sugar-coating things, yet there is an underlying tenderness between Alivia and her boss, Luis, as well as her secret boyfriend, fellow solider JJ, who has been injured by the terrorists.

Antocci certainly did his research for this novel. When the team who is tracking Alivia is busy at work with computers and maps, the detail of their work is amazing. I would believe the author has actually worked in such a facility because these scenes are written so well.

So, how high to the stakes go? To tell you more would ruin this great novel, so I highly recommend you get a copy of this newly released book and give it a read!
Profile Image for Alan McBee.
8 reviews
January 3, 2020
I didn't get far because a line took me out of the story

I enjoy reading all kinds of stuff. Thrillers and action books are generally faves of mine.

That said, if the hero of a story is a woman, I only care that she is clever, effective, and not cruel.

Oh, let me be clear:

If the hero of a story is EITHER a man OR a woman, I only care that he, she, they are clever, effective, and not cruel.

I do not need to be told why the hero or heroine is physically attractive to everyone, including me.

So the line on page 18:

"She often found herself having to prove that she was more than a beautiful face and flawless curves, or having to downplay her looks to avoid the attention."


It just yanked me out of the story. It's not the only place where it happens. The next paragraph continues to marvel at her curves.

I stopped reading there, because it seemed to prompt worthless thoughts from me about the protagonist. Is she going to out-curve her foes? Will her enemies stop attacking the moment they see how flawless those curves are? Or am I supposed to just marvel at how a woman can be smart, capable, and attractive to me?

I get that we all want to fantasize about being in the place of the protagonist, or even relating to the hero(ine) of the story. But let me figure out what she or he actually looks like and whether or not I find him or her attractive in this way. Maybe it's okay for another character to have described her to someone else in the story, but it's not okay for the author to tell me that I should find myself attracted to her.

I'm not a strident feminist, but this careful description was clearly intended to make me find the heroine sexually attractive, above whatever remarkable features were true about her capabilities or character. Maybe I should have expected this.

Even so, I want the author to just describe the character without trying to elicit attraction from me, and only describe the features that make a difference in portraying the character of the heroine or hero, if you please.

Please just tell the story. If you need to be told why someone is sexy, you probably need to read a different genre of (ahem) story-telling.
Profile Image for Gerard E. Trigo.
168 reviews2 followers
February 1, 2020
Quick read, but too many unbelievable escapes by protagonist added to the continued support of the stupid and immoral idea of torture providing information that is timely or reliable. This was known from the Joint US/British study in the early 50's of the effectiveness of torture by the Germans in WWII, which for some reason was reclassified in the 70's. The conclusion was identical to the report on the Iraq torture by the US for the senate after Bush's disastrous use of Torture in the Iraq war. Torture is:
A: Rarely timely.
B: Never Reliable,
C: Problems with reintegrating the units involved in the torture into society is a problem.

The study of the information gained and used through torture by the Germans revealed one more problem, the information they accepted as reliable was often more harmful to their cause than beneficial. I have no idea why that seminal and complete study was declassified in the late 50's and then reclassified in the early 70's or why it is not being used today to combat the idiots who wish to use torture as a tool of intelligence.
Profile Image for Kim.
701 reviews10 followers
December 30, 2017
I received this free e-book from Amazon and I am voluntarily writing a review. Alivia is a NEST Agent( New England Special Terrorist Division) who has a terrorist cell group hunting her. Years ago while serving as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan she took her their leader Nassir. Now a recruiting bureaucracy has put her in the spotlight trying to entice woman into service drawing the attention to her and putting her in the crosshairs of a terrorist group whose goal is to behead her in front of the world while simultaneously setting off multiple suicide bombers killing thousands. This is a fast paced action read that never lets up until the last word.
176 reviews
May 31, 2021
this was a very fast page turner. Right from the start I knew that this would be a book that I was going to enjoy because of all the action that almost started from the first page and continued from there. I had not read any of this authors work prior to this book but will quickly change that as soon as I get done with this review. The story line fit right in with the events happening in todays world, the graphic description of the events of the story were very believable with things going on in the US today. I highly recommend this book to everyone that enjoys an action packed story that doesn't release you until the last pass of the book.
Profile Image for Greer Andjanetta.
1,425 reviews7 followers
December 27, 2021
Another story of Iranian terrorists vowing to wreak havoc and slaughter on the USA. This time they are infuriated about the influence, power, dress habits and conventions of American women. Fittingly the new American superhero is a woman who overcomes kidnapping and multiple injuries to prevail and kill dozens of bad guys (i.e. Iranians). Apparently this woman killed a terrorist leader in earlier times and nothing will do except they execute her in a publicized video. Mildly amusing reading assuming you are willing to suspend belief in reality.
30 reviews3 followers
November 14, 2019
Jump in, you will not regret

No page is dull. A thorough action adventure. You might have read few fictions with more or less same plot. But the ride is more exciting and each action scenerio is well written as if you are watching a movie. Alivia and JJ is a lethal combination ensuing all the way an excited read. Once you tried one book, you will go for all in the series.
10 reviews
December 12, 2020
A Good Timely Story

This book kept me going from page one till the last. I basically read the story in one sitting . Alicia was just short of Wonder Woman, but at least she wasn't comp!early invincible. I have a difficult time getting into stories if they try to portray the female character as MACHO LADY. This may play well with feminists, but I feel that you can stretch reality just so far before it becomes wishful thinking. Thank You for a good story.
Profile Image for Sheila Walker.
461 reviews1 follower
January 5, 2021
Woman in a man's world and boy can she play hard

NEST an agency working to keep their country and its people safe, that was until a group of terrorist decided they wanted payback for the lives taken on their own soil and Alivia was their main target. Fast pace blood and thunder captured escape and captured again and the finally was at the outdoor music concert where thousands would be. A highly exciting book there is no strolling along its run run run all the way
232 reviews
April 13, 2023
Fast-paced thriller

It seems very relevant after 9/11. I often found myself looking at people's behavior, suspecting things left where they shouldn't be or out of place. I've worked with people of every nationality and they were all normal folks. I still find myself being cautious of my surroundings.
A fast read because you don't want to stop until the outcome is resolved.
Characters are not exactly James Bond, but resilient nontheless. Looking for the sequel.
695 reviews3 followers
May 17, 2021
This was what I call a write by numbers novel. Good guys go in shapes with a number 1. Good guys pals go in 2. Bad guys go in 3. Bad guys cohorts go in 4. Innocent bystanders go in 5. Pushy politicians go in 6. Good guys grumpy boss goes in 7. And when it's all done you have the picture you knew you would when you started.
Profile Image for Martin Leonard.
25 reviews
November 14, 2019
Good read

Decent book, fun to read. Characters were rather bland and cookie cutterish. Action was good but didn't feel quite real and a very sad lack of detailing throughout. If you are looking for a pleasant quick read that has decent action, this isn't a bad choice.
Profile Image for Sandy.
1,005 reviews16 followers
January 4, 2020
NEST: Retribution

Excellent suspenseful crime thriller about terrorists and the government agencies that pursue then. A secret romance between two agents may be breaking the rules but makes for an interesting story.
569 reviews3 followers
May 31, 2021
Suspenseful thriller!

This book was really a "I can't put you down one. The action was non-stop throughout with never a dull moment. It goes to show what terrorists will do further their cause.
14 reviews
January 4, 2018
Enjoyable

Was a book that kept you reading. I like a a book that keeps you reading to see what happened.
Profile Image for Joyce.
1,665 reviews9 followers
January 6, 2018
Action thriller!

A division of homeland security, NEST went after terrorist threats trying to neutralize them before they could carry out their murderous plans.
29 reviews1 follower
November 4, 2019
Awesome story!!!

Story line was great , kept me on the edge of my chair, just had to read it til the end.

Thanks for letting me read this book!!!
Profile Image for Deborah.
152 reviews1 follower
November 11, 2019
Alicia rules

Great story that never slowed down. Alicia is a great character who totally carries the story. I am ready for the next story. Kudos!Loved
286 reviews6 followers
December 18, 2019
Thriiling read

Non stop action made it hard to put down. Well written with interesting characters. Agent Alivia is one tough chick!
459 reviews
December 8, 2020
Great

Book. I had a hard time putting this page turner down. Well written with great characters. Action throughout! I do looking forward to reading the next book.
196 reviews
December 11, 2020
Excellent book very fast reading

Had lots of action. Was based on a lot that is happening now a days. Alicia is very good at her job.
18 reviews
December 13, 2020
Riveting

Action never stops. Be prepared to read it in one sitting because you won't be able to put it down. Hope this gets turned into a movie with Mark Wahlberg as JJ.
539 reviews21 followers
December 14, 2020
Good story. Solid 4 stars. Anti-terrorist plot with a decent amount of suspense.
8 reviews
December 19, 2020
It was very fast pace and had twists and turns I didn’t expect. It keeps out on your toes the entire time. Very good read.
Profile Image for Sharon.
104 reviews
Read
December 25, 2020
No time to catch your breath

A very suspenseful read with non-stop action. I love Alivia's character and her ability to take care of whatever come s her way.
45 reviews
December 26, 2020
Well written, nicely plotted

A well written and nicely plotted book. Too much explicit violence for my taste but I’m sure many will appreciate the tight execution.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews

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