took only minutes for human history to derail in a mushroom cloud -- now more than a century later, whatever destiny lies ahead for humanity is bound by the rules that have governed survival since the dawn of time: part luck, part skill and part hard experience. For Ryan Cawdor and his band, survival in Deathlands means keeping hold of what you have -- or losing it along with your life.
Born to Die
In the ancient canyons of New Mexico, the citizens of Little Pueblo prepare to sacrifice Ryan and his companions to demons locked inside a twentieth-century dam project. But in a world where nuke-spawned predators feed upon weak and srong alike, Ryan knows avenging eternal spirits aren't a part of the game. Especially when these freaks spit yellow acid -- and their creators are the whitecoat masterminds of genetic recombination, destroyed by theri mutant offspring born of sin and science gone horribly wrong...
This is the first Deathlands book I've encountered so I'm unfamiliar with the landscape and characters (if they repeat, I'm not sure). It was unnecessary to consume this book though. Some survivors of the wastes come upon what seems to be a bit of wonderful oasis but quickly turns nasty. The villagers there sacrifice their injured and elderly and anyone else they feel they need to, to demons living below a dam. They also treat many of the citizens as second-class, and women as breeding stock.
The first half was ok, with the interactions with the villagers. Their cult like religion and their various characters were interesting enough, if not typical. The second half of the book, when the survivors get thrown into the dam, is when it got much more interesting. Obviously inspired by the xenomorphs of Alien, the creatures were quite terrifying. They are explained away by some pseudo-science, but it doesn't really matter, this is pulp fiction at it's best. Flimsy characters, fast action plot, and excitement.
What made this even better was that this was "GRAPHIC AUDIO, a movie in your ears" that I listened to. The audio was filled with multiple voice actors (that were mediocre at acting), sound effects, and exciting accompanying music. The clicking sfx for the aliens demons aka trannys (transmutated creatures) really made them creepy.
I wouldn't call it a great book, but it was fun. I generally really like post-apocalypse stories, and this was a lot like Fallout the game turned book, which I've always liked. I would look for more in the series in this audio format.