Reviews – Almawt Virus Series – Days Since…: Thomas: Day 758 and Days Since…: Xavier: Day 853 by Robert Wilson

Days Since…: Thomas: Day 758 by Robert Wilson
Narrated by Matthew Crow
Series: Almawt Virus Series #1
Publisher: Power Shift Publishing, LLC
Publication Date: October 28, 2019
Date Read: January 7, 2020
Length: 4 hours 54 minutes
Source: Author
★★★★☆

What if you put your fate in the wrong hands? What if taking it back was your worst option?

A virus devastated the world, and humanity lies in ruin.

Army veteran Thomas Ricard lost everything but his life – and his adopted son, Joseph.

Two years later, Thomas serves the Second Alliance. They bring stability to the region’s survivors. They’re far from perfect. But chaos was worse.

Thomas wants more for himself. Simply surviving isn’t enough.

The opportunity comes when a band of human traffickers encroaches on the Second Alliance’s territory. Thomas must lead the strike team to stop them, but the mission’s loaded with a huge gamble.

If he succeeds, his family’s future is secure. Failure means a swift transfer and losing his son.

Can Thomas win through and protect his family?

Will the Second Alliance even honor the agreement if he does?

Amazon | Audible

This was a very good end of the world story. I spent a lot of time in the past year listening to books in this genre and am always on the lookout for something new. I was pretty excited to give this one a try. It is a really quick listen with plenty of action to keep the story moving forward. I am glad that I decided to take a chance on this book.

Illness has wiped out most of the population. There are still smaller groups trying to make a better world to survive in but there are other groups that have taken advantage of the situation. Thomas takes his responsibilities seriously. He takes care of a young boy, passing him off as his younger brother. He was in the military before the world fell apart and hope to gain the rank of soldier in his new group. He is put in charge of a mission that is important and dangerous.

This was a pretty exciting story with a lot of action. The mission wasn’t as straightforward as I first thought it might be. There were plenty of surprises along the way to keep things very interesting. There were some pretty horrible circumstances that he encountered in this story. Thomas was very smart and able to think through situations very quickly.

My only issue with the story is that there are a few sections of the book where Thomas has flashbacks to his life before. I did enjoy these parts but I thought that the transition to them could have been much stronger. It would have been nice to know that the narrative was jumping to a point in the past and I do wonder if it might have been indicated in some way in the written story. I tended to find myself wondering what was happening for a minute before I would realize that the story had shifted to one of Thomas’s memories.

Matthew Crow did a good job with the story. He isn’t my favorite narrator but I thought he handled the story well. I was not a fan of his female voices but this was really a very minor complaint. I wouldn’t hesitate to listen to his narration work again in the future.

I would recommend this book to fans of end of the world stories. I thought that this was a well-done story that kept me entertained from beginning to end. I wouldn’t hesitate to read more of Robert Wilson’s work in the future.

I received a review copy of this audiobook from the author/narrator via Audiobook Boom and have voluntarily left this review.

Days Since…: Xavier: Day 853 by Robert Wilson
Narrated by Matthew Crow
Series: Almawt Virus Series #2
Publisher: Power Shift Publishing, LLC
Publication Date: February 4, 2020
Date Read: April 8, 2020
Length: 5 hours
Source: Author
★★★★☆

What if your fate was put in the wrong hands? What if taking it back was your only option?

The Second Alliance presses on.

The town of River’s Edge is under their control. In two years since the virus, Xavier finds himself alone. His sister is dead. His mother is missing. His father is out searching for her.

He thought it couldn’t get any worse, but the Second Alliance proves him wrong – cracks in their facade reveal the grim truth of their presence.

While the other survivors submit to this harsh new reality, Xavier refuses to bend. Someone must ignite the revolution before the Second Alliance swallows the town whole. Alone, Xavier doesn’t stand a chance. But if defeat promises death, will anyone follow him into the darkness?

The world of Almawt seemed so simple before, but the second installment in the series will change your perspective on everything.

Amazon | Audible 

I decided to listen to this story about a world that has been destroyed by a virus in the middle of a pandemic.  Depending on your outlook, it is either the perfect time for this kind of story or not the right time at all.  It turned out that this was a good time for me to tackle this kind of story and I ended up really enjoying my time with this book.

This is the second book in the Almawt Virus series but it was a completely different point of view than we saw in the first book with very little connection.  It is my understanding that the third book really ties the first two books together but I feel like the first two books can both be read as stand-alone stories in a pinch.

This book follows Xavier.  Xavier is a rather normal teenage boy.  He has no special abilities and is alone in the world.  His sister died during the outbreak and his mom never came home from her position as a doctor at the local hospital.  After helping to form the community that Xavier lives in, his father left to find his mother and hasn’t been heard from since.  The Second Alliance has taken control of the community and things are changing but not for the better.  Xavier comes across some privileged information which helps him to see what is actually happening a lot more clearly.

This story was told from Xavier’s point of view in both the present day and in the past through flashbacks.  I expected to see some flashbacks in this story so I was really looking for them which helped to eliminate some of the confusion that I had with the first book in the series.  This was a story that was able to keep me guessing and I have to admit that I was completely surprised by the way it ended.

Matthew Crow did a good job with the story.  He has a very clear voice which I found very easy to follow.  I think he did a good job with all of the character voices which added to my enjoyment of the story.  I wouldn’t hesitate to listen to more of his narration work.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy end of the world stories.  I found Xavier to be a character that was easy to cheer on and I loved that the story kept me guessing until the very end.  I look forward to reading more of this series very soon!

I received a review copy of this audiobook from the author/narrator and have voluntarily left this review.

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