Islands of Rage and Hope by John Ringo

BOOK 3 IN THE BLACK TIDE RISING SERIES FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR. Sequel to To Sail a Darkling Sea and Under a Graveyard Sky. A hardened group of survivors fights back against a zombie plague that has brought down civilization.

With the world consumed by a devastating plague that drives humans violently insane, what was once a band of desperate survivors bobbing on a dark Atlantic ocean has now become Wolf Squadron, the only hope for the salvation of the human race. Banding together with what remains of the U.S. Navy, Wolf Squadron, and its leader Steve Smith, not only plans to survive—he plans to retake the mainland from the infected, starting with North America. 

The next step: produce a vaccine. But for do that, Wolf Squadron forces led by Smith’s terrifyingly precocious daughters Sophia and Faith must venture into a sea of the infected to obtain and secure the needed materials. And if some of the rescued survivors turn out to be more than they seem, Smith just might be able to pull off his plan. 

Once more, exhausted and redlining Wolf Squadron forces must throw themselves into battle, scouring the islands of the Atlantic for civilization's last hope.


Review:

XO again, and let me just say, Zombies, Zombies, Zombies.  Book three in the Black Tide Rising series does not disappoint.  The zombies still run amok on 99% of the land on planet Earth.  Wolf Squadron has cleared countless ships, and the former USMC base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  After all that, a few jerk reality show types should be easy, right?  Well, unfortunately for the Smith family, even a zombiepocalypse seems to break through the stupids.  Steve, Faith, and Sophia, and the rest of Wolf Squadron are still at it, finally setting their sights on land.  While the islands they clear might be small, the meaning is huge.  Mankind is taking back its planet, one sandy beach at a time.  Ringo’s world continues to spin on, and a few thousand survivors of the Zombiepocalypse are doing everything they can to return things to normal.  Well, as normal as it can be with a 13 year old Marine lieutenant, a 15 year old Navy ensign and their dad, former SAS paratrooper, now leading the US Navy Wolf Squadron, in charge of the return.  

The squadron needs access to medical supplies, and fast.  It’s been 9 months since the outbreak, and people trapped in cargo holds, cruise ship rooms, and other trapped, enclosed spaces will do almost anything *ahem, wink wink, nudge nudge* to pass the time.  There are also a few hundred US Navy submariners trapped in their subs, in deep (pun, yes) need of the vaccine.  Both of these things mean that Wolf Squadron needs medical supplies, and the re-taking of Gitmo was not the treasure trove they were hoping for.  Just for fun, the remaining US Government has a fun little surprise for Wolf Squadron.  The British government might just have survived.  Time to plan a rescue mission.

Ringo’s characters are likable, and he has a habit of even making you respect, if not like, the ones that you’d hate anywhere else.  And to keep in interesting, he’s adding new characters with each new group that are rescued.  The series appears to have no end in sight, and I look forward to bringing you the next, and the next, and the next.  

XO out...

To Sail a Darkling Sea by John Ringo

BOOK II IN THE BLACK TIDE RISING SERIES FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR. Sequel to Under a Graveyard Sky. A family of survivors fights back against a zombie plague that has brought down civilization.

A World Cloaked in Darkness

With human civilization annihilated by a biological zombie plague, a rag-tag fleet of yachts and freighters known as Wolf Squadron scours the Atlantic, searching for survivors. Within every abandoned liner and carrier lurks a potential horde, safety can never be taken for granted, and death and turning into one of the enemy is only a moment away.

The Candle Flickers

Yet every ship and town holds the flickering hope of survivors. One and two from lifeboats, a dozen from a fishing village, a few hundred wrenched by fury and fire from a ship that once housed thousands...

Light a Flame

Now Wolf Squadron must take on another massive challenge: clear the assault carrier USS Iwo Jima of infected before the trapped Marines and sailors succumb to starvation. If Wolf Squadron can accomplish that task, an even tougher trial waits: an apocalyptic battle to win a new dawn for humanity. The war for civilization begins as the boats of the Wolf Squadron become a beacon of hope on a Darkling Sea.


Review:

XO, back again.  For those of you that read my brain-chompingly excited review of John Ringo’s Under the Graveyard Sky, I’m pleased as a Zombie with a water bottle to bring you the second in the series, To Sail a Darkling Sea (Read the first one, you’ll get that joke.  Doesn’t make it funny, though…).  Ringo continues to explore the world and its changes after a virus turns most of the planet into Zombies.  The Smith family is back, this time backed by the last remaining threads of the United States Government and Military, as Wolf Squadron.  A few survivors from this boat,  a few dozen from that ship, some very unhappy Marines from the USS Iwo Jima, and pretty soon we’ve for a floating zombie attack crew. 

With the legitimacy of being named a squadron of the US Navy (Reserve), and the rank to back it up, Commander Smith must lead his rag tag group of men and women, young and old, as they continue to sweep the waters for survivors.  With now Lt. Faith Smith, USMC (Still only 13 years old) leading the ‘clearance teams’ cleaning off infected in every ship they find, and her group of seasoned, hardened, professional Marines following her around with a serious case of idol worship, things are starting to look almost routine, maybe even easy.  Then dad gets around to telling everyone his plan.  It’s time to take back some real estate.  Not just any real estate, Steve wants to visit Cuba, and Guantanamo Bay.  There, he hopes to find more USN and USMC still alive and kicking, as well as ammo, guns, and the medical supplies they need to make a vaccine for the survivors, including those shadowing and supporting from the Silent Service of the US Navy fast attack submarine fleet, who are helping, but trapped in their subs from the fear of infection, since they were never exposed to the original virus. 

Now, for anyone else, any other group, taking a handful of mismatched ships, hundreds of random people with lots of seagoing experience, to people who could only find the top side of the cruise ship by following the arrows, getting from the Canary islands to GitMo would be impossible.  For Wolf Squadron, it’s just another walk in the park. 

XO out...

Under a Graveyard Sky by John Ringo

A family of survivors who fight back against a zombie plague that has brought down civilization.Zombies are real. And we made them. Are youprepared for the zombie apocalypse? The Smith family is, with the help of a few marines.

When an airborne “zombie” plague is released, bringing civilization to a grinding halt, the Smith family, Steven, Stacey, Sophia and Faith, take to the Atlantic to avoid the chaos. The plan is to find a safe haven from the anarchy of infected humanity. What they discover, instead, is a sea composed of the tears of survivors and a passion for bringing hope.

For it is up to the Smiths and a small band of Marines to somehow create the refuge that survivors seek in a world of darkness and terror. Now with every continent a holocaust and every ship an abattoir, life is lived beneath a graveyard sky.





Review:

As the XO, I am second in command of this ship Nat and I call our lives.  You’d think that this would mean that once, JUST ONE DAMN TIME, I could get the better half to watch a Zombie movie.  Or show.  Or commercial.  Of even a thinly veiled joke or witty anecdote.  But if it has Zombies, it’s a no go.  So, I have to take matters into my own hands.  No, not that way you perverts. 

To satisfy my urges (ZOMBIE urges, really people.  Really), I tend to devour (giggle) every Zombie movie I can get my hands on. Even the bad ones.  Even the TERRIBLY bad ones.  Oh my.  Here’s where I should provide a little back story.  I love Zombie stories.  I REALLY love Zombie stories.  From sitting on my dad’s couch in the mid 80’s, staying up too late to watch HBO, where I caught my first glimpse of Zombies.  (Should I keep capitalizing Zombies?  Yes, yes I should).  Return of the Living Dead was my first, and similar to my first kiss, it gave me nightmares for months.  However that did not stop me from watching it again, and again, and again, then adding more.  Zombie Master George Romero’s hits, the modern remakes, then my television got involved with The Walking Dead.  Through all of this, can I get someone in the chair next to me?  Under this lovely blanket made for two?  No, just a lonely XO, in the dark, watching his zombie movies. 

Then the birthday fairies got involved, or a family member, giving me a gift card, I don’t remember, really, and I suddenly had $50 to spend on books.  I log into the Interwebs, hole in my pocket and all, and I see a new series from one of my favorite authors, John Ringo.  Already a little giddy from the cover with the obligatory explosions and girls with assault rifles, I click on the link to read more.  “A family of survivors who fight back against a zombie plague that has brought down civilization.”

WHAT?!?!?! OH.MY.YES.PLEASE.

The action is fast, with the Smith family, semi-serious doomsday preppers with brains and guts as opposed to crackpot theories and tinfoil hats, setting their bug-out plan into motion within the first few pages of the book.  Ending up semi-stranded, in the middle of the ocean, not knowing if the boat they’re floating up to will have friendlies, zombies, or just bodies, is not a good way to raise a family.  Unless of course you’re Steve Smith.  And just wait until you meet his kids.  The characters are not warm and fuzzy.  They are no-nonsense, kick some zombie ass, do NOT mess with my family, heavily armed, sort of people, and right now, they are the only shining light on the planet Earth. First order of business is finding survivors, and to do that, they have to board ships, sometime as large as cruise liners, and do a door to door search.  And many of the original folks on that ship are no longer of the ‘non-zombie’ variety.  And there are 4 members of the Smith clan.  And the kids are 13 year old Faith, and 15 year old Sophia.  As they build their flotilla of salvaged ships and ragged survivors, they formulate a plan.  Today, survive and salvage, tomorrow, find people, next week, take back the planet.


XO out...

Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (Memoir, 18+)

* * * *

For fans of Tina Fey and David Sedaris-Internet star Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess, makes her literary debut.

When Jenny Lawson was little, all she ever wanted was to fit in. That dream was cut short by her fantastically unbalanced father (a professional taxidermist who created dead-animal hand puppets) and a childhood of wearing winter shoes made out of used bread sacks. It did, however, open up an opportunity for Lawson to find the humor in the strange shame spiral that is her life, and we are all the better for it.

Lawson's long-suffering husband and sweet daughter are the perfect comedic foils to her absurdities, and help her to uncover the surprising discovery that the most terribly human moments-the ones we want to pretend never happened-are the very same moments that make us the people we are today.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened is a poignantly disturbing, yet darkly hysterical tome for every intellectual misfit who thought they were the only ones to think the things that Lawson dares to say out loud. Like laughing at a funeral, this book is both irreverent and impossible to hold back once you get started (from GoodReads) 

Oh geez.  Although the above description from GoodReads is technically correct it does not truly prepare you for the hilarity that you will find in this book.  I laughed at almost every page.  Even when Jenny is describing some of the most awful blows life can deal you she is finding the humor in it as well.  Because really, sometimes all we can do is laugh until we cry.  Or in some cases, cry until we laugh.     

I first discovered Jenny Lawson the way many people did – when her blog post, “And That’s Why You Should Learn To Pick Your Battles”, went viral.  I laughed until I cried.  The entire fiasco described was something I could see me and Shel being involved in.  I would be Jenny, eyeing the giant overpriced chicken and Shel would be Laura, instigating trouble by encouraging me to buy said chicken.  And the Executive Officer would be the one shutting the door in the poor chicken’s face.  After reading that post, I was smitten.  

Jenny (we are totally on a first name basis) has a wonderfully random, bizarre and inappropriate sense of humor.  The way she chooses to remember her life experiences is a talent we should all strive for.  Or if that isn’t a talent you are interested in having (what idiot doesn’t want that talent?), you can at least look at her life experiences and be grateful that you fortunately never had it that bad.  Which I admit to doing at points.  For example, I was really sad when my dog died but at least MY dog didn’t try to RISE FROM THE DEAD!  And although I have inadvertently interrupted the Executive Officer’s conference calls before, I can honestly say that his co-workers have never heard this gem of impropriety during a conference call: “guess who just found the dead bodies I’ve been searching for? ME, MOTHER*@#$%&.  I found the dead bodies.”  These are the types of daily occurrences that define Jenny Lawson’s life.  And we thank her for it everyday. 

I think you can already guess that I am going to tell you to READ THIS BOOK.  I can say with certainty that in December, when I choose my top ten reads of 2012, Let’s Pretend This Never happened will be on it.  Thank you Jenny Lawson for quite literally making me laugh out loud for hours. 

Nat