Consumer Outlook

Good as a standalone novel.

Reviewed: 07-08-24

This story doesn’t focus on an apocalyptic setting like many of Franklin Horton’s other works. It does center on similar themes of terrorism and unhinged people. Some of the social media and technology are slightly dated (it was written in 2018), but the general idea is still valid. The characters are well-developed, and I swear Victor is a real person. You feel both pity and disgust for him. Other than a few instances where some injuries are not duly sustained as they would be in real life, I enjoyed the plotline and storytelling. It was a good read for Franklin Horton’s only standalone novel.

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On to bigger things

Reviewed: 05-09-24

I like the direction this story took. Changes to Ty’s situation make better use of his personality and skills. Several situations felt exaggerated and unbelievable if not physically impossible, but the story was good overall. I enjoyed it and felt satisfaction with the ending. Since it left off on a bit of a cliffhanger, I do hope Franklin Horton returns to this series at some point. Granted, I don't like it as much as his other works.

What I liked least was the audiobook narration. I realize Books 1 and 2 also had different narrators, but this third one was not to my liking. This one has a more robotic sound, with long pauses after every sentence. It broke up the flow. The style reminded me more of an old Dick Tracy, cheesy detective radio program. I almost didn’t make it past the first section, but am glad I held out. The narrator’s character voices were decent, and I got more used to the pacing after a while. Still, it's a long way off from what I would have preferred.

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1 person found this helpful

Slow to build but exciting by the end

Reviewed: 04-25-24

The first 3/4 of this book was on the slow side, but the last 1/4 made up for it double-fold. Some books start with a bang and end on a predictable note, whereas this one does the opposite. Exciting, engaging, and even heartfelt before the last page was finished.

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Standalone series by Franklin Horton

Reviewed: 04-08-24

In a societal collapse unrelated to The Borrowed World, Dan is a character in his own series. There is no crossover with The Borrowed World like there was for The Mad Mick and Locker Nine. The character of Dan feels similar to Ty Stone from Hard Trauma. Carl reminded me quite a bit of Lloyd, but his presence in the story was short-lived. Overall, this was a refreshing read of an original by Franklin Horton. While I felt it ended abruptly, and there were several unrealistic situations, I still quite enjoyed the read and look forward to continuing this series.

Kevin Pierce, who read many of Franklin Horton's other books is spot on as always. That is, assuming you can forgive the lack of proper accents.

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Like a video game

Reviewed: 03-22-24

This tale contains a mix of elements from games/stories like Fallout 4 (by Bethesda), Starcraft, Mad Max, and Aliens. In fact, the beginning borrowed so many elements of Fallout 4 that I almost thought it was a knockoff. Thankfully it takes on more originality as the story progresses. Since I like these genres, I did end up liking the book as a whole. A mix of SF, Apocalypse, and even a smidge of Western. The characters were believable most of the time and much of the dialogue felt realistic. There were moments I got confused with certain happenings or details, but that could be due to my mind drifting at parts. It was a little jarring how the person I thought was the protagonist took a backseat to another character introduced later in the tale. Overall though, it was an enjoyable read and I plan to get the next book in the series.

The narrator was good at expressing excitement during action scenes. But I swear he kept pronouncing Hayden as Ayden. That, and his voice for Isaac seemed to change as the story progressed.

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A simple, yet inspirational man.

Reviewed: 03-14-24

Having watched the 1941 movie as a youth, this story made a lasting impression on me. I rewatched the movie recently so felt inspired to search for a book. I came across this one and was glad to have a mix of commentary and York's own words from his diary. I learned more about the man, his time as a youth, his passions, his perspective on history, his take on faith, and his endeavors that took place after the events of the movie. He was a simple man, a humble person, and a good model of what it means to be faithful.

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Stephen King type characters

Reviewed: 02-29-24

This story is geared toward adults, and, IMO, adults who like Stephen King type of characters. Many of them have human traits that make them both likable and detestable at the same time. That said, there are characters with [seemingly] more pure intentions giving the story some redeeming qualities. It’s just difficult to know who the “bad guys” are at times. I like the mystery and the POV switching isn’t too jarring. It feels like it could fit into a zombie genre except that the “creatures” are something different. More menacing and mysterious than zombies. The description of them reminds me a bit of No-Face in Spirited Away (without the mask). Parts of this are akin to a mature version of The Twilight Zone. My overall feelings on this story are mixed. While I liked it overall, it could be overly crude and disheartening at times. There's an underlining brilliance making it worthy of 4 stars, yet that gets overshadowed at times. I didn’t feel driven and hooked as with other tales, but I did finish it within a month. I plan on returning to Season Two at some point but am not rushing to do so.

There’s a mix of narrators. In general, they do a good job for the characters they represent, but when the characters merge and other narrators do their voice the changes can feel a bit off.

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I have mixed feelings about this one

Reviewed: 01-22-24

Goodreads recommended Rise of the Ranger to me based on my love for the King's Dark Tidings series by Kel Kade, but they aren’t alike. From the characters to the sexual content to the story arch. They are very different. What I think I liked least is the characters. They all seem shallow. Self-centered. While a few of them grew on me by the end, it was only by a little bit. Another thing is that the story starts with a ton of different characters and groups. It was difficult to memorize all the different names, and the transitions felt jarring. That said, I did like how the author brought some of these characters together to form larger groups as the story progressed. While I was never fully engaged, it did pull me in here and there. As an Indie author myself, I admire what Philip C. Quaintrell accomplished. There are some signs of brilliance in the story, and I can see how some readers would enjoy it. Unfortunately for me, it just didn’t resonate. Perhaps I’ll check out the second book at some point to give the world of Verda a second try, but for now, I’m moving on.

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Not a bad story.

Reviewed: 12-18-23

3-star rating = Pretty good. I noticed some signs of Dexter-like charistics here and there. It's a slow story with seemingly irrelevant parts that drag a bit, but I didn't get bored. Jeff Lindsay did a good job of making the reader sympathetic to the main character. Besides the ending, which I felt was exaggerated and somewhat unbelievable, much of the story had a realistic undertone. It was written in 1994, so is a bit dated, but having been alive then I was able to recall that period. I'll probably check out the second book one of these days.

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I should never have doubted the genius of Kel Kade

Reviewed: 12-04-23

I purchased this book over a year ago, but I only got to reading it now. My hesitance was due to being about a side character in the King's Dark Tidings series. While I like the character of Wesson, I didn’t think an entire book dedicated to him would be nearly as good as following Rezkin’s adventures. Boy, was I wrong. I mistakenly doubted the genius of Kel Kade--not to mention the audio narration of Nick Podehl. I got through the entire 16 and a half hours of audio in only a few days. It accompanied me during a long house project, which made the task less arduous. The story and situations Wesson was put into had me growing fonder of his character, sympathizing on a greater scale. Had I known it would be so good, I’d have read it before reading book 5 in King's Dark Tidings. I might read that one again now that I better understand Wesson’s part in it. There is every indication that Tales of Terralor is a first book rather than a standalone and I hope that is the case. I’m looking forward to book 2 if it is ever written and released. Kel Kade is truly an amazing storyteller.

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