Warrior Within

Surviving the Dead, Volume 3

By: James N. Cook

Narrated by: Jordan Leigh

Length: 14 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

There are many who do not wish for peace.

As the Free Legion declares war on the survivors of Hollow Rock, Gabriel and Eric find themselves drawn ever deeper into the growing conflict. Aided by a fledgling militia, and a small contingent of federal operatives, the two warriors must find a way to defeat an unyielding enemy who threatens to destroy all they have grown to love.

To win, Gabriel must become the leader he was born to be, while Eric, haunted by his actions since the Outbreak, must descend deeper into the heart of darkness.

In this battle, nothing is what it seems. The tides of power are shifting, and soon, a danger even greater than the living dead will rise.

Surviving the Dead I: No Easy Hope

Surviving the Dead II: This Shattered Land

Surviving the Dead III: Warrior Within

©2013 James N. Cook (P)2013 James N. Cook

surprisingly good

Did Jordan Leigh do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

jordan leigh is a new narrator. he does a pretty good job differentiating the characters; however, my biggest caveat of the story is how he narrates steve. i kept thinking of those cheesey gov't sponsored voice overs from the movie starship troopers. jordan's portrayal of steve is too cartoony. another reviewer, greg, says jordan's portrayal of gabe is kind of like batman. i agree, but i got used to it. the new narrator isn't bad, but i did ding that part of my rating one star.

Any additional comments?

why do i say "surprisingly good?" at the end of book 2, you kind of get the idea that the story is going to take a turn - a turn away from battling with zombies to clashing with another group of survivors. as a zombie junkie, i wasn't sure if i was going to like the change in plot. after finishing the story, i can safely say that i think this is the best book in the series.

at the end of book 2, eric and gabe run into steve, the green beret eric met and didn't really get along with in book 1. steve offers them refuge in hollow rock and treatment for eric's gunshot wound, but they need to trade something in return. elizabeth, the mayor, wants them to train some of the citizens of hollow rock so they can defend themselves against the free legion, another group of survivors who've been looting all of the other towns.

as book 3 opens, 6 weeks have passed and eric and gabe are training a group of volunteers. i was worried that this would be cliche and boring, but it ended up actually being interesting and exciting. the amount of the story devoted to training is just right, and you believe the story the author's spinning.

the author does a good job of building the suspense of a new enemy- the free legion. again, i wasn't sure of the direction of the story, but this is a nice twist! eric is tasked with infiltrating the free legion, and i was really leary about how the author was going to do this, but i must say this was my favorite part of the story. it's horrifically delicious listening. lol

this leads me to pacing. the author does an excellent job of pacing the story. he continuously keeps the story moving. the author doesn't linger or waste too much time on one part of the plot. it is kind of teasing though! the overall story is broken into 3 parts, and i kind of wished the author had squeezed out a little more time with each part. must have been the editor! lol but the writing is much stronger in this book than the previous 2.

a few new characters on both sides are introduced, and they are unique enough to stand apart in your mind. they add depth and flavor to the story, especially the evil ones. i enjoyed listening to how survivors are indoctrinated into the free legion. it's heartbreaking and diabolical!

overall, a very good story! even though the zombies are less of the plot, i enjoyed the direction of the story! now if james cook would just get to writing the next chapter in the series! lol btw...he's got a good blog and an interesting story.

Hooked on this series!

This book series gets better and better with each book. I look forward to the next in the series and I also think the narrator does a pretty good job as well.

everything is great

everything is great, it was engaging and hard to find a stopping point
I still wanted to hurt string or so moment. but no one is Garrett

Great Series

I absolutely love the story and series.Cant wait for the rest.Great zombie apocalypse series to read

great story

love the progression of the story. The characters are well defined and everything comes together nicely. would recommend.

A Non-stop thrill ride

A non-stop action thriller which continues the story of Gabe and Eric. The zombies take a back seat in this book to the marauders that threaten Hollow Rock and the action starts from page one and doesn’t stop. The story is well written and give you a couple of different views from both main characters and does well the paint a vivid picture. The characters are a bit static (hey it’s the 3rd book in the series how much can they grow) but they’re fun and have both their strengths and weaknesses. If you liked the other books in the story jump on this one as well!

Mr. Leigh does an excellent job with all the characters and really adds to the story.

Good but the narrator has changed.

Any additional comments?

I'm not 100% done with this yet but it's good so far. The one thing that makes it somewhat difficult is that the narrator is different than the previous two. There's nothing wrong about this narrator but all the characters voices are now different.

Loved It

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Good story with a lot of action. Totally enjoyed.

What about Jordan Leigh’s performance did you like?

I liked the performance. Good use of his voice to bring the characters to life, especially Gabriel. Did not really like the Captain Kirk inflection on Steve, but the rest was great.

Who was the most memorable character of Warrior Within and why?

Gabriel. Hands down.

Great Series!

Would you consider the audio edition of Warrior Within to be better than the print version?

I listen to this series because of the narration of Guy Williams! I was greatly disappointed that they went with another narrator, but Jordan Leigh did an OK job. I travel a ton and live with my audio book collections. It gets me through the long 12 hour trips and makes them seem like an hour or two. This series is SOOOO good that after listening to the last book, Fire in Winter, I started listening to No Easy Hope all over again!

What other book might you compare Warrior Within to and why?

The Joe Ledger series are fantastic, and I rate this series by James Cook right up there with the Joseph Edwin Ledger character and story lines. A very close second to Joe Ledger!

Have you listened to any of Jordan Leigh’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, I like the narration of Guy Williams much better, but Jordan Leigh was very good too. I just don't like changing out a great narrator in a series when it is going great.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, they all are....

great story

The story was great and Mr Cook is an excellent writer, but the narration is considerably lacking. Not sure why they changed narrator's in the middle of an otherwise excellent story. The original narrator is considerably better in my opinion.