Dead Energy

The Alex Cave Series, Book 1

De: James M Corkill

Narrado por: Paul J McSorley

Alex Cave is leisurely cruising his sailboat in Puget Sound when a hysterical voice on an oil tanker begs for help on the radio! He sees the behemoth ship through his binoculars an instant before it is engulfed in a brilliant flash of white light, and when he responds to the mayday and arrives before the Coast Guard, he discovers the crew and 80,000 tons of crude oil have mysteriously vanished without a trace!

Alex Cave is just a geophysics teacher for a university in the town of Bozeman, Montana, USA, but he is also ex-CIA. The Director of National Security, Martin Donner, is his friend, and asks him to help the Coast Guard in solving what starts out as a small problem of stolen crude oil.

Initial thoughts are of a major oil leak, but none is found. When the bodies of the crew are found frozen to death on a mountaintop 150 miles away, Alex realizes there is more going on than just stealing oil.

Things go from bad to worse as more tankers are attacked and their crews killed. The few witnesses all claim to see a bright light and a rainbow effect surrounding the tankers, but how did it happen? The Alaska pipeline and west coast refineries are suddenly empty! Transportation of basic necessities cannot reach the cities!

Alex teams up with the supervisor for the All Alaska oil Company in Valdez Alaska, a man affectionately known as Bull by his crew, and Christa Avery, a physicist working with oil samples from the Alaska pipeline. Together they try to discover why all the oil is disappearing, and the mastermind behind the theft and murders. The only clue the trio has is a strange crystal that was found in the hold of one of the empty oil tankers. Under closer inspection, it seems the crystal is alive.

Meanwhile, people in the northwestern states are trying to survive, which has now become the one rule. The AOS, Army of Survival, initially recruits people who wish to learn the skill of survival. Now that skill is becoming a fact of life, and the army starts keeping people against their wills, and training them to become soldiers. John Everex, the new leader, is a man on a mission. He rules without compassion and kills without mercy. As one would expect, Everex and Alex's paths cross, with dire consequences for one of them.

Harold Woolley is a meek man, with a demanding wife and two teen age children. He becomes caught up in the struggle to survive, and mistakenly ends up at the AOS camp. When his lack of courage threatens his family, he tries to become the brave man needed to get them out of their desperate situation, but after being a coward his entire life, he doesn't think he can change.

Dead Energy has many different characters, and many different parts of the basic story, which all come together in the conclusion.

Each episode has one common thread tying each story into a series, but each episode is a new story, and can stand alone.

©2014 James M. Corkill (P)2016 James M. Corkill

Prestantious!

What did you love best about Dead Energy?

Omgoddess! This was an incredibly fast paced, well written thriller sci-fi book! The characters were deep, educated, and held fast convictions of individual belief, however wrong or immoral some could be.
The characters dealt with pains, grief, unrequited love, and hope. Even the villain didn't lose sight of their goals.
The book had inklings of typical chaos, but the similarity ended at that aspect. The climax was unexpected and could not have been guessed. It was unique and tied up all of the clues.

Which character – as performed by Paul J McSorley – was your favorite?

Paul J McSorley did a fabulous job with the dozens of characters in this book. His accent was perfect for the storytelling of the settings in this book.

Any additional comments?

I wasn't crazy about the rush of instaloves in the final chapters. It was not realistic and failed to complete this epic book. But a simple disappointment in this otherwise flawless and stay-up-all-night book.
For that reason, I'd DEFINITELY recommend this as a book to read on lazy days sans a To Do List deadline or the night before work or school!

Politics and Sci Fi always make a great mix

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the concept of something vaporising all the oil in the world - as an environmentalist, this concept alone was intriguing. The story keeps you guessing and I couldn't predict the ending: I appreciate a book where I can't predict how it's going to turn out and not all achieve that!

Any additional comments?

It's been a while since I've listened to, or read much real Sci-Fi, but this story reminded me what I used to enjoy so much about the genre. The book is well-rooted in a reality that we can all readily identify with, so the leap to the sci-fi part is easily made and that makes the book engaging. The book also has good characterisations

Great Story! Great Narration!

Typically I stay far away from books that are classified Sci-Fi, but was attracted to this one due to the narrator. I am so glad that I listened to this book! I would classify this listen as a thriller, with small amounts of Sci-fi. James M Corkill really impressed me with the character of Alex Cross and the vivid imagery in this book. I can't say enough good about it. Paul J McSorley performs this book spectacularly. He gives the various characters distinguished voices, so I know exactly whom is speaking. Also, his emotions and expressions are very realistic, and add to the enjoyment of the book. I requested this review copy audiobook and have voluntarily written this review. I will definitely listen to more books by this author and narrator. I am so glad that I tried something outside my listening genres.

Open mind and it’s a good book

If you can take a leap of faith and combine sci fi fiction with an end of days saving the world story it’s a good book.

The narration is great.

How Fast Can Society Disintegrate?

I seem to read in clumps: first a few westerns, then a couple of horror stories (and I HATE horror stories but sometimes they are so well done . . .), a pair of romances, a cozy mystery or three, and now I'm in a techno-thriller phase. Of course, to make it more interesting, these days most authors ignore genre and just write the SciFi/Romance/Dystopian Western Thriller of their choices. Aptly narrated by Paul J. McSorley (AUDIO), the story bounces from Boseman, Montana, to Alaska, to Texas, Idaho and Nevada. (Author James M. Corkill apologizes if your state isn't mentioned and may endeavor to include it in his next literary offering.) <-- I *SO* made that up =o]

With the bulk of those states being in the west, we'll leave on the Western tag.

Next, the premise--oil supplies are being hijacked and western--no, GLOBAL!--civilization is crumbling fast as pack mentality sets in. Oh, yeah, Dystopian! Romance? Well we have a dead wife and not one but TWO lovely ladies vying for the attention of the hero. In mixed-genre, however, no promises of HEA (Happily Ever After). And that brings us to Science Fiction. Nevada. Need I say more?

Oh, almost forgot the original tag--Techno Thriller: he's an ex-CIA geologist. Note I left out Christian and Military. If I say Jim Jones and Survivalist will you agree I should leave them out?

I strongly recommend you suspend your disbelief and jump into the vivid imagination of Mr. McCorkill for a romp with possible destiny.