65 Below

By: Basil Sands

Narrated by: Basil Sands

Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

At 65 degrees below zero, exposed human flesh freezes solid within three minutes.

Retired Marine Master Sergeant Marcus Johnson returned to his family homestead in rural Alaska after 20 years chasing bad men. Now he wants nothing but to hunt and fish and run his trapline in peace and quiet, and no more war.

Meanwhile, lurking deep in a long forgotten bunker in the remote arctic hills is a decades-old secret that could not be destroyed, and was never meant to be rediscovered.

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©2010 Basil Sands (P)2011 Sandman Studio Productions of Alaska

Critic reviews

"Sands is fearless in his storytelling, and tireless in his quest to connect directly with his audience. Big Publishing? Watch out for this guy." (Scott Sigler, New York Times best-selling author of Infected, Contagious, and Ancestor)

"Basil Sands is one awesome writer, penning stories pumped with enough adrenaline that you'll suffer from insomnia until you read the last word. This is one writer not to be missed." (Jeremy Robinson, author of Pulse and Instinct)

The characters are well developed

Marcus Johnson, retired Master Sergeant, just wants to have some peace and quiet. He joined the marines at 18 and put in his 20. Now he has come home to his family homestead in Alaska and thought he left the war behind.

No such luck. While running a trap line he comes across a North Korean special ops team digging in the snow. He tries to report it at the nearby base but they don’t believe that North Korean special ops. are on a covert mission on US territory.
Marcus also has seen two other strangers at the local cafe. Neither were speaking English but he understood their remarks. Both were bragging about the plan to take over the US. They were driving a stolen electric company truck.
The police start putting the bits of information together. An officer is sent to contact Marcus about what he saw and heard. She just happens to be the woman he has loved since childhood. She is also the one who broke his heart.

As the action picks up it is discovered that an old bunker was hidden behind the base and it contained a WMD virus. One terrorist is caught and he gives them information on other men involved.

The chase is on. They have to catch the 2 NKs before they can dump their death in the cities water supply. Racing across the snow on snowmobiles in -65 degree temps. is deadly.
The characters are well developed. Marcus adds to his character with flashbacks of his romance with Lonnie and his war experience. I found the flashback very well placed. Lonnie also flashes backs to their romance and wishes she had been more understanding.

Others doubted the plausibility of this scenario but I don’t think it is that far from something that could happen. Where did all the chemical WMDs that this country produced go???

I liked the book cover. It made the land look so cold, forbidding and dangerous . Just what this stroy is about. If you get the audio version it is read by the author. Once he gets going he does his book justice. Basil has a fine voice and makes his book come to life. I enjoyed his narration very much. The audio sound was first rate also.

Audiobook provided for review by the author/narrator.

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Couldn't put it down!

I was a bit leery about buying this one but am sure glad I did. The narrator is the author himself, which I usually find to not work, In this case he was perfect for the book. Like any book, it had a couple weak spots but overall was a real page turner. It was very fast moving, and even the flashbacks worked fine without distracting from the main story. I highly recommend this one and am looking forward to hearing more from this author.

read before using your credit

Here is a sentence from the author's description of the female protagonist:
"Beneath her breasts, was the rest of her body."
. . .that should be warning enough.

65 below

Any additional comments?

I found 65 Below to be an enjoyable audiobook to listen to.. It had enough action and intrigue to carry you all the way through the book - it was hard to pause.. And the plot taking place in Alaska gave it some interesting twists. .

Well worth the listen

Having lived in Alaska for 25 years I found this book to be using for the most part realistic facts about Alaska. The story line is interesting and keeps youi coming back for more. The author does an excellent job of inter weaving the military with the State police. Well worth the listen.

65 below

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed "65 Below". The author does an excellent job keeping anticipation and suspense all the way. The characters are well developed and interesting. The author includes lots of detail and background which for me makes a book very interesting

Even in the cold things can heat up

This thriller was awesome. It had a gripping story line, well developed characters, and was easy to follow for one who has very little knowledge of military lingo. It was honestly hard to put down.

This was my first experience listening to a fiction audiobook narrated by the author. I must say I stayed clear of them for personal reasons, but I'm glad Basil Sands superb talent proved me wrong. His character development and amazing versatile voices made this book a five star performance. I will definitely be looking for more of his work.

This audiobook was given to me in exchange for a review.

A masterpiece of epic proportions!

I admit I didn't read the summery before picking up this book, 65 Below! I'm glad I didn't or I might not have listened to it at all. I don't normally like military or war books, but this book was phenomenal! From the first page, to the last I was lost in it. I cried, I laughed, I was shaking with cold and sweating for some parts! The most memorable scene has to be the part when one of the good guys has to have his leg cut off to save his life!
The character development was outstanding! I want to read more about Mark Johnson! encore! I am recommending this book to everyone I meet! I will also be forwarding this review on to my family who live in Alaska! I can't say enough wonderful things about this book! I would love to see it on the big screen!
The narration was excellent! I'm an avid listener of audio books, I conquer about 3-4 books a week. I know a good narrator when I hear one. This was extraordinary! I would put him right up there with my favorite narrator, Holter Graham! The accents were incredible! The adrenaline, fear, and pain that you feel in the voices really transport you into the experience!
An excellent work of art, Basil Sands! Congratulations! I will be looking forward to picking up more of your work.

Gripping...from the very beginning...

If you could sum up 65 Below in three words, what would they be?

Hang on tight!

What did you like best about this story?

This book grabbed and held my attention from the very start. It was hard to turn it off and focus on other things!

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

I haven't, but I'm sure I will now.

Any additional comments?

I wish the ending had been fleshed out a bit more...it seemed to just suddenly end...a bit disappointing after everything that led up to that point. Not bad...just left me wishing for more. Would have liked a better description of exactly what happened with Lonnie between the shooting and her front-porch appearance...and a bit more closure on the Marcus/Lonnie relationship.

I personally could have lived with a little less graphic descriptions of various injuries, etc. as well.

Overall a fun read (or listen in this case). The author did a FANTASTIC job of narration...really fit well with the story.

Chaste Vets and Attentive Alaskans Foil Tangos

What disappointed you about 65 Below?

This was so comically bad I almost enjoyed it - and then the love poems started...

Would you ever listen to anything by Basil Sands again?

Not intentionally.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Mr. Sands is a better narrator than author.

What character would you cut from 65 Below?

I think this audiobook would be markedly better if the Listener was removed.

Any additional comments?

I kind of like the idea of tough Alaskan vets taking the initiative in killing terrorists. What's not to like about that ? But this cartoon is probably the uberAmerican equivalent of a North Korean propaganda opera. Heros vanquish villians, buffoons are object lessons, and chaste love lives.

Good but its got faults !

If your considering this I'd suggest you listen to the sample as the author is an interesting narrator, and he is appalling at British accents. I am not convinced that he's done himself a favour by reading the book himself. He also should have invested in as good editor, as there are numbers of faults that grate after a while. Mistakes like the Albania being in the Baltics, and the use of "leaped" instead of "leapt" . After a while you start listening for mistakes, rather than the detail of the plot.
Still its a good action yarn that rips a long at a fair pace, so its not all bad.

About 65 points below average

Although I endorse the views expressed by Joy of Ipswich when she points out the appalling factual errors and hideous attempts at British accents, I fear she is rather too kind to the author. I found this book to be so badly written I was desperate to reach the end. The characters are not even two-dimensional and it is narrated in a deeply irritating melodramatic way. The all action hero is as proudly celibate as a monk and writes terrifyingly bad poetry which the author inflicts on us, but none of this is supposed to be humorous. The villains all have an evil glint in their eye while the good guys are square-jawed all-American warriors. Well, you get the picture – I'm a big fan of thrillers, but this was just dire.