Anniversary Day

Anniversary Day Saga, Book 1 (Retrieval Artist Universe)

By: Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Narrated by: Jay Snyder

Length: 9 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's Summary

Four years ago, a bomb destroyed part of the dome protecting Armstrong, the largest city on the Moon. Now, as the city celebrates its survival with an event it calls Anniversary Day, a larger threat looms - one that begins with the murder of the mayor, and spreads across the moon itself.

Even with every new technological device at her disposal, Moon Security Chief Noelle DiRicci can't stay ahead of the unfolding disaster. As the situation gets worse, Retrieval Artist Miles Flint hurries to his daughter's school to protect her. And Detective Bartholomew Nyquist finds himself in the middle of everything, from that first bombing to the Anniversary Day crisis itself.

Fan-favorite series narrator Jay Snyder is back to lend his voice to this thriller with several mysteries at its core. Anniversary Day is Kristine Kathryn Rusch's most exciting Retrieval Artist novel yet and available exclusively through Audible for the first two months of its release.

Listen to more in the Retrieval Artist series.

©2011 Kristine Kathryn Rusch (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic Reviews

“Some of the best science fiction ever written.” (Orson Scott Card)

“[One of] the top ten greatest science fiction detectives of all time.” (io9.com)

"Rusch mounts hard-boiled noir on an expansive sf background with great panache." (Booklist)

Probably my favorite in the series!

This book is not primarily about Miles Flint or his daughter. It mainly centers around detective Bartholomew Nyquist. Starting off with the bombing of the Armstrong dome in the book Consequences, and continuing 4 years later with a murder that is prelude to an act of terrorism that is reminiscent of 9/11, Nyquist is sucked into a mystery which no one on the moon saw coming. Of course any act of terrorism would bring in Noelle DeRicci, head of moon security.

This is by far one of my favorite books in this series. It focuses on Nyquist, a sort of moon version of Columbo, and follows him mostly through the book. It really had just enough of Flint to be called a Retrieval Artist novel and feels like it is setting up Flint for further novels at the end of the book.

Personally I would like to see more books with Nyquist as the prime character in them, but I can recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of the series or of Miles Flint wholeheartedly.

Defferent Focus

This book was not focused on Flint, the main character from the previous novels. In fact, he is a peripheral character until the last third of the book. So while this book is set in the world of the Retrieval Artist series and uses the characters we have come to know from the series, it does not have any actual work in the retrieval artist business in it. It does not deal with the "disappeareds."

That said, I still enjoyed it very much. Through the course of the series, I have come to like many of the characters and seeing them take the lead was fun. My one complaint is that I felt there was too much re-telling of previous books as if to catch up readers who had not been with the series. It just felt forced. But I still liked it. I couldn't give it an overall 5 because it does not measure up to the previous books in the series, which for me were solid 5's. But if you liked the others, you'll probably like this one-- just a little less.

If you have not read any in the series yet, DO NOT start with this one because it will give too much away!

Love this series

Another great entry in Rusch's Retrieval Artist Series. I just wish that the story went further.

No Real Ending

I like Rusch's books as sci fi detective novels. She creates a consistent world in which we get to know characters across books. She then kills some of those characters and you get personally involved because you want these mysteries solved. Flint or Nyquist or/and DeRicci, with Flint's help, solves the major mystery while other subplots get moved along also. At the end, your "mystery solved" fix and are ready for the next novel.

If you read them out of sequence there is enough embedded history that you get through with no sense of vital missing information, but then if you get in sequence, then all the better. BUT she always ends the mystery. There is a solution. You get your "ahhh". You may not really like it, but it is solved and it is consistent and you know there will be more later. The world of Armstrong, Flint, and everyone else awaits your next adventure.

Some of the people claim that this story is unusual because it centers on Nyquist, but DeRicci was the center in "Extreme", so this is not a major departure. In fact it intrigued me because Rusch was willing to say Armstrong was bigger than Flint early in the series. You know the Retrieval Artist series is going to be a rich environment. But I would also say that there is no central character here. This is a Moon wide, maybe wider, crisis. There are at least 6 main characters in it and Nyquist gets more room to setup a former partner who is germane to the central mystery. So, I don't agree that there is a central character in this novel. BUT Rusch has done a great job developing them and they flow together naturally.

Now for all the praise, she violates a major rule SHE set up, there is no mystery solved. This is just a freakin' two-parter. She has mentioned the lack of a solution in an earlier subplot where Armstrong Dome almost got blowed up real good, but the other major plot was solved in that book. Interesting look into an future book, so Anniversary Day was not a surprise to me.

So we go through the crises in the Domes, centered on DeRicci. We go through an investigation with Nyquist WHO shares the spot light with another detective, Marona(?), and we find out that Nyquist and Marona(?) like working together. We find Flint thinking he is second best to Talia, his clone daughter and this duo pulls out info that saves the Moon's Domes from Millions of death. We find out a big bad boogie man may be attacking not just the Domes of the Moon, but the Whole Earth Alliance, END OF STORY... WHAT???? What did we solve? Who got caught really. A former partner of Nyquist's is a brainwashed lackey, but come on!! No, the boogie man/woman bomber and/or the Twenty WHO are the real instigators and movers are not understood. They were the case to be solved, and we got a TV type end of the season cliff hanger.

I am thinking Rusch might have been hanging out with R.R. Martin. God help us all if she has.

In the end the situation with Nyquist and DeRicci seems like it will either explode or come together, NO. Just like the major mystery of the book, it just drags on to the next novel.

This is completely counter to Rusch's normal fix to the reader of a decisive interesting end with characters that have a lot more mileage on them. Come on Rusch, solve the Major mystery of the novel and then go on.

However, if you like the series so far, unlike in her other earlier novels, you will HAVE to read this if you want to continue on, but it will be an interesting read and decent continuation of the all the major characters.

Great story & characteris in a plausible future

What did you love best about Anniversary Day?

Its an Interesting story, with plausible future technology that adds to the story. It can intrigue you on multiple levels. In the beginning there is a lot of information presented that you don't quite know what to do with, but the story and the characters make it easy to sit back and soak it in. I trusted the author to let the story unwind, and that says something about how good she (the author) is. There is a lot of violence and action, but Ms. Rusch doesn't make it grotesque. I like action/adventure/mystery, not horror, and this book hits my action/adventure/mystery/sci-fi button square on the head.

What about Jay Snyder’s performance did you like?

He didn't get in the way of a good story, and it was easy to realize he switched characters. Some other readers like to have a different voice and accent for each character, and end up detracting from the story with terrible accents. With this performance and this story, everything just fell into place. So the best thing is that he didn't detract from the stories or the characters, and that is an overwhelming task for some readers.

Any additional comments?

I will definitely be looking for more books by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

Great Science Fiction

Truth be told, I'd forgotten this series was out there. I went on a binge a couple of years ago and listened to every audiobook there was in the series and then just forgot about it. As I listened to this book, it kept coming back to me just how much I loved listening to them before. The characters are terrific and there's not just one that I love. Yeah, sure, Miles Flint is wonderful but Noelle DiRicci and Nyquist and Talia are wonderful characers. Rusch does a terrific job of switching back and forth between viewpoints and it never feels wrong. Jay Snyder is a terrific narrator. I didn't feel like any of the voices were off and ingenuine. I just wish there was another Retrieval Artist book out there.

The story continues

The Retrieval Artist Novels were a surprise find for me. I got the first one as a freebie when I signed up for the Audible service a few years ago. Jay Snyder's narration hooked me from the beginning. I love his voice and his performance of the characters is spot on for me.

This recent addition, moves the story in to another area by reaching back to a previous event, and building on it. Just when things had seemed to be settling down for the people living on the moon, they are slapped with a new problem and a continuing mystery. I am looking forward to the next installment.

I you like science fiction, mystery, or books in series, start with the Retrieval Artist and work your way through the lives of Miles Flint and his friends. I have enjoyed the journey so far.

Not a bad book

First off, if you have not read\ listened to the other book in the series don't bother starting here. This book marks a transition for the series but is based on tons of past event.

Over all I enjoyed my time with this book, and while I want to give the story more stars I felt it was in many ways incomplete. I didn't mind how much of it is a departure from past books. How much of the focus shifts. What I didn't like what that this book was designed to be the setup for future stories. So while I liked what I got I felt like there was a lot missing.

The narration was great as always. Same story as the past books.

So I would say if you've read the previous books you need to read this one but I wouldn't judge the series by it or start here.

Great narrator, great book

What a pleasure to read more about other characters in the Retrievbal Artist series. If you follow the series, this is a natural progression. If you are new to these books, the reader is fabulous on all of them, and some of the other stories are even better than this one. Really great series.

I love this series

Any additional comments?

I love the characters that Ms Rusch creates. I've listened to every one of the books in this series and the narrator does an amazing job as well. I know this is a dumb review, but I'm busy at work. Seriously, the Retrieval Artist series are my favorite book series out there.

Great police story with energy

Unexpectedly enjoyable tale of detective work and intrigue. Missing an ending, but the journey kept me riveted. Good story with plenty of characters to follow