Breakwater

By: Anthony Melchiorri

Narrated by: Ryan Kennard Burke

Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's Summary

Governments across the globe have failed to stop the spread of the Oni Agent. The biological weapon continues to wreak havoc. Those that are infected become abominations known as Skulls, a fate worse than death.

Captain Dominic Holland and Meredith Webb have made it to Fort Detrick. The Army base was once a bastion for America's biodefense. Now, swarms of hungry Skulls prowl outside the walls. With Fort Detrick's resources, Dom and Meredith think they may finally have a chance to slow the spread of the Oni Agent.

But with the United States military in disarray, the situation outside Detrick's walls grows bleaker. More and more civilians succumb to the Skulls - or become them. Dom leads a desperate mission to establish a safe zone for civilians fleeing the nightmarish creatures.

Despite this apocalyptic new world, Dom and the Hunters are determined to succeed. New threats and discoveries challenge them every step of the way. But they soon find potential help from an unlikely source...if they can survive long enough to receive it.

©2015 Anthony J Melchiorri (P)2016 Anthony J Melchiorri

Even better than the first one. Loved it!

This series is excellent! I can't wait for book three. There's a great mix of action and drama. The dialogue also fantastic. He really does a great job with character development which is hard to do with this type of genre. Everything played out in my head like a really good movie that you don't want to end. Basically a bio-weapon has been unleashed throughout the world and the Hunters are charged with saving what's left of humanity while stopping those that are infected, the skulls, from taking over the world. There's no need to read any more reviews. If you read the first one and liked it even a little. Then you'll love this one.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Return of the "Crazies".

After destroying the oil rig housing the enemy lab, Captain Holland & crew along with the CIA handler Meredith Webb make their way to Fort Detrick. Once upon-a-time the Army base was the center for the United States’ bio-defense. Also, back in post WWII days it was home to scientists, both American and Japanese, working on black projects of the biological and chemical warfare type. Perhaps it is more than coincidental that the government chose Fort Detrick once again as central headquarters for the biological research. Captain Holland & crew are assigned to protect Fort Detrick and its inhabitants from the roaming infected folks commonly called “Crazies”. Later, Holland will also be charged with inspecting and administering a bug-out location when the situation demands it. There’s plenty of action to go along with the dialog and sub-plots within the story. Decent characters without a lot of background brought forward from book one. I hesitate to rate this book higher than three.point.five as the tempo slows then picks up with action then slows again. I’m hoping this improves or ceases in the next book.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Exciting Ride Continues! Can't Wait for Next Book!

This series has it all. The exciting plot keeps me wanting to know what next. The science is intriguing and the question of who is doing this and how and why is compelling. I love the characters and I can't wait to begin next book.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great followup

I truly enjoyed the story. Hope to read the next real soon
4 stars give it a listen

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

AWESOME!!!

Anthony doesn't disappoint AGAIN book #2 was stellar! In fact I am reading it again! His characters are so believable I find myself so engrossed I forget my surroundings!!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

zombie goodness with extra sauce

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

yes, to be fair, I didn't read any of the books - just listen to them.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Breakwater?

When Dom was saved in the helocopter

Which character – as performed by Ryan Kennard Burke – was your favorite?

Dom of course! My Hero

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Hunters revenge!

Any additional comments?

this is a great series, it's not too complicated but intelligently written & lots of fun (in a zombie take of the world kind of way).

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Awesome, Great, Thrilling and exciting

This book is even better than the first.
This is going to be a great series.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Even better than the 1st!

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

Hell yes, this is one badass series that combines several of my favorite genres. The author uses real science to make it even more frightening and his character development gets even better.

What other book might you compare Breakwater to and why?

Anything by Michael Crichton.

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

It only took a few sittings to finish this one. Very fast paced and exciting.

Any additional comments?

Looking forward to the next book!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I'm giving up on this series, Sadly.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The first half is decent, and maintains the momentum of the first book. Unfortunately, the further I got into the book, the more I found myself having to suspend belief. Not only that, but the events became predictable, and even a bit cliche.

Would you be willing to try another book from Anthony J Melchiorri? Why or why not?

Possibly. The first book was pretty good.

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

The Good: I feel the reader did a much better performance with this book, than the first. You can really tell he's comfortable with all the characters.The Bad:The author insists on using technical details like weapon model names, but unfortunately there are several instances where he uses the wrong terms, and I found it incredibly distracting.
Once you've established the equipment's name, you don't need to keep referring to it by it's designation. "Rifle" and "Pistol/Sidearm" are sufficient. Also, Rifles don't have "slides". He commonly refers to the slide on the rifle locking back when he meant to say the bolt of the rifle locked back because the weapon was out of ammo.

If you're going to use the technical terms, it's best you research the actual equipment so you don't make errors like this.

Also, the whole Helicopter/Goliath fight is woefully hammy and unrealistic. (Beyond the obvious suspense in belief of Humans turned scary monsters) The helicopter would have fallen the ~6 stories to the ground in seconds. Also, the Helicopter he painstakingly tries to describe, the AW-109 could easily carry the weight of the crew, team, AND Goliath. It's a Multi-engine craft designed to fly in High altitude and Harsh environments.

I forgave the whole "FADEC Failure" and Crash landing from the first book. In Reality, the FADEC system on the AW109, has a redundant computer to Mitigate this exact situation. (The chance of both ECUs going out at the same time without being irreparable is next to nil). This point isn't common knowledge, but that's multiple errors in the subject matter. (It's perfectly fine not to know. The trick is to be vague on the details. The more specific you are, the more I expect you to be correct.)

A good friend of mine has a great philosophy when it comes to these situations. Don't tell me what you know-- SHOW me what you know. Big difference.

Was Breakwater worth the listening time?

The first half, yes. Once the second Goliath and James enter the story, No.

Any additional comments?

The author has a creative spark, but this book is a bit rough. I'm willing to give the author another shot (with another series), but I'm just not comfortable enough with the current series to continue.

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

really enjoyed the story

I think it could be even more enjoyable with better narration. the narration was not bad, there's just room for improvement there. Looking forward to reading the next book.

not a book for me

as it was seconed series i thought id try it but couldnt finish it not a zommbie fan

Keeps getting bettwe

What did you like most about Breakwater?

the high-paced action driven storyline

Who was your favorite character and why?

the huntress's helicopter pilot, charismatic, brought a ray of controlled humor through the haze of stress, death and destruction

Have you listened to any of Ryan Kennard Burke’s other performances? How does this one compare?

yes, Ryan's performance in this production has been drastically improved from the first book, there was more life, excitement, the characters were more distinguishable, their emotions had feeling and purpose

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

chapter 24 onwards, the assault/rescue of the naval base, there was a noticeable improvement in both the writing, (detail and selection of words) and the narrator's performance, chapter 24 onwards was like a different more improved book.

Any additional comments?

the detail to the bio-medical detail is astounding, it's what makes this series unique and a joy to listen to, also the armoured zombies and the arrival of the bigger and meaner skull.