Brushfire Plague: Volume 1

By: R.P. Ruggiero

Narrated by: Melissa Sutton

Surviving is just the beginning....

When a virulent plague erupts across the globe, Cooper Adams faces a daily battle for survival as society unravels at a dizzying pace. As he organizes his neighbors for self-defense and strives to save those around him, he soon discovers the first clues about the origin of the Brushfire Plague that is killing untold millions around the world. In his pursuit to learn the truth, Cooper must combat looters, organized gangs, and those protecting the Brushfire Plague's secrets. When his son falls ill, his search to uncover the plague's origin and a possible cure transforms into a race against time. Ultimately, Cooper faces a paralyzing choice between exposing what he has learned with potentially shattering consequences and abetting a horrible secret and giving his nation a chance to recover and rebuild.

The truth becomes more terrifying.

©2013 RP Ruggiero (P)2015 RP Ruggiero

Resident Evil... Without the zombies.

Not in a bad way, mind you.
A pandemic story without zombies is quite refreshing given how inundated the media has been with them as of late.

A practical and unfortunately realistic take on how a pandemic and subsequent collapse of rule of law might play out. The ending might have fallen together a *BIT* too cleanly, but the scenario and motivations for doing so are ripped straight from recent news and debates.

The main character is realistic. He has his flaws, he loses his cool and he makes mistakes. He isn't overpowered by any means and doesn't always make it out of fights without losing blood himself.

My one complaint is that the story has a bit of a stutter in finding its pace starting out, but quickly moves into its own as it progresses.

The narration is solid and I have no complaints. She did extremely well with the reading and perhaps the only negative thing I could say is that her melodic voice doesn't really suit the somber atmosphere of the tale. Instead, I felt like Jake, being read a bedtime story recounting the events rather than experiencing them from Cooper's perspective. That aside, which isn't really her fault, she did a marvelous job.

All in all, definitely worth the listen and a different take on the usual survival story. I'd recommend it to anyone.

Good story, but recording has audio problems

I just had to write this as a heads up to the author/audible/audiobook director, that there are some audio mistakes on the recording. Several times, the narrator repeats herself when she stumbles on a line, one time even saying "blah," before starting the sentence over, and another time the director interrupts to give direction when she misses a line, and she answers. Also, the volume goes in and out, and sometimes it was almost impossible to hear one chapter while the other chapter was loud. I kept having to adjust my dock. Agree with the previous reviewer, that the narrator had a nice voice and read well, but her voice wasn't suited for this story, in which most of the characters were male.

Otherwise, good story and kept me interested. Could have done without the "why" of the plague. It was addressed too late, and felt contrived. If this was the way the story was going, a hint, and much more sinister clues should have been dropped in the story throughout.

Additional editing needed

Any additional comments?

In Chapter 27 about the 6 minute mark, there is a editing goof. A second party corrects the narrator and she continues.

audio engineering/editing issues

story was okay - the conclusion seems forced and unsatisfying.

multiple issues with audio. Interruptions, failed takes kept in, audio fuzz that builds and then ends when a chapter ends, and an inconsistent break between end of sentence in a chapter and the next chapter title. (sometimes 20 second, sometimes no pause at all)

Good story, poor recording

The story was well written, perhaps a bit to gun heavy but that is common in this genre. The audio recording was poor and contained many errors. It sounded rushed in the reading and editing. A better performance would have helped this book immensely.