Commune: Book Four

Publisher's Summary

The philosopher asks: "Faced with the mutually exclusive choice between moral principle and the survival of your family, which is the correct path?"

Philosophers love to pose such questions, and in the day-to-day struggle, such thinkers rarely attain to a level of relevance rivaling that of the simple hunger pang. Their careful considerations dissipate under the leveled gun.

We do not feel their disapproving gaze when The Others draw near.

When the world sends doom, the survivors do not hesitate.

The survivors do what is necessary.

©2018 Joshua Gayou and Blue Heron Audio (P)2019 Joshua Gayou and Blue Heron Audio

WTF Happened????

I'm going to start off by saying that the first 3 books were completely and utterly, truly satisfying, they were awesome, and I personally ate it up, killing each book in a day, easy, but this last one was a tragedy. This series ending the way it did made me sick, literally, it was like all the way through books 1-3 he set up each character with their own back stories, personalities, day to day lives etc etc and then in book 4, he changed everything about almost everyone, their whole beings just flipped. 3 examples.. Jake, Gibbs and Amanda, oh the difference was unbelievable and sad, just the decisions that Jake made while in the house with Clay, his whole disappearing act, yeah right, there is no way in hell, Jake would not have just disappeared, not like that, his whole personality, his whole nature, up to that point screamed otherwise and that whole scene makes my point for me.... But anyway, yeah I get who Jake was, and I don't think he was a sociopath or psychopath like some people are saying, I think the world turned him into someone you didn't want to fu** with and he was willing to do what it took to get the solution he desired so his people didnt have to, so they could sleep at night and not feel what he did. The whole book was a sh** show build up, and the ending feel so flat I just couldn't believe that the same person wrote the other 3 books. I don't no, I'm no book reviewer, I'm just telling you what I feel and damn if I don't feel robbed. I cared about these characters, truly cared about them and to me he might as well have murdered all of them, because that's what it feels like. There was no closure here, no ending, no resolve and it sucks that this great writer just killed his book like that, it's so typical anymore, this is how it always ends up. I don't no what else to say. Read and decide for yourself.... P. S. R.C Bray was truly amazing as always, he is the only reason I gave this book an overall 3 star because yes his performance was a solid 5....

18 of 19 people found this review helpful

Skip this one, you wont miss much.

R.C Bray, as always is one of the very best. My dislike of this book has nothing to do with Brays work.

I was a big fan of the first 3 and couldn't wait for book 4. Of the 4 this is my least favorite.

1) way way to much time spent elaborating the finer details and inner workings of people that don't really matter to the story. especially the people you want miss when they are gone.
2) several times I wondered if i could just skip this chanter and figure out what happened later.. i could have skipped half the book i think.
3) I don't really shy away from foul language per say, I have had lots of friends in the service and I think the Joshua Gayou nailed Gibbs in terms of how solders talk. but the level and volume of foul language in this book seemed forced to me and kind of made the whole thing seem not real? I just thought it was over the top.
4)with the exception of a couple of unexpected deaths, this was all really predictable.

I really like Joshua Gayou and I hope whatever comes next recaptures the magic of the first 3 books.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

eh

really didn't tie up any loose ends about Jake. very disappointing ending. very predictable and unexpectedly boring

17 of 18 people found this review helpful

Not the same as the previous books

a little too much rambling from just a few of the characters and not enough insight into what others were thinking

14 of 15 people found this review helpful

Disappointing Conclusion to the Series

I really liked the first three volumes, but this final outing was quite a mess. Lots of extraneous new characters to keep track of with stories that don't move the plot. Jake's actions become very erratic. There seems to be something missing in the final chapters as there is a big unexplained time jump. For an author who has had lots of detail and nuance the slap dash finish with little explanation just seems lazy. It's like the author was bored with the subject and wanted to just give us a bone to wrap it up. He promised that we would get some more backstory on Jake that never appears.

On the plus side RC Bray is outstanding as usual. He is always spectacular at giving each character their own very consistent voice. I loved the nuance he supplied to Clay's character especially how he performs the "huh?" affectation that he often tosses off.

13 of 14 people found this review helpful

WTH Happened?

I was completely emersed in the story and expected a truly epic ending based on the author's commentary after book 3. Instead, there were so many lose ends and such a lackluster ending, I was reminded of so many TV series that had to end abruptly because they were cancelled. Please tell me you decided to write in a book 5 in order to execute an ending to the awesomeness of the previous 4 books' story lines!

11 of 12 people found this review helpful

Disappointed

First three books were great and when I heard book four was coming I thought, awesome were gonna get some closure and answers with certain characters. But sadly the story seemed drained and predictable in some aspects and in some ways no sense in others. R.C. Bray's performance really kept me pushing through. Overall a good story and worth keeping in your library...if not just to hear Gibbs.

17 of 19 people found this review helpful

So much potential....

What the heck. First 3 were awesome and a great build up. This one did not follow thru on promises. Characters made no sense. No wrap up. Nothing.

RC crushed it like always.

15 of 17 people found this review helpful

I wanted to like it....

I loved the first three books.

This one.....was not the same...all the characters took a very ugly and dark turn. Think Game of thrones where everybody you like is also a monster.....and then they simply get killed or kill each other in unsatisfying ways. It makes you realize that all the character building and story build up was for nothing. All the subtly and interesting survivalist planning from the first three books was gone in this one in favor of characters accidentally getting in huge battles nobody wanted.

Yeah...I love action, violence, etc in books....thats not the problem. The problem is that all that in these books was just an accident by people who didn't want to actually fight each other. You just have to watch as all your favorite characters murder each other (and I mean murder) over miscommunication and mistaken identity.

I guess if you like Shakespearean tragedy you would like this book. Personally, I was really disappointed after the first three, although I kept hoping right up to the final chapter it would somehow all come together. Spoiler alert, it doesn't.

15 of 17 people found this review helpful

A bit of a let-down (spoilers)

As many others have said, the ultimate conclusion was disappointing at best. It felt slapped together and rushed, like the author was up against the publishing deadline and still had no idea how to wrap things up. Actually, the whole book felt different than the others. Unnecessarily long stretches seemed devoted to channeling as much "Negan" into Clay as possible, particularly the flowery/vulgar pontification. I honestly kept hoping that Otter & Co. was going to show up. There was a missed opportunity for a huge set-piece battle there that would have been an epic ending. What we got felt less intense than some earlier skirmishes. And Jake? Well Jake turned out to be the biggest disappointment of all.

13 of 15 people found this review helpful

Phenomenal - Just phenomenal

I reviewed book 3 and noted you should not expect on ending. The author did explain he was building the story to the events here, but needed more time, hence book 4, this book. So I gave him his grace period, and so should you.

This book is phenomenal. I give the author so much credit as he delivered what he said he would. Your investment into waiting for book 4 (if you did have to wait), and then listening to it (it's quite a long book) is rewarded in buckets.

The characterizations are just so good. You will visualize them as the book is performed, not by any descriptions of their appearance, but by what they say. This is also RC Brays best narration so far, and I've heard a few, and the others were also top marks. This book / performance is another class above the rest though. On more than one occasion I found myself driving home the long way, so I had more time to listen.

We learn a lot about the insides of some of the main characters heads, and what man/women kind is capable of when their existence is threatened. The questions asked are "what would you do in this situation to protect the people you love, advance your groups chance of survival, deal with those who offer a different view or approach - How far would you go?".

There is no obvious right or wrong here. And the beauty of this book is despite the fact you naturally want to side with one side, you cannot help also sympathize with the other side too. By the end of the story you realize there are no baddies here. Just survivors.

This is by far the best book I have heard on Audible, and probably the best book I have 'consumed' full stop. The likes of Netflix should be signing up for a 4 season TV shows immediately. If there is an Oscars for Audio books, this needs to be nominated immediately. Even if this genre is not your cup of tea, I urge you to give this series a go.

My congratulations to Joshua Gayou for an exceptional piece of work, and also to RC Bray for an amazing performance.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Blinking Awesome

A great finish to the series, and fantastic narration from the one and only R.C Bray

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Brilliant

A brilliantly written different spin on an apocalyptic world. so glad the author decided to turn this into a 4 book series as oppose to a shortened trilogy. I loved how immersed I became with each character and found myself lost for hours in the amazing voice of R C Bray (one of my absolute favourite narrators). An absolute must read for those who are bored with the same story lines of this genre 👍👍

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Wow!

There was a lot of hype before this book was released and by thunder it’s lived up to it!!

There are a lot of ups and down in this book and in deed, a few complete spins. I would recommend the series to anyone!

As usual, Mr R.C. Bray delivers an exceptional performance making you believe it’s a cast rather then one man.

Hats of to Joshua Gayou and R.C. Bray. A team made in audio heaven!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Another great listen

A really good listen. RC Bray as fantastic as ever. This book brings in very new material that I was not expecting. The characters really develop in this book. Only thing, definitely give yourself a refresher.

Emotional rollercoaster of books

A series of books that challenge our ability to survive whilst maintaining a soul !

Should stick to the main story

Excellent narration from RC Bray as usual. Good story but spoilt at times by the author wandering off taking up whole chapters on boring recollections by individual characters. Some are relevant to the story but others take away the momentum building in the story and find myself skipping these chapters in order to get back to the main thread. He also over elaborates on descriptions of scenes and characters as most of us can build up a mental picture without every detail being described and again find the story being frustratingly slowed down.
I believe the story started as a trilogy but had to be extended to four books, this could have been avoided by cutting out the unnecessary and distracting waffle.

Can't believe it's over ☹️

Enjoyed every single book in this series.... Book 5???? Please.... Or a spin off series with Gibs

Please let the story continue

I love these books the characters have developed really well over the series. The story keeps you going and going some unexpected twists. Narrated by the best in the game R.C. Bray.

Best in the series

Best instalment in the series. Character development foundations done in previous books to make this one flow far better.