Extracted

Publisher's Summary

In 2061 a young scientist invents a time machine to fix a tragedy in his past. But his good intentions turn catastrophic when an early test reveals something unexpected: the end of the world.

A desperate plan is formed: recruit three heroes, ordinary humans capable of extraordinary things, and change the future.

Safa Patel is an elite police officer, on duty when Downing Street comes under terrorist attack. As armed men storm through the breach, she dispatches them all.

'Mad' Harry Madden is a legend of the Second World War. Not only did he complete an impossible mission - to plant charges on a heavily defended submarine base - but he also escaped with his life.

Ben Ryder is just an insurance investigator. But as a young man, he witnessed a gang assaulting a woman and her child. He went to their rescue and killed all five.

Can these three heroes, extracted from their timelines at the point of death, save the world?

©2016 R. R. Haywood (P)2017 Audible, Ltd

Fast-Food Science Fiction

Don’t be swayed (as I was) by the glowing reviews, because this is not a five-star book. At best, it is mildly entertaining and barely worth a credit. When compared to other time travel stories like “The First 15 Lives of Harry August “or “11-23-63: A Novel”, this book barely musters 3 stars. The author tries to spin the story around the paradox of time travel and the intrigue of special operators, but there are no new perspectives or cool techno-geek deep dives on these topics. Instead, you get overly detailed descriptions of fist fights, awkward sexual harassment, and the endless manic-depressive moaning of the main protagonist (BORING). I’ve come to realize that the Audible marketing machine is hyping formulaic “Fast-Food” books that hook you into buying the first of a series. In the end, you wind up paying 3 credits for essentially one book. Unfortunately, people are buying into this hype. While we are all hungry for entertainment, Audible Reviewers need to distinguish fast-food burgers from fillet mignon. If they both cost one credit, wouldn’t you rather have fillet mignon??? So, before you give something 5 stars, please make sure it is fine dining and NOT just a Happy Meal.

588 of 620 people found this review helpful

12 hour character introduction

This book had an interesting time travel premise. Unfortunately it ended up being basically a 12 hour introduction of the three main characters in the book. I think that this could have been accomplished in half the time. It is really just the set up for the next book. The book seemed to drag, then some interesting information would be presented, then it would drag on. It's always nice to learn about the background of each major character, but in my opinion this was overkill. Not sure whether I will try the next one.

40 of 43 people found this review helpful

Wished I was extracted!

The plot underlying this story has considerable potential. Unfortunately, the author's writing fell way short of delivering on this potential. There were many times that I almost quit this book. While some of the action was OK, the dialog was often tedious and, quite frankly, juvenile.

The narrator did a decent job with the material he had to work with. However, he lacked range in conveying the emotions of the characters. A little more prosody please.

I will not be purchasing Part 2 if this series.

113 of 126 people found this review helpful

Great Story Made Even Better by Narration

Great plot line. Great character, with excellent back stories and development. Narration that brings it all to life ... and, then some.

Second book that I've listened to (over 200 in my Library) that made me laugh out loud while in the middle of a commute to work. Yes, everyone looked my way. I didn't care, Carl Prekopp has given voices to characters that transcend the pages. "Aye." as Harry would say.

To say that Harry, Ben, and Saffa are flawed heroes is an understatement. To say they're almost superhuman (not in the Marvelverse-way) is also an understatement. Their dialogue, witticisms, dialects, etc. made me continue listening well past the time I should have turned the light out. Beauty sleep and all.

I'm writing this, while listening to Part II, wishing Part III was already available. I couldn't have better invested 2 credits on my first time travel novels ...

Take the chance. Spend a credit. You won't regret it.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Interesting so far.

Love narrators with that British flare.
The ending is a good .. leaving one to want more with out anger. lol
Characters are well developed in time allowed*see what I did) ha. the narration breaths life INTO THEM and one becomes quickly attached to most.
Different twist on the same old same old.... kind of.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Funny, action filled, with strong brave women/men

I'd not heard of RR Haywood previously, but "Extracted" came to my notice via Audibles 'Things you'd Like' referral feed.

I'm sure glad it did-"Extracted" is full of witty dialogue and descriptive background, an interesting take on the "Time Travel" story line and is narrated by Card Prekoop, also a new voice to me, but the ideal choice for this read.

The time travel idea is presented in unique way..Briefly, a young but brilliant man invents a time travel device so he can go back in time and convince his father to not commit suicide. He plays with his machine (He's presented as though he is somewhere on the autism spectrum), and goes back and forth investigating different periods in time. On one of his excursions, he realizes that the future he saw the first time he went there is now changed into a dystopia.

Formerly dead/almost dead father decides to try and prevent this disaster and thus the plot goes on.

I loved the strong women, of the Ellen Ripley, Sarah Connor, and Vanessa Michael Munroe of "The Informationist" series. Of course there are strong men also, a 1943 UK Commando who never stops, and a regular guy who did heroic things and had to go into hiding because of it.

This appears to be at least a trilogy if not a series, there are two books available now (Sept 2017). I hope this is a longer that 3 book series as I find Haywods writing to be excellent, with clever dialog and exciting story arcs.

Haywood often writes dialog without the "He said/she replied" back and forth that can become annoying. It's a fast give and take that narrator Prekoop does wonderfully-snappy and I always know who is speaking. Haywood is a superior dialog writer.
And, his descriptive scenes, such as the terrorist attacks and gun battles are blood pressure rising experiences when voiced by Prekoop.

I buy a lot of books from Audible-im vision impaired but have always been a reader. These 2 available books are a couple of the best of the Time Travel genre, and superior amongst the action genre.

I'm not generous with 5 star ratings, but IMHO, these books deserve that for the effective way they are written and narrated

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

Needs editing.

While the author presents a very interesting story line it appears that he was paid by the word not by the book. I think the story could effectively be told with half as many words. Just deleting all the F-words would cut the story in half. I don't think it will be
worth my time to read book 2.

14 of 17 people found this review helpful

It's a build up...

The whole book is a build up and it kinda drags in the middle, but if you can stick it out it gets really good at the end. I'm gonna listen to part 2.

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

Narrator perfection for a series opener

Carl Prekopp's performance really elevates this book. While I personally enjoy a series opener taking its time to introduce us to the characters and the world they inhabit, I can understand some of the criticism I've seen mentioning "nothing much happens" in Extracted. Carl Prekopp made the difference for me; if I had been reading this from a paper or ebook copy, I think I would have been far less enthralled. But here I am - knowing it's not a perfect book with a perfect plot and perfect characters - and still feeling like I can't wait to dive into the rest of the series to see where the author takes it.

AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Sick of partial books split for $$

its a good book, good story but obviously split in the middle of the actual book which is evident from the lack of a complete plot arc.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

started well

good start but becomes bogged down with ben feeling has he tries to come to terms with his situation, this part took far to long in the story.

25 of 27 people found this review helpful

8 hours of Awesome in a 12 hour audiobook

So first the positives...
I loved the premise of this novel, Haywood isn't the first to use the idea historical extractions, hell, Bill and Ted did it to help pass a high school class, but Haywood adds enough of his own little touches to make it work. I like that he didn't use existing historical figures but created his own characters from different timelines and created them well. His characters may have been built on existing action hero tropes, but those tropes exist for a reason. Haywood's action scenes were crisp, well choreographed and highly visual. The scenes just popped in your head and kept your heart pounding. Yet, my favorite aspect of the book was the wry, subtle humor. Haywood didn't go for the easy joke, but used tricks of timing and dialogue. It lightened some of the dark moments of the book, and endeared the characters to the listener. 
The biggest positive of the audiobook for me was the brilliant performance of narrator Carl Prekopp. Where other narrators would have muddled the humor of the novel, Prekopp enhanced it. His comic timing and ability to seamlessly switch from dark moodiness, intense action and witty banter kept the listener engaged even when the story itself sagged. As an American I sometimes struggle with British narrators differentiating characters but with Prekopp his characters were so vivid that this was never an issue. His pacing was fast and furious when needed to be, guiding the listener through intense actions, keeping them invested to the final resolution. It was one of my favorite performances in a while and proof that the right narrator can transform a book from ok to kick ass. 
Now the negatives...
This 12 hour audiobook was 8 hours of awesome broken up by a 4 hour chunk of frustrating. I tend to love those montage scenes of units training together, bonding, becoming a cohesive group yet in Extracted the author made an interesting choice with one of the characters that while understandable and perhaps even, if executed properly, unique enough push the book beyond the typical sci-fi actioner, here it just didn't work. A large chunk of the book revolved around a character falling into a state of self doubt and depression. While the author did a good job explaining why this happened, it just seemed to get the story bogged down in the mire. I went from feeling emphathy for the character to wanting to punch him repeatedly in the face to get him to stop whining. It felt like the emotional rollercoaster that caregivers go through, symphathy followed by frustration followed by shame. This could have been effective if done differently but it seemed to just drag on, almost making me want to fling the audiobook away and spend the rest of the day listening to Korean pop music. 
My other negative, and part of this is my fault. I should have known this was the first book in a trilogy, but I didn't and as I got to about hour 10 and realized we were no where close to even thinking about the ultimate resolution of the tale my heart began to sink. There are two kinds of trilogies, a large book cut into three smaller books, and three interlocking tales that have internal plot resolutions but feed into an overarching mythology. Sadly, this was more of the first kind of tale. By the end of the book, there's no true resolution and you feel no closer to understanding or resolving the underlying issue of the novel. Sure, there were resolutions between the characters, and some anticlimactic reveals but the book was mostly a 12 hour introduction to the players. Despite my issues though, I'm invested enough in these players to be willing to continue the ride. 

102 of 114 people found this review helpful

Massively disappointing!

This booked started off with so much promise, it was brilliant and exciting and I became very excited at having finally found another amazing book, but, sadly it took a turn after the opening scenes and instead of being focused around a group of hero's destined to save the world, it became about Saffi's relationship with a very miserable Ben. I've stuck it out as long as I could, 3 hours to go and I just can't listen anymore. Narrator is very good though.

14 of 15 people found this review helpful

Had to listen

Couldn't put this one down. So well read and easy to listen to. Plot plausible for sci fi and lots of action. The personal tales of the characters were carefully plotted and believable. A definite 5star product.

13 of 14 people found this review helpful

Starts great loses it in the middle

This had a great beginning and so much promise, the middle with bens constant whining that take up far too many chapters and is basically the whole story for this first book means the book doesn't actually have a story.

The narrator is good but again on occasion the "he said, she said, he said, he said, she said" parts really do annoy and in parts is like listening to an inbetweeners episodes with the constant swearing.

If the second can live up to the first part of this it will be great.

22 of 25 people found this review helpful

Perfection

From the get go I was hooked and the characters were believable and well written.

I can't wait for the next instalment and want to read it NOW! I need a time machine to take me forward to get it :D

16 of 18 people found this review helpful

Worth a listen

I have mixed feelings. On the one hand this started and ended really well. Very strong story line and great characters. There was momentum and intrigue. Then it sagged a bit in the middle and lost its way a bit.

It features three heroes who have to be extracted from their own timelines (yes! time machines!) in order to save the world. Their stories are brutal and human. But maybe one of them is a bit too human and the story drags as we follow Ben's emotional collapse and recovery.

I hope the next book gets a good edit!

Recommended with caution.

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

Rambling, repetitive & boring

Any additional comments?

This is one of a handful of audio books, for which utterly fail to understand the positive reviews and feel compelled to proffer an alternative viewpoint for some counterbalance.

The story begins by introducing the three main characters. Each of their stories move at a reasonable pace and help to raise a level of interest in their characters.

The story then seems to take an inordinate amount of time, detailing the spiralling depression of one of the protagonists. This continues through numerous chapters and is beyond tedious. The narrator almost sounds depressed reading it. The dialog between the characters is stilted and uninteresting and endlessly repetitive. The descriptions of their environment are littered with unnecessary & uninteresting detail that only serves to bring the narratives momentum to an almost complete halt.

I really tried to persevere to the end – but this is one of a small number of audiobooks that I had to just give up on – it was just draining.

I guess you could say this one wasn’t for me, but clearly many enjoyed it.

19 of 22 people found this review helpful

I'm hooked

Wasn't sure in the first few minutes but soon after I couldn't turn it off.
Love the characters and their interactions.
looking forward to part two!

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

Deadly!

Brain chewing gum of the best quality... can't wait for more..

Great start to a series that I am hoping keeps giving

Well done all round

8 of 9 people found this review helpful