Helios

By: Jeremy Robinson, Sean Ellis

Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer

Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's Summary

The beginning of the end

A deadly swarm of earthquakes shakes the planet. In the sky above, the sun appears to stand still. While the world reels from the vast destruction, George Pierce and the Cerberus Group, a team of scientific and historical experts, uncover an imminent threat straight out of history that must be stopped. But not everyone wants them to succeed. 

An apocalyptic death cult, made up of suicidal martyrs and true believers who will do whatever it takes to ensure the destruction of all life on Earth, goes head-to-head with a billionaire tech genius commanding an army of robots, on a quest to own the sun itself. 

Caught in the middle, the Cerberus Group must fend off both sides while traveling to every corner of the map, and into the depths of myth and history, to find the holiest treasure on Earth - an artifact that can harness the power of creation. The prophecies are true. 

The end is nigh.

Jeremy Robinson and Sean Ellis, the international best-selling team behind the Jack Sigler thrillers, including Cannibal and Empire, continue the new series that rewrites the way we see history. Rivaling the best of Matthew Reilly and James Rollins, Helios combines a blistering pace with fringe science and myths reborn.

©2017 Jeremy Robinson (P)2018 Jeremy Robinson

Helios

I actually liked this one better than book 1.While the goal is constantly changing for the group as they discover more clues,the end goal is to save earth from those wanting to destroy it.It is full of action and globe hopping.Interesting characters.Jeffrey Kafer is the perfect narrator.I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Fantasy not fantastic

I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator.
I had a difficult time with this audiobook. It has all the right elements to be a good listen but I just did not enjoy it. Maybe it was too over the top. The narration was rather boring also.

Another good one from the Jeremy Robinson group

I always enjoy the novels written by Robinson and the authors he collaborates with. If you like his novels in general then you should enjoy this one. He mentions a name at the very end of the story, giving us a little preview of who may show up in the next book. Hopefully he brings the whole group along with him.

Robinson delivers as usual

just to read it if you like him it's more of the same historical stuff tied into entertaining plausible narrative

Adventure to save the world from unknown weapon

*I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Jeffrey is one of my favorite narrators, especially for the adventures into dangerous places for the unknown. He's voiced these characters in the first book and continues with the same personalities in this one. Jeffrey never gives away what's to come in his voice. He's always in the moment with the characters, experiencing the event s as they would while bringing their reactions to life in voice. Always a pleasure to listen to Jeffrey.

Something I notice about the story is it feels as though we are getting to the end of what is causing the problems, just to learn it's the start of all troubles we are experiencing. Yes, the story starts off with a bang and doesn't slow, things become greater in stakes and action. This is a talent that comes through in the writing. They really thought out this story and all the connections to grow the dangers and connect everything together.

I love how things come together. These stories bring things together I wouldn't expect to relate, yet they fit. Religion, gods, aliens, and so much more tie in threads to each other along with adventure. I get caught up and find I stop and listen, pausing to take it all in. It opens my mind to the possibilities the authors are creating with the characters and events. I can see the connections! Myths and the way things were related in stories for what could have been something people lived through.

There is a possibility these myths could relate to the current problems, with earthquakes all at once then a ticking clock at happening again. The ticking clock that could bring about the end of the world as we know it.

I enjoy these characters. They are like their own little X-men team on an Indiana Jones adventure. There are a few with their own abilities, which we get a quick explanation in this story too. I really like them, and their origin stories. Their personalities fit together to make a team that cares for each other and jokes in good humor. There are deeper ties with these characters that hold them together as a chosen family.

There are so many layers to this story. I would love to listen to it and the previous book again. There are connections to the Herculean group they are part of along with other ties. I have a feeling things mentioned here will come into play in the future too.

And I'm hooked on the series, with the characters and what we learn about the group they are part of. I'll have my eyes on the lookout for the next book!

The Cerberus Group Is Back

Helios is the follow up to Herculean. They are part of the Cerberus Group Series. Many of the characters are (were) part of the Chess Team collection of stories. I do not think Helios stands alone. I think I would have been very confused if I had not listened to Herculean, even though I have heard many of the Chess Team books.

There is a lot of action and much mythology in the tale. At times I felt like I should have read Edith Hamilton's Mythology (like I was supposed to in High School but didn't). The book is formulaic, but that is not necessarily bad because the formula works. This is end of the world, seat of your pants adventure with killer robots, dastardly villains, and really bad guys.

Jeffery Kafer as usual was wonderful. He always adds that sense of excitement and drama.

I was given a free copy of this book at my request for an biased review.

Unique and engaging

Oh boy this one had a lot of moving parts and they all intertwined fantastically in this adventure. The thrills and adventure do not take a backseat to the artefact hunt which will keep you guessing all the way through. I enjoyed the worldwide trip through time. The authors manage to get all the details right and I am sure this is due to some extensive research. Great adventure mixed in with some technology and an artefact hunt, I always love an artefact hunt. The performance was very good by one of the most recognizable voices in the industry. Drawing from his attention grabbing quickened pace in the tense scenes to his precise and mood changing descriptions it was a great performance. This was not my first performance by Kafer and I have come to enjoy his performances very much. You know just what you are going to get with him. A very good second edition to the series. I was gifted a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest and unbiased review via Audiobook Boom. This in no way affected my opinion of this work.

Great book but start with book 1 if you can

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

I will start off by saying that I started this series with this book. I haven't read/listened to book 1. Because of this, I had a bit of trouble getting into this book. It took a good 3rd of the book before I was fully immersed in the story and felt like I understood what was going on. After that, though, I really enjoyed the book. The narration by Jeffrey Kafer was great and is what kept me going until I could get into the story. My advice, start with book 1 so you can quickly get sucked into this exciting story.

Great, but start with book 1

Jeremy Robinson and Sean Ellis crafted an amazing story which managed to blend together the action/adventure, sci-fy, and urban fantasy genres in the best way possible! Because I hadn't listened to the first book in this series I was a littled confused in the beginning, but everything clicked together for me by the 1/4 mark. This book can be listened to without getting the first, but I think I would've enjoyed even more if I had previously listened to the first book.

I requested a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

A Crazy Adventure

4.5 out of 5 stars

This was a crazy book from beginning to end.  I did read the first book in the series and it felt a bit confusing to start but then settled into a nice groove.  Helios was similar but Robinson and Ellis just bounced all over the place and didn't include one history lesson/relic/era in this book - the hodgepodged them together to make this crazy adventure book that had the Herculean Society bouncing across the globe.

The irony is that all of the pop culture things that I would compare this book to, they included in the book.  It's very Indiana Jones thrown into the world of Assassin's Creed with a little Tomb Raider thrown in there.  If Robinson and Ellis aren't gamers I'd be a little shocked. Some of the characters "origin" stories came from watching Indiana Jones as a kid.  A nice way to tie in the Jones references into Helios.

This was a little different than most Adventure books because they throw in a bit of a Sci-Fi vibe to it. There's an over-arching story that involves space and satellites.  They included some cool autonomous equipment, too - which I enjoyed.

Jeffrey Kafer provided the voice for this one and I'm glad he did.  There's something about when he works with Robinson that just makes it work.

Overall, I thought that Helios was an enjoyable adventure thrill-ride from beginning to end.  I flew through this one and I'm glad I picked it up.  It didn't disappoint me and I hope if you pick it up it doesn't disappoint you either. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.