• Hell's Rejects

  • Chaos of the Covenant, Volume 1
  • By: M.R. Forbes
  • Narrated by: Jeff Hays
  • Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (627 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Hell's Rejects  By  cover art

Hell's Rejects

By: M.R. Forbes
Narrated by: Jeff Hays
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.95

Buy for $19.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

The most powerful starships ever constructed are taken. Thousands are dead. A fleet is in ruins....

Lieutenant Abigail Cage never expected to find herself in hell. There was a time when she was one of the most respected operatives in the military. Now, she's doing hard labor on the most miserable planet in the universe.

Not for long.

The Republic is looking for the most dangerous individuals it can control. The best of the worst, and Abbey is one of them. Joined by the most ragtag collection of criminals the galaxy has to offer, she sets out to recover the ships and take down the traitors who stole them.

There's only one problem....

A new evil is rising in the galaxy. One with a power unlike anything anyone has ever seen. One that's been waiting for this moment for a very, very long time.

And it wants Abbey too.

If you love Captain Marvel, Guardians of the Galaxy, or Star Wars, you’ll love riding along with the Rejects in this fun-filled, action-packed space opera adventure from million-selling author M.R. Forbes.

©2017 Michael Forbes (P)2017 Michael Forbes

What listeners say about Hell's Rejects

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    374
  • 4 Stars
    170
  • 3 Stars
    56
  • 2 Stars
    17
  • 1 Stars
    10
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    413
  • 4 Stars
    122
  • 3 Stars
    35
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    8
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    339
  • 4 Stars
    148
  • 3 Stars
    68
  • 2 Stars
    23
  • 1 Stars
    10

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Solid start to a new a series.

Any additional comments?

Hell's Rejects is the first volume in a new series by the prolific M.R. Forbes. This is a fast paced space adventure, with a ragtag group brought together to help save the galaxy. While many of the characters might feel a bit formulaic, I like them and the how they play off of each other. There is a ton going on, plenty of secrets and Forbes knows just how to dole out enough info to keep you guessing. Definitely a series I will continue.

This is the second book narrated by Jeff Hays and he delivers another excellent performance. Like the last book I listened to that was narrated by Jeff, this book has a large cast and Jeff is able to bring all of them to life, each with their own unique voice. It really is amazing, even if there were dialogue tags you'd be able to identify which characters are talking. No clue how he keeps all the voices straight in his head, but it is truly impressive. Definitely one of the top narrators out there.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good start to a new series.

An promising start of what hopefully will be another epic series on the eternal battle between the forces of evil and good. Captain Olus 'Kill Shot' Mann, head of the Office of Strategic Intelligence is tasked with assembling a stealth crew and assets needed to discover the enemy who stole two seemingly invincible starships and used them to kill thousands of people; along with recovering those ships for the Republic. He chooses the crew from a damnable penal planet named Hell that is used for the worst of the worst criminals within the Republic, a crew that no one would miss should they fail in their mission.

What follows is a highly intriguing series of adventures for the crew and the readers as they blindly pursue their mission from planet to planet. Forbes saves a major revelation about the nature of the enemy until near the end of the book, piquing my interest in the next book even further.

Jeff Hayes has one of the best voices for mimicking both genders and continues to use that talent fully in this audiobook.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Really great listen!

A space opera series with a strong female protagonist? Sign me up for that! That was the first thing that caught my attention when I read the blurb for this one. So, with the knowledge that Jeff Hays narrates this as well (like many of Forbes’ other audiobooks) and that it would therefore be well narrated and likely full of cool special effects and stuff, I jumped right in head first.

Well, ears first. LOLOLOLokay I’ll stop. >.>

You know, it took me a long while (and admittedly a lot of experimentation) to learn that not only are a great many self published books good, but their audio versions, if given proper love and attention are awesome as well. This one is no exception. Special effects like… communication over a radio sounding like communication over a radio, characters sounding muffled when the text indicates they would be, and things like that give the book an immersive quality that really makes it hard to stop listening. A great narration can help me cheer for characters I might not actually care so much about in print, or hate villains that I’m supposed to hate but can’t visualize hating and so don’t. I’m way more likely to listen to books that I likely wouldn’t read but want to experience. Space operas usually fall into this category for me, for while I love-love-love the idea of them, I sometimes find them a chore to actually get through in print.

If someone reads them to me though, well… I could (and can… and have…) handle that all day long.

This one was a fun, spacey-but-not-overdoing-the-spacey ride, which occasionally brought to mind some of my favorite sci-fi titles. Battlestar Galactica, various Star Trek iterations, The Hyperion Cantos, etc, etc, etc. This is not a bad thing. It made the story more relatable to me, which made it more immersive. Not that I’m not a fan of military/war based sci-fi (Old Man’s War is in my top 10 sci-fi books ever; Mass Effect is among my favorite video games of all time; I can probably quote entire episodes of TNG from memory…), but more that I have no frame of reference, having never been in nor all that interested in the inner workings of the various branches of the military. I suppose it could be said that I don’t really take an active interest in war stories….. unless it’s space war. That’s totally different (because space). You know… war… in the stars… eeeheheheokay I’ll really stop now. >.>

Anyway, like a few other reviewers have said, this one felt like a spacey Suicide Squad. Take a bunch of convicts, place kill switches in their bodies, then send them on a dangerous AF mission for the greater good. In space. With spaceships and laser blasters. Pew pew! It worked for me, similarities or no.

I liked Abbey as a character, though I felt at times that she was almost overly good at everything she did. Part of that was admittedly the point, but even before she was… gifted… Abbey was just the best at everything she did. Even despite that though, she still seemed human to me, what with the struggle of not being able to see her daughter, and the emotional stress that causes. That was all believable. Gant, who I imagined as something along the lines of an Ewok mixed with a sloth, was another awesome character that was well used as… not exactly a comic relief, but something that kept the book from getting too dark. Awesome character.

Anyway, I thought this was a great use of 9 or so hours of my time, and I’ll definitely try and continue the series.

(I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review)

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Tm
  • 06-11-17

Couldn't make it

I knew 60 seconds into this book I was not going to like it. That may seem a bit of a rash decision to some. The cheesy dialogue and the production decision to change voices and sound levels between characters and narrator I found extremely annoying. The narrator did a good job. His voice was clear a concise. The director/ producer of the narration did no favors to this book. A competent director may have bee able to make this cheesy dialogue less painful. I'll never know. I only made it 45 minutes. I'm send this book back. There are way to many good books out there. Try anything by John Scalzi, or the Bob series by Dennis E Taylor or Paradise by Craig Alanson or anything by Jack Campbell or anything narrated by R.C. Bray. ........... just skip this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Rag tag crew kicks butt

This is an entertaining space adventure. The leading character is a kick-ass woman. She is likable and sympathetic. Her crew is a mismatched group of rogues. They add interest and humor as they struggle to save the universe. Jeff Hays does a good job with the narration. This is the first time I have listened to his work. I would be happy to listen to him again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book!

Was riveted to my seat throughout the entire book. Great story and one of the best narrators Ive heard. Cant wait for book two.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

Jeff Hays brings this book to life with his voice from Abby being wronged to kicking butt....just fantastic. Book 2 here I come.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Epic!!

M.R. Forbes hit a home run with this one, I couldn't stop listening. I can't wait to start the next book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The combination of Forbes & Hays is awesome!

I listened to this entire series when it was newly released. The story has flaws, but we’re all flawed humans, right? As someone raised Catholic, I especially loved the touch of Catholicism in this series as both antagonist and protagonist forces behind the scenes. Was it blasphemy? Frag no! Then add in the astounding vocalizations by Jeff Hays who gave every major character a distinctive voice and character. His human vocal chords are on par with the bet of Mel Blanc. If that doesn’t compute, look it up. Anyway…not anyways…I hate writers who don’t know correct English grammar. What is accepted is very different from what is supposed to be taught and learned. Oh well, I’m digressing. Jeff Hays ALONE did all male and female voices. He is one of the few narrators smart enough to use the inexpensive, but very effective voice altering technology to its best results. Sometimes too much delay or reverb, but the entire series was a masterpiece. Now, he is the main force behind the troop called Sound Booth Theater. Don’t believe the voices come from one person, watch their YouTube channel. They even perform bits from different book projects they’ve done or might be new. I’ve read the remarks that say negative things about Jeff, and when inspecting them, they never have anything good to say. I believe those kinds of people are called Trolls. I’d call them something else. And even more ridiculous when they can’t even make proper sentences using correct English words. Now onto the other books in the series…

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome

I love the story. This is the third time I’m listening to it. Jeff Hayes is amazing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!