Humanity's Edge

The Complete Trilogy

By: Paul B Kohler

Narrated by: Wayne Mitchell

Length: 18 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

The Crazed are flesh-hungry monsters. Can civilization survive...and escape from the edge of humanity?

Three books of non-stop zombie action that audiences are calling "fresh" with "dollops of violence" to satisfy even the most discriminating post-apocalyptic fan. From an Amazon best-selling author.

Book 1: Turn - A town on the run...The Crazed wants their flesh.

Will they make it out alive? 

When a meteorite crashes to earth it catapults a small utopian town into an archaic nightmare. It's up to one man to protect them, not only from the flesh-eating monsters but also from the maniacal colonel who storms in, barking orders for immediate evacuation. Clay Dobbs is the small-town sheriff about to, unknowingly, take on the end of the world. 

When the Crazed come for your flesh, how will you survive? 

Book 2: Detour - Their escape was certain...or so they thought. 

Their survival is, and forever will be, in question. 

With the nanite epidemic out of control, Clay leads his skeleton crew head first into the aftermath. The nightmare continues as he battles both the Crazed and the rouge, as well as his own inner demons. The once small town sheriff must find order where there is no law until he encounters his near-equal at the end of the world. But, is she all that she seems? Will Clay unravel all the clues before it's too late? 

The road is a dark and chilling place. There is no time to rest if you want to survive. 

Book 3: Reversion - At the end of the world...never dismiss the unexpected. 

A surprise reunion. A forgotten friend. 

Long odds and determination reward Sheriff Clay Dobbs with a bit of what he wants most. But, he won't rest - he can't rest - not until he's dead. And he has no plans for that until he defeats the insane military general that has caused so much hardship. But, it's not as easy as he thinks, not when there's an even more neurotic psychopath standing in his way. Can Clay learn to control himself, and the undead around him? 

When the Crazed come for you, where will you hide?

©2018 Paul B. Kohler (P)2018 Paul B. Kohler

An honest review

This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review. I genuinely hate giving bad reviews ideally do. I don't want to get too much into detail, because I don't want to spoil anything later in the story. If the things I had issues with are things that your fine with then its not a horrid book. But this seemingly hit on about 3/4 of my pet peeves. With that said here's my honest review.

Positives

The author does explain some of the things I disliked happened.

It has good pacing.

The narrator did a pretty decent job.


Cons
So at the beginning I had to force myself to keep the book going. From the author saying that military hair cuts are Nazi cuts to a fist sized meteor not turning everything in an area to paste. The author at the end of book 1 and beginning of book 2 tries to explain a bit of it. But there was just so much to not like. By the time I got to that point I was barely able to keep the book going. And that sums up a lot of my feelings about the book. There was just so many little things that made me go wait what. More than once I had to skip back because I thought I had missed something because the sheriff would go from average guy to rage monster. Again it was sort of explained at the beginning of the second book why this happens. But by that point I was of the opinion that the author had such horrible characterization that none of the characters were redeemable.

One character is a lesbian and it doesn’t seem natural. I know lesbians, I know gays. In general they are normal people who just happen to be attracted to the same sex. I don’t know if the author has never been around someone who is gay. But it just constantly came across as stilted.

Every single interaction with the military seems like the author is trying to beat you over the head with every member of the military is a sociopath that barely controls himself. And never has any interaction with females that doesn’t come across as they are about to physically maul them. There are bad apples and there are also really bright shining stars of human integrity. Pretty much like they are normal people. Because they are.

On the military... in this small town that everyone knows everyone, that also somehow has a nightlife, 4 bars and a hospital. Everyone hates the military, which isn't common. In small towns generally, you know someone or are related to someone who is or was military. And everyone in this town actively hates the military, with gusto. Even the older people who would have had like a father that was in WW2 and brothers in Vietnam.

I Tried...

I tried to make it through this trilogy, but I just couldn't do it. The characters are not believable, engage it too much introspection and then act irrationally. Lesbian characters seem to spontaneously switch sides with alcohol or pressure as well.
The plot is disjointed as is the dialogue. I just couldn't care about the characters and by the second book, I couldn't really care what happened. I quit at about chapter 105 and don't really have any interest in what happens to the characters or story.
Narration is OK, but some of the voices are distracting.
I was given this free audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Humanity's Edge

This is an interesting book to listen to the audiobook. keeps you listening in the characters and how they get on. This is a long audiobook and I have to take a break several times and listened until the end.

Random yelling?!?

Half of the book was great and the other half felt like someone was randomly yelling from my neighbors backyard. Seemed like there was a lot of over explaining of how a character felt. For example when the main character was able to hear what was going on in a zombies mind. There was about 5 or 6 times in the book that I almost stopped listening but I’m not that person that stops when he started something but man did I consider it.

Childish preteen

Title says how I feel. I regrets the credit waste. The performance was most annoying and the story was accidentally preteen horror

Top class post apoc

Humanity's Edge: The Complete Trilogy ' Great "zombie" entertainment. A real good read.
Lots of blood and gore, corrupt politicians & military.
As a trilogy in one audio book it is long but that also makes it exceedingly good value.
I was given a free copy of this audiobook at my own request, and voluntarily leave this review.

Not for me

Couldn't finish it unfortunately. Didn't come close. Performance and content is subpar. I just could not get into this one.

Good if you like the genre or are in the mood

Solidly written and well narrated. This particular series was not to my personal taste, but not because it lacked quality. On the plus, the story is more about survivors and their character development than it is about apocalyptic monsters -- though those are present. I think I just wasn't in the right mood to appreciate this series, which I still suggest as a good credit purchase if you're a fan of the genre. It does skew a little less political than some, which is also a plus. I just didn't get pulled in. I hope you all enjoy it more. I will come back and listen again in a couple months, and rewrite this at that time.

Solid story

Solid story but not innovative enough to really satisfy
I listened at a higher speed.

meh

good narration, too many time hops and stuff just happens, no build up, no sense of wtf. oh you caused this, whatever "ima do my own thing" could've been better but it was not horrible.

Great addition to the zombie genre

Humanity's Edge is a solidly written zombie trilogy. A huge fan of the zombie apocalypse genre, I found myself enjoying almost the entire eighteen plus hours.

Clay Dobbs, a small-town sheriff becomes the de facto leader of a rag-tag group of survivors. The responsibility of their lives falls onto his shoulders. Aside from keeping his people safe, his true aim is to find his wife and daughter. The burden of responsibility, losses along with physical metamorphosis continuously challenge Clay. Ultimately, finding himself morally conflicted.

The last few hours of the book were intense. It took a lot for me not to fast-forward just to see what happens next. The story is fast-paced with many ups and downs. Just when you think everything is lost, there is a twist, keeping the reader/listener on edge and wondering. Will mercy backfire? Does Clay have to become a monster to beat monsters? And who are the true monsters? The Crazed or the megalomaniac general bent on ruling the world or the sociopath on a power-trip?

Paul B Kohler is a fantastic author. I found his writing to flow naturally and not forced, especially with the dialogue. This is a post-apocalyptic tale with quality plot and character development. I was invested in the story and the outcome for the characters.

Wayne Mitchell was brilliant, he did an exceptional job narrating the trilogy. Each character had a different voice and easily identified. He brought the audiobook to life. Both the author and narrator make a great team.

Overall, I enjoyed Humanity's Edge, particularly the ending. It was definitely worth the listen.

A great zombie packed book

I really liked the characters in the book. We obviously have a lot going on as its the zombie apocalypse after all. The action comes thick and fast and the pace is unrelenting. I certainly became invested in the characters and what's going on with them as they try to both survive and find loved ones. I really enjoyed it from start to finish.

The narration also gives it a sense of tension and pace that I enjoyed.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Good distopian adventure

Liked the characters and story. Kept me interested through all three books. Will read this author again

Highly Reccomended!

I loved this book! Although many aspects were expected (there is only so much you can do with a zombie apocalypse) he was able to put a new twist into the story that I hadn't heard of before! I love zombie apocalypse books and this one doesn't disappoint! I would highly recommend it!

Hard to stop listening

Great book! I found it very hard to stop listening. Loved the story line, not to much gore, and plenty of twists and turns to make to hard to turn off. Nice balance of characters, and love interest was done just right. Got a bit sad when I knew the book was ending, always a good sign. Loved the narration, very clear on each person.
Off to find more from both the author and narrator.

A lot of suspense

This is 3 books that depict a small town sheriff who is thrust into a position of trying to lead a small group of survivors after a military experiment goes wrong. They must trek across country to try and save his wife and daughter as well as other members of his community that the Army has taken.

It involves many adventures with some people being lost and others joining the group. The sheriff at times seems very uncertain of his ability and unsure of what actions he should be taking. When confronted with people who are willing to kill he at times seem helpless.

The narrator is quite good various voices and does emotional outburst well.

This book was provided free of charge with the expectation of an honest review.

An artist painting in lead and gore.

The three books which comprise the Humanity's Edge trilogy: Turn, Detour, and Reversion.
A meteorite crashes into a farm barn, killing a young teenager and burning both the barn and the house. After going out to investigate, Marshall Clay Dobbs returns to Carterville Stationhouse in time to see a couple of last night's drunks being released. One started vomitting blood, them convulsing, attacking a deputy, Kyle, and Clay was forced to shoot the manic man. He'd never shot anyone before, Carterville was just a quiet small town. When a military convoy drives in shortly after, it becomes clear that something very strange is happening. Colonel Wallace wants to forcibly evacuate the whole town...

It is the end of the world apocalypse. A handful of survivors, led by Clay, his one aim besides keeping his people safe, is to find his wife and daughter. But Clay is also conflicted, his lifelong sense of morality conflicted by the circumstances. Quite cleverly written and seen mostly from the Sheriff's point of view, the group face zombie-like hordes and other dangers in the weeks following the initial transformation. Characterisation is good, relationships at times intriguing (although the book two constant recollections of his daughter by Clay does get intrusive) and the battle gory, inventive and exciting. Although predictable at times, and showing occasional glitches, the emotional tension is good throughout, the personality development good, and the ending well worth waiting for. Just don't get too attached to any of the characters.

All is enhanced by the excellent narration of Wayne Mitchell. His phrasing and timing is spot on, the reading emotionally tracking the text and giving it increased emphasis. The characters are individually and appropriately voiced, also. A fine performance.

My thanks to the rights holder who, at my requesr, freely gifted me a complimentary copy, via Audiobook Boom. A very enjoyable and different take on the zombie apocalypse which benefits from being read sequentially without having to wait for the next installment. Humanity's Edge should appeal to all who enjoy this genre.