Iron Mike

By: Patricia Rose

Narrated by: Zachary Liebenstein

Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

They came, but not in peace. They came to destroy us. Our cities crumbled. Our people died by the billions. Their weapons were sophisticated beyond our worst nightmare. In this chaos, a teenage boy must get his sister to safety and, in doing so, become a man.

Iron Mike is a light science-fiction story. Yes, aliens invade, but they're more the background. It's a heavily character-driven book. It begins with Mike trying to get his younger sister to safety, to get her "behind a line of soldiers at Fort Knox" to keep her safe from potential looters and rapists. Along the way, Mike picks up strays, so his responsibilities increase exponentially. Hard decisions are made, as in any apocalyptic tale, and consequences are accepted.

©2015 Patricia Rose (P)2015 Patricia Rose

Critic reviews

"Patricia Rose's post-apocalyptic coming of age science fiction novel, Iron Mike, is fast-paced, exciting, and thought-provoking…Rose's vision is grim and dark at times, but her heroes grow stronger, more self-reliant and competent with each challenge they face. This is a well-written and absorbing story that will prove to be a pleasant surprise for readers who have grown somewhat weary of the ubiquitous zombie and plague apocalypse tales so prevalent in recent years…It’s an impressive debut novel that is highly recommended." (Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite)

Unque end of World book Read Great Voice

What made the experience of listening to Iron Mike the most enjoyable?

Sit Back Close your eyes as The narrator take your on truly unique ride through end of world where thing you can see can really harm you where without moment notice world descend into chaos. The Narrator Zachary does amazing job of catching each character in voice that make you know them even when you in scene of pure chaos where many of them all speaking at once. Though really have to give him thumbs up for whole dog thought voice i loved Hershey mental voice. It is great entailed end of world with many levels many depths of death life love and sorrow. All can say is buy it listen to keep few tissue near hand for no charcters truly safe from end of world by alien apocalypses .

What about Zachary Liebenstein’s performance did you like?

I have to say monologues of each character was truly great though i love way he did inner thought best

Iron Mike- Deep characters and lots of action

Iron Mike is an enjoyable story from start to finish. The characters are believable and have plenty of depth. The novel is tightly plotted, well researched, and fast paced.

Ryan Michael Sanderlin (Iron Mike) is a likable protagonist who has to overcome heartbreaking trials during the course of the story. The reader will cheer for his triumphs and feel remorse for his failures. The secondary characters are also well written, three dimensional, and it feels like you really get know them. With the unique character Hershey, Rose also blends a little humor into the novel.

The one quibble I have with the audiobook version of the novel is the narration. While Zachary Liebenstein speaks clearly, there is a strange cadence to the narration that takes some getting used to. It almost seems the words are being read from flash cards, with maybe five words read, a pause, then five more words read, and another pause.

I highly recommend Iron Mike and would definitely be interested in reading a sequel.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com.

Great coming of age novel

I really enjoyed this. I loved Hershey (the dog) & how we got to see the story from his eyes at times. Iron Mike was honorable, mature and intelligent. The story played out well but I did feel the amount of time things would have taken was off. There was so much thought put in to the story & it paid off. It was original & compelling.
There not much of anything I would change about this story other than to get a part two.

I feel that mature teens would enjoy this book as well.


This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast.

Aliens and F-Bombs Had Me Stop Before End 😣

This book makes one think about what would happen if we had "visitors" invading us here on earth. However, it could have been more thought provoking had there not been the strong language – almost nonstop F bombs. I was ready for it to be over.

The narration by Zachary Lichtenstein was above-average and I enjoyed listening to his performance.

Notes: strong language, violence (including rape)

Overall three stars
Narration for stars

*I received this work in exchange for my review; good, bad or meh. I've written all 3 kinds. Unfortunately this is on the meh to bad.

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A fresh new take on the post apocalyptic world

Any additional comments?

I love the way Patrica portrayed the post-apocalyptic world in her book Iron Mike. In the world she creates, aliens are the culprit. I like the multiple points of view. We get to see some of the action from the view of the Aliens. This is important. I wont say why. I don't want to spoil anything. One of the main characters is also a dog. She pulls it off brilliantly. The world as seen by the dog is both insightful and immensely funny at times.
In the beginning as the main characters come together they are faced with a daycare center full of kids. I'm extremely well read in this genre and that was a new one for me. There were some heart wrenching moments.
Again, without spoiling things, let me say the way the aliens trap the remaining humans is simple yet horrifying.
Overall a great read.

YA Sci-Fi

Any additional comments?

The author created a unique premise for this book.While I did enjoy the books uniqueness, it was hard for me to connect with the characters.The story seems to be directed toward a younger audience.The "Boy" is cast as the perfect young "Hero" which is always a turn off for me.I prefer my post apocalyptic stories to be grittier,with flawed characters who struggle to survive.The narrator has a pleasant voice.I received an audiobook from the author in exchange for an honest review.

A killer dystopian

This is an intense. I was blown away by this book. It hits all the major parts that are essential to a complete story. You have different point of views which have many different sides to the apocalypse. I mean seriously you have Hersey the dog telling his point of view which was amazing. It was extremely unique adding that. I have read many dystopian books but this is one is going to stand out for me. I loved the whole story. I learned some things I didn't know about snakes which is a thumbs up from me. My favorite character was Iron Mike. I enjoyed watching him grow into a man. I feel very protective of him. My favorite part was when they found out how to defeat the Feeders. I was jumping up and down. Now I had a complete experience reading this. I read part of the ebook, paperback and listened to the audio. The audio was my favorite because the narrator did a fantastic job. The writing was elegant and flowed nicely. I hate to say goodbye for now but I hope to read more from this characters. This is the first book I have read from this author. I will recommend this book to all my dystopian loving friends.

Great Alien Invasion Story

Really like this one, especially the variety of characters and story lines. Narration was very good and easy to follow the characters. Seems to set up for another book. I hope so - I will definitely download! This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast.

Like the story, but---

I liked the story. Was drawn into the characters well. Character development was good; plot was good. The ending was a bit abrupt. It felt a bit like the author was just tired and finished.

But my main objection is with the narration. I don't mind a near raider that simply reads the text rather than acting it. But the mispronunciations became intrusive by about the 1st 3rd of the book. Someone should have edited the narration better.

That being said, I did keep listening; and I did enjoy the book overall. I just found the narration in need of editing, much like many digital texts need editing.

The Narrator

This was a very good story. The narrator made it less enjoyable than it could have been. He miss pronounced so many words. Don't these authors know that a narrator can make or break there book. Re narrate this book if it tanks.