Penance: An Extinction Cycle Story

The Redemption Series, Book 2

By: AJ Sikes

Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot

Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's Summary

There is no escaping the evil lurking in the shadows....

After the harrowing trials of Emergence, Jed Welch finds himself alone in the ruins of New York City. But not all is lost.

USMC Staff Sergeant Alexandra Gallegos and the two surviving members of her platoon find Jed, and together they will bring the full weight of their Marine Corps training, and mission-driven sense of vengeance, to bear upon the real monsters: human collaborators who aid the Variants at the expense of their fellow human beings.

For SSGT Gallegos, theirs is a mission borne of duty and command. For Jed, it becomes an act of penance, in hopes he may atone for his sins. 

©2019 AJ Sikes (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Fast Paced.

After the events of Emergence, Jed is alone and scared with countless Variants around him. But thankfully for him, he meets up with USMC Staff Sergeant Alexandra Gallegos and two other members of her platoon. They are wary of Jed at first, thinking him to be in league with the collaborators, but they soon realise that there are bigger threats and Jed can fight.

Admittedly, I really didn't like Jed in the first book, but I understood his feelings, but thankfully here, we see more to him and he grew on me. He is still struggling with doing the right thing, but I think he has finally found his place and he is becoming who he should be. I think what happened to Meg and his role in it made him grow up and realise it's not just him anymore, it's all of humanity and that they need to save everyone they can.

This takes place straight after Emergence and straight after Meg goes into the sewers. We get to see some familiar Variants in this.... the Bone Collector!!! The action never really lets up and it's the team against the Variants and the evil that is the collaborators. It's well written and developed and a welcome addition to the Extinction Universe that Nicholas Sansbury Smith created. Jed has finally grown on me and I'm looking forward to reading the end of this trilogy to see what happens.

Once again, Bronson Pinchot gives a brilliant performance. I don't think I could picture anyone else reading these books because I feel like this narrator understands the world and the characters he is portraying. He is an amazing narrator and I highly recommend him.

Great expansion of Nicholas Sansbury Smiths story

Adrian Sikes has taken a great series of books, added his own flavor. He has taken people that where in the background of Nicholas story and have them their own time to shine.

I’m not usually one that likes add on or spin off books by another author, but I will say Mr. Sikes did not disappoint he has left me wanting more with each of these books.

If you are a fan of “end of the world” action books I would highly recommend this series. Great work and can’t wait to experience more of your work.

A must read!!!

A can’t get enough of the extinction cycle series!! This book was engaging (like the others) right from the moment you start listening!! And Bronson Pinchot is awesome!!!

decent book good performer

Aurhor created characters you could care about, unoriginal antagonists as is the norm, and good performance.

Rah?

The story and narration are good. The right word is Oorah said with force. Not a lack luster Rah. Its monotonous the way it's used in this book.

Extinction Cycle Universe

Book 2 in this trilogy continues to contribute to the Extinction Cycle Universe story. Here we learn more about Jed and I really enjoyed how well his character grew. Throughout the story the different characters are familiar from other Extinction Cycle Universe books. If you enjoyed the Extinction Cycle or Dark Ages you'll definitely enjoy this trilogy

Lots of action, story starting to drag

Same story of a small group running through NYC avoiding zombies and traitors. Awesome action but I got tired of the non ending battles.

same has the first novel

The story was is set during the events of book 2 of the main series writen by Nicholas Sunbury Smith. The novel give expansion of events shows how the first Alpha variant Bone collector and human collaborators hunted sutures and the few military left fought them seet by street.

Has I listened to the novel it felt like the authour copy and pasted alot of events from the first novel with changes to kedp the reader from noticing like the MC having doubt about his ability to fight and how people miss trust him even fo he try to help them. An it this also shows in how boutg novels ended with almost everyone dead before they all learned to tryst in themselves and those around them.

Jed is a Putz!

The main character is so annoying. If I had to hear 1 more commanding officer tell that butt head to keep his eyes trained on his field of operation (or whatever the phrasing was), I would have screamed. He seemed to be a real selfish jerk.

Great!

First and Second book were great. new characters in this book played a great role. no useless characters. everyone played their part well. ready for book three!!

Very compelling

I would say book one was a good and interesting listen and this book is really much more compelling with good back stories for the original series. Well worth a go