Ruination

Viral Apocalypse, Book 2

By: Michael McBride

Narrated by: Cassandra Arnold

Length: 16 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

The second book in the internationally best-selling series!

A deadly contagion has spread across the country, turning the afflicted into violent monsters and the streets into battlegrounds. The government has fallen. Once great cities lay in ruins. And those cursed with immunity have braved the chaos to take shelter in military bases unprepared to withstand the continuous attacks of the infected.

But that’s not the worst part.

An ancient evil intent on bringing about the end of the world has awakened. Fortunately, a Hopi elder who’s spent his entire life awaiting the fulfillment of the prophecies foretelling its return has traveled the highways, leaving signs summoning the chosen to the site of humanity’s last stand.

If they can reach it in time.

An FBI agent and a prescient teenage girl need to fight their way down the west coast. An expert on indigenous languages and a woman with precognitive abilities must battle inland from the east. And a pair of scientists have to escape from a doomed research facility so they can share a discovery that the entire world needs to know: The virus runs its course in 72 hours. All the immune have to do is survive that long.

And pray the forces of darkness don’t find them first.

©2023 Michael McBride (P)2023 Michael McBride

Great Story

Narrator a bit shaky but not enough for me to lose interest in the story. Loved it. definitely a different take on the apocalypse.

Turn right in 600 feet…

The story is amazing - as was the first. This author is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

That’s why it pains me to say that it was a chore to finish this audiobook. The narrator is, by far, the worst I’ve heard and I’ve listened to audiobooks for as long as I can remember. I seriously played a clip for several friends and they all thought it was a text-to-chat program! I had to Google the narrator’s name because I wasn’t sure she was a real person.

Her inflections are awkward, she pauses randomly so you aren’t sure if she started a new sentence or what, her characters all sound like hollow robots - I never knew who was saying what, and she mispronounces the strangest things. “Wind through the trees” and a “winding road” are not the same word…

I know this is harsh, and I’m sorry about that, but this gal should choose a new profession… any profession to be honest. I think I’d rather her clean my teeth than listen to another book narrated by her.

Narrator is horrible

The story it’s self is good but I have struggled to finish as the narrator is the worst I have ever encountered. I am still not convinced the narrator is not AI. I hope they bring back the narrator from the first book as I am not sure I would be willing to purchase the next book. It really is unfortunate as the narrator from the first book truly brought the story to life.

Great story but …

The narration was awful. Was it computer read. I had to ignore it for a good story.

Great story

I really enjoy the series. It reminds me of Stephen King’s “The Stand”I did not care for the narrator, and I had to relisten to some of the chapters to figure out who was who Everyone’s voice was the same and her voice was very boring

A little long

A lot of evil and descriptive evil deeds. It seems the evil entities in this tale are unstoppable in their destruction. Makes the story drag as those that may defeat it and save the world seem hesitant to recognize the danger coming. Takes too long for all the good guys/gals to get together. Definitely will be a next in this series and I’ll purchase just to see the good when and the 5th world begin.

Machine Reading or SPEAK AND SPELL?

Damm good story line but the narration of the story was that of old SPEAK AND SPELL spelling computer. At times I thought a. machine was reading this story. I struggled to finish it due to the voice. I hope for the final reading they get the first narrator.

Great story Loved it!

I think Michael’s take on “zombie apocalypse” is incredible unique and fresh! I love all the descriptive details.

The change from a male narrator in the first to a female in the second was little jarring at first, but I thought Cassandra did a good job with it. I happen to like narrators who enunciate well and thought it was good.

Definitely looking forward to the next one!

Excellent world-building

The reader at first seemed mechanical but soon became a great storyteller. The author did an excellent job of creating visual descriptions that helped me see what was happening around me in the story. Great work. Can't wait to read the third episode.

Struggled to finish

The narrator's performance was so robotic that I struggled to finish this book. They should have stayed with the narrator from book 1. I don't think I will bother with book 3.