Rush

The Game, Book 1

By: Eve Silver

Narrated by: Amy Rubinate

Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's Summary

So what's the game now?

This, or the life I used to know?

Miki Jones' carefully controlled life spirals into chaos after she's run down in the street, left broken and bloody. She wakes up fully healed in a place called the lobby - pulled from her life, pulled through time and space into some kind of game in which she and a team of other teens are sent on missions to eliminate the Drau, terrifying and beautiful alien creatures.

There are no practice runs, no training, and no way out. Every moment of the game is kill or be killed, and Miki has only the questionable guidance of Jackson Tate, the team's alluring and secretive leader. He evades her questions, holds himself aloof from the others, and claims it's every player for himself. But when he puts himself at risk to watch Miki's back, he leaves her both frustrated and fascinated. Jackson says the game isn't really a game, that what Miki and her new teammates do now determines their survival. And the survival of every other person on this planet. She laughs. He doesn't. And then the game takes a deadly and terrifying turn.

©2013 Eve Silver (P)2013 HarperCollinsPublishers

I'm in!

Would you listen to Rush again? Why?

Yes, the narrator took some getting used to. She is breathy but you get used to it. I really enjoyed all the voices.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Rush?

I enjoyed the cave. That is where a lot of the questions started to get answered. And the Committee part. I was on the fence about Jackson but he sold me.

Which character – as performed by Amy Rubinate – was your favorite?

Jackson and Luca equally

Any additional comments?

I must admit that the 1st 12 chapters were hard for me. I felt just as frustrated as Miki. Not knowing or completely understanding what was going on. But it lasted 12 chapters.....you have to just get passed that and you will love this book.

I am a gamer so I had to

This is another young adult story that for reasons unknown to me I just had to give a listen. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Harper Audio really has yet to disappoint me or maybe it is my inner child wishing that I was sixteen again and could have all the tell tale physical reactions to all the girls around me. I think the main reason is that I am a gamer a heart and had to ban myself from playing the plethora of MMO games that are out there these days. I used to have dreams of being in the game world for real and of how awesome I thought it would be. Never did I think of being forced into the situation or if I died there that I would die for real.

Another hugely promising beginning, right away we are thrust into the game world were the selected teens must battle against the alien invaders. Eve Silver succeeded to create a somewhat believable situation and back-story supporting why these “kids” had to fight for the rest of humanity. maybe I need to stop listening to the young adult genre altogether because I find myself board with all the ridiculous sexual tension between the guys and the gals. However, I did find the character of Miki very interesting, her relationship with her father really hit home for reasons you may or may not discover yourself. The middle portion of Rush: The Game, Book 1 made me consider to abandon the whole thing, and as soon as I was ready to pull the trigger, boom, there we were back in the game world find out all the reasons for the fight and why they were there in the first place. I did not see much of anything coming at me before it hit me right between the ears. A really good cliffhanger ending made me forget all the bad felling I had earlier and I had to look and see in the next book in the series was available yet, it wasn’t, but I do see myself continuing with the adventure.

As is often the case with me I hated Amy Rubinate narration up until it was almost over. Many narrators are really good and adding the very subtle nuances that reading books out loud for a living require and I did not get the sense that she was doing this and if she was it was way too subtle. Then near the end of the story one of two things happened, either I woke up and realized that she was doing a good job or Rubinate woke up and really started to feel the story within herself. Ether way by the end I was hooked and need more of her and then it was over. Anyway I will not be deterred from any audiobook if Rubinate is the narrator because she redeemed herslf with me.

Can't Finish It

I really wanted to like this book, but I'm about halfway through, and I'm done. The story is interesting, but I just can't take the writing. The similes and metaphors in this thing are just awful. I almost quit at "horror congealing like day old bacon fat", but I kept going. But when I got to "I replied with all the grace and elegance of a plane crash", I couldn't go on.

The narration was fine, but I don't think any narrator could have gotten me to finish this thing.

Enjoyed but...

I liked the book but it was difficult for me to get through the slower parts. I had to leave it for a while and come back later.