Hood

American Rebirth Series, Book 1

By: Evan Pickering

Narrated by: Michael Jameson

Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

History speaks of a folk hero hundreds of years ago who fought against corrupt kings and saw the good in everyday people.

Legends say that this might not have been just one man, but many heroes to take up the name and mantle of Robin Hood throughout the ages.

The legend has been reborn in the American apocalypse.

Rob 'Hood' Huntington was an easygoing 20-something kid who loved house parties with good friends and bad jokes. He never thought about a life of survival.

Then in one day everything he knew was gone.

Lucky for him, he learned quickly he is a truly gifted marksman. Learning to live with pulling the trigger is something else entirely.

Two years have passed since the fall of civilization. Hidden away in the mid-Atlantic countryside rests the small town of Clearwater, where Hood, his sister Taylor, and an ex-cop by the name of Whiskey lead a group of survivors. Raging through the remnants of the northeast, two kings, the Kaiser and the Crusader, fight a bloody war for control of the land.

Hood, Whiskey, and the Clearwater crew survive by stealing just enough from the Kaiser to keep the town going. But they cannot stay hidden away forever.

If you loved The Last of Us, I Am Legend, or The Road, you won't want to miss Hood!

©2016 Evan Pickering (P)2016 Evan Pickering

Dystopian dark

What did you love best about Hood?

The pace was consistent and flowed well. The situations described in detail.

What did you like best about this story?

The characters are well defined, even when they surprised me. We got into their heads.

Have you listened to any of Michael Jameson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not. This was very well done.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Staying alive and out of evil's way

Any additional comments?

In a dystopian world you expect dark and disturbing. This small band of survivors are trying to stay alive and hide from the evil left in the world. When Hood finds himself on his own, the world gets darker and survival even less probable.

The characters are well defined, even when they surprised me. We got into their heads.
The pace was consistent and flowed well. The situations described in detail.

Great postapocalyptic audiobook!

Would you consider the audio edition of Hood to be better than the print version?

I'm a big fan of the print version of Hood, so it's hard not to give the audiobook version the same rating. If you like great postapoc fiction with characters you can empathize with and not just a bunch of fluff, I highly recommend it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Whiskey, duh!

Why? Cuz he's me.

What does Michael Jameson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A voice to Hood. It was nice to have a narrator who sounds pretty much exactly how I imaged Hood to sound.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

I recommend it!

Hood

Any additional comments?

I received a free audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a pretty good book - it had a decent plot with good characterization, but the narrator was spectacular. He had a way of bringing you in to the novel and making you care about the characters a lot quicker than most narrators. All of the characters were necessary, which is rare because normally in a novel you can imagine the novel without a specific character, but all of the characters in this post-apocalypse Robin Hood novel were necessary.

Great book - so great that I had to finish it in one sitting!

Not sure if I listened to a different version

After reading the reviews I'm a little confused. I'll admit I'm only on chapter 3, but the narration is pretty bad. He is monotone and too quick paced in non dialogue portions of the story and the voice changes are so slight or non existent during the dialogue you can barely tell the difference between characters.

So far I'm really enjoying the story, but the narration is a struggle to listen to. There is a considerable amount of swearing (which I don't mind at all and it fits the storyline), a good balance of violence and actual human emotion and as another reviewer mentioned, the characters are very 'real', as is the dialogue. I just wish the narration matched the level of the story.

An post apocalyptic story any living humanoid would enjoy!!!

Oh my god.

Finished this in like three days.

It was THAT good.

I fell in love with the main character, Hood, and his kind heart and jock-like ways.

The story itself is wonderfully written. Even in audiobook you can tell that Mr Pickering is a masterful writer, with an eloquent voice and a skill for the descriptive.

I had hoped to pick up a copy of the novel but when I saw there was an audiobook I was delighted, as a new job has meant spending long hours commuting.

Um, NOT LONG ENOUGH.

Once I began listening to 'Hood', there wasn't enough hours in the day. I developed a full on crush on Rob and cannot wait for the sequel, though the tragedy of this story will certainly stop you for six. I'm going to listen to Harry Potter now so that I can escape from the realistic horror that this novel describes, and the viewpoint it provides on both human nature and animals, and the thin line which divides us from the latter.

Please note, this book is awesome. You're missing out if you don't read/listen.

I'll definitely be waiting for the audio of 'Whiskey' too. Get on it, Pickering.

Reclaiming Freedom

Rob and his friends struggle to survive The Kiaser and his Sherrif in a broken America after bombs and biological weapons. They give birth to a new legend of Robin Hood in this mix of Red Dawn and Prince of Thieves. A great post apocalyptic story blending the old with the not quite yet. I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A Different Kind of Post Apocalyptic Novel

If you could sum up Hood in three words, what would they be?

Intense family connections

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character was Hood. He felt a deep connection to family, community and humanity in general. The times he lived in were bleak yet his optimism and belief in the goodness of people shined. Hood had to do some hard things that came with a lot of emotional and physical pain and I found his reactions to be authentic to his character.

What does Michael Jameson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Certainly the bickering between Whiskey and Hood would not have been the same. Although the words might have been tough/rough, I could hear the underlying love that these two characters had for one another. Mr. Jameson also did a great job of expressing Hood's thoughts and feelings in the final scenes of the book (I cried).

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

We are all family.

Any additional comments?

I liked how realistic the characters were. All were flawed, none were perfect.

Couldn't connect with the characters.

I typically love post apocalyptic stories, but this one just didn't grab me. I didn't like the protagonist, and honestly I don't feel as if there was ever any reason given for us to like or care about him. Just being the main character doesn't mean I'm going to care about him. Actually I think the only character I like was Carrie. her actions and motivation were something I could understand and connect with. Now as for the antagonist … well his motivation (or what he says his motivation is ...which didn't quite seem to gel with his actions) makes almost no sense. As for the narration by Michael Jameson, I'm afraid it was quite monotone and just didn't work for me. I was given a free review copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Hood

I was given this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting. The narration was better on a faster speed, but still just ok. The story was fun, and I enjoyed it, but there were some moments that just made me think, "wait, what?" And it kind of broke immersion. But other than that it was fun to see a story we know told in a new way.

Mike Sims

An excellent audiobook!! It twist through the storyline full of surprises.
Character development was good, I wish these authors spent more time telling what the characters looked like but they don't.
Narration was excellent the narrator was easy to listen too, good voice with just the right inflection in his voice.