Search & Recovery

Anniversary Day Saga, Book 4 (Retrieval Artist Universe)

By: Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Narrated by: Jay Snyder

Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's Summary

Amid the ruin, heroes emerge from the unlikeliest places....

The Anniversary Day bombings devastated the Moon, killing thousands. While survivors search for missing loved ones and the rich and powerful set plans in motion to capitalize on the Moon's misfortune, one ruthless man vows to uncover those responsible for the attacks on the Moon. Luc Deshin, the most feared man in Armstrong, knows all too well the bombings could have killed the wife and son he loves more than life itself. To protect his family, Deshin immerses himself in a criminal network he fought long and hard to leave behind. Deshin doesn't scare easily, but what he finds in the black market underbelly of the Moon will chill him to the bone.

©2015 Kristine Kathryn Rusch (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Not a story

I'd not normally give a 1 to something decently written, but this fails on a basic point. It isn't a story. Yes, it's part of the overall Anniversary Day story, but it's not even a complete chapter in that plot. It reads like a prologue or a series of character notes that got forced into a binding. At the best, its the beginning of a story, concerning characters we already have met, experiencing things in which we already knew they were involved. There's no middle or end. My expectation from the author, in this setting, is that I'll get a mystery, perhaps one that's part of a larger mystery. What I got was a lot of character narrative, not particularly compelling narrative at that, which did not meaningfully advance the plot of the series.

The real kicker is, that if I were to read the next in the series, the entire book will be summed up in a few lines. It was a real disappointment. If you want to continue the series, just skip this one.

I enjoyed the RA books, and Diving is decent, but the Anniversary Day books have been a disappointment.

Ultimately skippable? We'll see.

I've enjoyed all of the Retrieval Artist Universe installments, though these installments that are missing our favorite Retrieval Artist and his former partner I find less satisfying. This installment I found much less satisfying than the previous Murder of Clones, which had some interesting events and filled us in on the universe outside the Earth Alliance. This one follows the lives of a few individuals who were touched by the Anniversary Day event. I was surprised when it ended, but Audible hoped I enjoyed it anyway. :-) Without yet having read subsequent installments, I can't tell if anything covered in this book advances the Anniversary Day Saga or if it's just additional context. Maybe I'll revise my review in the future, but at this point I wonder if this installment is just as well skipped.

Serialization disappoints.

I'm feeling cheated by a series of partial stories at full price. This seems to have become a pattern for some authors.

Just a segment of the story

It looks like the publishers and Ms Rusch are trying to milk this story for all its worth financially at the expense of the reader. This "book," I hesitate to call it that, is just a few chapters of character development. It's reasonably well-written, in the author's rather unique style, has good character development, but no action, no real story. I feel like I've been taken advantage of, wanting to continue the series, which, overall, has been quite good. With the number of books in the pipeline, it may take years, if ever, for the reader to actually reach a conclusion of the tale. This wouldn't be so bad, if the individual parts had something to say. I recommend this book for readers of the series, only because there is enough background information that might make it harder to understand what is going on in the future. Otherwise, it's pretty trivial.

Disappointing

I was hoping to get more information on who is behind the anniversary day bombings - no such luck. I'm not even really sure what the point of this book was, other than to make money.

The book follows the stories of a few different people who were affected in some way by the bombings. We see a woman break up with a boyfriend and possibly find someone new. We see people trying to find loved ones who can only do so via DNA gathered from very small samples (since many were vaporized when the bombs went off). We follow a man who wants to find the person ultimately responsible but apparently gives up after very little investigation.

The stories aren't compelling nor did I find the people interesting. It's all just reliving misery in the lives of the people we follow.

Sorry folks, I like KKR but if you don't get this book, you won't be missing anything crucial to the ongoing mystery. I was truly disappointed that a) I wasted a credit and b) I wasted my time. I've been disappointed with several things she's written lately but only now have I seen that lackluster writing in the retrieval artist "world". I'm not sure if I'll get the next one due out in March or not.

Anniversary Day, Book 1.2

Any additional comments?

This should be considered an alternate POV and additional information for Anniversary Day and before Blowback.

anniversary date from a 3rd, 4th and 5th viewpoint

Less than stellar story - I've already heard anniversary day from 2 viewpoints. Don't need more, don't care about about these people. Skip this book if you don't like repetition. Hearing the same thing over and over and, well you get the point. 2 books without Miles and Noelle.

Refreshing difference in the series

The whole Disappearing series was getting a bit stale. There's only so many stories of that theme you can do. This one was a nice change.

Only thing I didn't like was that there were too many main characters. The author would do one chapter on one character then go to the next one's story, of course. By the time you got back to a previous character, I had a tough time remembering what that person was going through. They were all good characters, well drawn and sympathetic even for bad guys.

The narrator did well, no annoyiing mannerisms, you didn't really notice the voice, just the story.