The Rule of Three

The Extinction New Zealand Series, Book 1

By: Adrian J. Smith

Narrated by: Raphael Corkhill

Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's Summary

What would you do to survive the apocalypse?

Jack Gee, hiking the New Zealand mountains, is blissfully unaware of the Hemorrhage virus sweeping the world. A desperate message from his wife, Dee, alerts him, and he must return to Hamilton. On the way, he is captured by flesh-eating Variants and taken to their meat locker. To escape, he will need to draw on all his experience as an outdoorsman, but first, he must find the will to survive.

Surrounded by Variants, Dee is trapped in her Hamilton basement with a group of survivors. With Jack missing, and dwindling food supplies, she must leave the basement, her only defense a katana.

The nightmare has just begun. Will they find each other in the chaos?

©2019 Adrian J. Smith (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Awesome story!

I absolutely love this book for many reasons.

First off I found this book from from the main series it came from: Extinction Cycle by Nicholas Sansbury Smith. I am a huge fan and while I loved the end, it left me wanting even more it was just that good. So I read the kindle worlds books. Loved the different authors peeks into that apocalypse, then came Rule of Three.

This is a huge peek into what the every man went through. No soldiers and scientists, just regular people using their every day abilities fighting nightmares they have no idea about. Where did they come from, how do you fight them how do you fight to survive them? Can you?

The Rule of Three has Jack and Dee. They aren’t fighters, they aren’t soldiers or police. They are regular people using what they have trying to survive and reunite. Making choices I’d never want to face and experiencing things that would make most want to give up, but neither one ever does. You can feel how much they love each other and are routing for them to survive even as you doubt they have any chance of seeing each other ever again.

Taking place in a different part of the world from the original works so well for this book as well. There is so much familiar yet so much different that it just feels right. New Zealand is a beautiful place and hearing about it, even in this context made me personally very happy.

This is a well written adventure from someone who obviously understands, loves and respects the world it was written in. I didn’t find discrepancies that pulled me out of it or any writing that was disruptive to the flow of the book. It was a smooth, engaging, intense and scary ride that will leave you longing for book 2! Luckily you don’t have to wait!

Great narration

The voice of Raphael Corkhill was the perfect choice for this series set in New Zealand. I read the kindle books but I'm loving listening to the audio even more. If you're an Extinction Cycle fan you have to get these!

fantastic

This is a fantastic installment of the extinction series. Even if you haven't read the Nicholas Sansbury Smith extinction cycle you'll enjoy this companion to the series. It's well written, very exciting action and really scary monsters & situations. I had to stop what I was doing a couple times, heart racing, hoping that the character would make it out alive. The narrator is top notch. Do you self a favor and give this series a listen.

A must read!

This was a book that was recommended to me by one of my favorite authors and I loved it!! The story had me engaged right from the start. I could not put it down. I loved the narrator.

Action packed, thrill ride with humour and heart.

Realistic characters with fun interactions. I loved the main characters Jack and Dee. Their love and determination for each other. Great wise cracking moments and enough pop culture references to keep me happy. Action was well thought out and not cluttered.
Fantastic writer and a great narrator.
More please.

Author may have potential, but....

I think it mentions somewhere that this is the author’s first book? If so, he probably has potential, but he’s not there yet.

It felt like novice writing. I remained only mildly attached to the main characters despite getting to know them a bit. There was little depth to them.
In addition, they kept making stupid decisions (I find that very irritating) and despite supposedly tending toward prepper lifestyle and loving post apocalyptic movies were clearly unable to defend themselves and continually made bad decisions. Luck alone saved them again and again.

The conversations were stilted and unrealistic sometimes; like cracking a joke with someone you just met and having moments ago escaped a traumatic life and death situation that “stunned” you.

Too many things to list.

It's worth a read. Narrator is great!

Concept is general. Author tries to include too many main points leaving out specifics. For example, If Jack is a nature buff and preparing as preppers do, he would learn to shoot first of all. For the simple reason to kill for food. So the whole concept of him not knowing how to load a gun doesn't fit with the concept of being a prepper.

Amazing addition to Extinction world!

I was pleasantly surprised at how seamlessly this story blended into the world of Extinction. Taking place in New Zealand, the characters and setting gave a different look at the struggles of surviving the outbreak. I have already purchased the next book and can't wait to see what happens next, the ending left me excited for what is to come!

Loved it!

Well written and the right narrator. Like the unique venue, and character focus as opposed to the virus or infected. Keep writing!

A tantalizing quest!

Taking its title from the wilderness survival rules of three, this action-packed thriller is set in the Waikato region of New Zealand’s North Island. Like the area itself, this story is rich in detail and suspense. The main characters’ horrific journey to reunite in the midst of the apocalypse is peppered with just enough hope to find that deep strength that keeps them moving forward. A truly awesome story and the narrator gave a superb performance.

FanBloodyTastic

When I first saw this book, I wasn't sure about purchasing, I thought another Zombie book, you've read one you've read them all...........How wrong was I.
First of all, they are not your common Zombie, if you know what I mean, they are so much worse if that's possible. There is an actual believable story, of two people trying to find each other, with the odds stacked against them every step of the way. You see mankind, and how differently it reacts to what this virus is doing to the good, the bad, and downright ugly.
It is so well written that you find yourself fighting, cringing, holding your breath, screaming inwardly and wanting to make yourself as small as possible,.........after you've covered yourself in whatever foul smelling stuff you can find, to stop these 'Variants' from sniffing you out.
I found this book truly terrifying. The narrator, Raphael Corkhill, was excellent at giving the characters a voice.
Mr Adrian J. Smith, congratulations at giving the old zombie story a new lease of life..........

Good story

a very good story and addition to this universe, there were a few teething problems but overall the book was very good and worth taking a chance on in the end Jack and Dee a little over the top with their love and need for one another it was a little annoying at times.
i do get the impression that like the other spin off from EC series it is another tale of survival against the variants and how another nation tackles the problem. this book might have been a bit stronger in its own right rather than tacked on to EC series, a lot of well thought out research and detail went into this but it can get a little repetitive if you've binged on EC, its more of the same variants attack, get to safety, rescue loved ones, they pretty much behave the same across the globe.
very good but and well worth getting, narration pretty good too once you get used to it!

A bit too saccharine and twee

The story was actually very good but the relationship between the two main characters was so saccharine I had difficulty finishing the book.... we get it they loved each other. Secondary characters were really good though.
Narrator was excellent, once I got used to his Kiwi accent