Toy Soldiers

Books 1-6 Box Set

By: Devon C. Ford

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 38 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's Summary

Apocalypse: Disorder and chaos ravage London when thousands are contaminated by the accidental discharge of an experimental bioweapon. The disease robs its hosts of rational thought, giving them a singular desire - find more living flesh to infect.

Aftermath: Peter, alone by choice and oddly thriving, finds himself suddenly responsible for the life of someone other than himself. Elsewhere, other survivors stake their own claims to land and resources, but the inexplicable swarms of undead threaten to gather and dissipate constantly.

Abandoned: The virus spreads to every corner of the country while the combined forces of the naval fleet set sail for deeper waters and leave the UK to its fate. The few groups that remain are separated after a fateful battle for England, left to their own devices.

Adversity: As if flesh-hungry zombies weren't enough, a harsh winter strikes.

Adaptation: The apocalypse continues in the penultimate chapter of the Toy Soldiers series. Will anybody make it out alive?

Annihilation: Fleeing the seemingly unstoppable enemy, the survivors pin their hopes on a final attempt for freedom, but that means they must turn their backs on their home forever.

©2018, 2019, 2020 DHP Publishing (P)2020 Tantor

Great Multi Part series

I bought the whole series for a single credit and it was well worth every minute.
I highly recommend the story and author.

Tell us yanks what you REALLY think of us! lol

Loved the story and writing style. I was especially impressed with the dynamic between the two children. Couldn't help but notice all of the jabs and velvet daggers towards the Americans though. The performer makes them all sound like hillbillies from the deep south- wearing dentures, not to mention they're all rude jerks. Maybe if the author read a little history, he'd remember that lofty Brits looking down their noses on Americans is what cost ya your colony in the first place! Cheers. :)

Heart felt ride

It felt like the books were in three parts. The first building the setting, a little slow. The second full with suspence and the third a litte faltering. But it closed with a solid ending and left with the hope of more to come.

Engaging, and well narrated. Worth the credit.

First off, the Narrator is British, which helps with a story set in the British Isles. He was able to give this listener a good variety of characters with realistic personas. The story had a decent mix of action and character development, intertwined so as to keep the story moving. There was also a good balance of regimented emotion and fear based emotion to be able to put oneself in a lot of the scenarios. Some light hearted moments and some heartbreak which is what a good story needs to keep it engaging. I myself was even uttering an emotional curse word or two when a couple of significant characters met their demise. Having lived in the US for about forty years now, I was even impressed with Mr. Lee’s rendering of several American accents. In summary if you are British or an Anglo file looking for a slightly different dystopian entertainment, this is for you. The story is nothing new, but then again, how many different ways can the dead come back to life as zombies in search of brains? Well worth the credit. Enjoy!

could not really get into the book

I listen to a lot of apocalyptic, end of days, zombie books...A LOT and I'm always looking for a great story I can really lose myself in. I tried really hard to stay interested in this series, but I just could not. The most interesting thing in this series is Peter and how he, despite his tender age of about 8 or 9, has been surviving and caring for an even smaller child, but even that could not keep me interested enough to finish the series.

Solid zombie-pocalypse series

I like the setting of The late 80s, excellent mix of unique characters, it felt gritty and realistic. well, as realistic as a zombie series can be. I love that the author didn't waste time diving into bizarre and far-fetched explanations about how the virus occurred(Extinction cycle 🤮). it's a pretty straightforward story which I appreciate. zombies, soldiers, civilians, a few jerks thrown in the mix, it was great.

refreshing

takes place in UK in the 90s, refreshing point of view and very entertaining

These characters inspired me every step of the way

I love Devon's books because the journey he takes us on is so vivid. His characters survive by doing the basics; getting food, finding shelter, water, and defending themselves. Peter and SSM Johnson are heros if the first degree. I could feel the feat and tension of the zombie threat in every chapter through the narration and dialogue.

wow

I enjoyed it from start to finish. Excellent peek into the military mind. I read reviews for this book before buying and not one of the negative reviews holds up after reading. This was the best.

Hard To Listen To

I don’t know how much I may like the book itself, but the narrator is horrible. These reviews with 5 stars must really love how news anchors talk because that is what this dude sounds like. I kept waiting for him to tell me to tune in at 11:00. It’s so emotionless. Empty. Like he’s only reading the words, not actually performing for an audiobook. I’m not quite a quarter through and not sure I can finish it at this rate.

brilliant

absolutely brilliant. rollercoaster ride of action, made all the better for being set in the UK. I just can't speak highly enough of the author.

Reads like an uninspired furniture catalogue

Just after finishing his other series: 'After it happened', I saw the publishers pack for this series, and loving the AiH books, I bought it.

This series has no interesting characters, it is dull and reads like an ikea catalogue from the 80s. Where the AiH series shines with humor, lovable characters and interesting storytelling, these books bores you to the point where you wish the entire ensamble of characters are eaten by the infected (except Peter and Amber, the only characters in the book that had any potential of being remotely interesting, unfortunately even that is squandered). Actually at some point I wished for the limas to come and get me, so I wouldn't feel obligated to finish this series just because I payed for it.

I believe the narrator does a somewhat ok job, looking at what he has to work with, but in the end, it is far from enough to elevate the experience to anything remotely enjoyable.

Spend your money or credits on something else, that's my two cents, but your milage may vary.

Very good series of books

We've all worked with a Nevin, and luckily a Johnson and a few junior Palmers in our time. Just brilliant and great narration. Good technical knowledge from the author good homework on his behalf or ex-mob. Can't recommend enough and can't wait for the TV series as you can't shoehorn that into a movie..

A must read

If you’re like me and a bit of geek for all things eighties, then you’ll absolutely love this book. I’m still shocked at all the historically accurate gear and equipment the characters use. The book itself is thrilling, chilling and exciting. I definitely recommend it.

Heads and shoulders better than the competition.

It is a guilty secret pleasure of mine to enjoy reading /listening to post apocalyptic fiction. But as I must not be alone in this there is a multitude to choose from.
I am very pleased to be able to say that Toy Soldiers is one of the better ones that I have came across in a while.
For me I suppose one of the attractions to post apocalyptic fiction is that the characters are peeled back to their basic core humanity, why do some thrive whilst others cannot cope. That is when you exclude the books written about super special forces soldiers who no matter what situations they find themselves in, they will overcome insurmountable odds and survive to face another challenge.
Yes this series contains soldiers from the SAS but there are enough soldiers from different units, and not forgetting the civilians to compare and contrast all of their different coping mechanisms that you can compare who is basically surviving and who is thriving. Of course post appocalypse fiction is a combination of fantasy and science fiction and for enjoyments sake as a reader you have to suspend realism so as the story develops.
The difficulties of suspending this realism depends on the success of the author in telling their tale.
Where Toy Soldiers succeeds is in its multitude of different characters who are introduced slowly enough to the plot so as it does not get confusing to remembers who is who. Meanwhile I am able to suspend my own stresses and worries from my own life and switch off and let the story to allow me to escape from my own reality and enjoy the story to take me to a different place but fundamentally similar to my own.

Way above the majority

There are some excellent characters in this story and action is paced perfectly. It's a personal thing but I think zombies in the UK just works.

Brilliant

An absolutely fabulous series. The story is not only about the zombies, but also the characters. These are extremely well written and you can really get behind them (whether they're good or bad ones!). Setting this story in the 80's also gives it a real twist, so rather than having an informed, connected world, the characters deal with older traditional media sources, lack of instant communication and so on. Love the series!

Brilliant

I’ve listened to many many audio books. And this one has been the best by far story brilliant. Narrator brilliant. 5 stars if I could I would give it ten.

Great listen, really enjoy Devon C.Ford books

Great listen, narrator enjoyable with different accents and an exciting voice compared to others. Good purchase.

great story

I assume Ford had been in the british army from the detail. Great book, recommended.