Zone War

Zone War Series, Book 1

By: John Conroe

Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin

Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's Summary

A few short years from now, eco-terrorists unleash the worst attack the world has ever seen. Over 25,000 autonomous combat drones are released in Manhattan from the hold of a ship. Hundreds of thousands are dead, and the entire island is evacuated and quarantined in just a few days' time.

Ten years later, Manhattan is still empty of humans, with the exception of the salvage specialists of the most watched reality show in history: Zone War. Produced live and unedited, the show follows five teams of armored vehicle specialists who brave the active drones to recover lost riches and collect bounties on dead ones. Ram it, slam it, grab the goods, and bull your way back out. And don't break down, because no one will be coming to your aid. Armored entry is the way to go.... Unless...

Meet Ajaya "AJ" Gurung, sniper's son, drone technician, and Zone infiltrator. Following his father's footsteps while forging ahead in ways all his own, AJ has the potential to be the most successful recovery specialist of all time. The drones are changing, the rules have been thrown out, and nothing about the Zone is what it seems. Adapt or die.

©2018 John Conroe (P)2019 Tantor

I'll say this, it was more than I though it was.

To understand that title you'll have to be made aware that I've had this book on the back burner for a LONG time. When it first came out I was hesitant to commit a credit towards it, so I stashed it away in my ever expanding wishlist, doomed to fade into the back of my mind. Until one fateful day I stumbled upon that book listed under another book I was checking out. In the recommendation section I mean. Anyway I noticed it had a TON of reviews now, and after looking at it, I noticed it was already on my wishlist. So after trying to find the lowest star review I could (then tend to be more critical), I found almost nothing but praise. So, I checked it out finally. Boy was I blown away.

See, I'm a trucker, and I buy books at least a few times a week in most cases. Nearing book 600 it's become harder and harder to find fun, entertaining, and interesting books that have a shelf life of at least 10 or so hours. (a driving shift in a truck is 11 hours) so as you might imagine it starts to get harder and harder to find good books. Not only that, as the amount of books continues to climb my tolerance for Badly written, pourly executed, or otherwise bad books becomes thinner. In other words, as read books increases, so do my standards, thus making it exponentially harder to find books that meet a certain standard.

I'll say that this book, and the second easily meet my standards. If your curious about those standards I'll list them out,
1: MC is not a moron.
2: MC has a personality.
(Meaning he's not an empty shell for the reader to wear like a suit)
3: Believable escalation,
(so long as events mesh with the logic established in the world thus far)
4: Believable side character personalities,
(I like people to act like people, not husks to deliver plot points at the authors whim)
5: No artificial tension,
(there are so many books that are guilty of this. Ramping up tention in a scene for the sake of plot over a sence of realism. I know one book where misunderstandings are the ONLY plot device at all. One of the worst reviews I've ever given)

I think I have a few more but this is the first time I've put my criteria to paper, so to speak. Much like the main character does with his own skills, I use my experience to judge a book on the fly, he uses his to shoot things.

So after all that what should I say to make to buy this book... Hmmm.

What if Deadpool was a cool dude, had a huge, badass family of wisecracking supermodels.
What if he used his skills to kill thousands of deadly killing machines in the most dangerous place on the planet? What if he had a brain that could think long term and had the smarts to outwit a network of highly advanced artificial intelligence hell bent of killing everyone? What if that AI didn't like you? What if it knew your name? What if it knew where you lived? What would YOU do to keep it away from your family?

If that didn't get you interested I don't know what will. I'll admit some of that's in the second book, but still. I will admit that I did see a fair bit coming, though that's more to do with my experience than anything. Patterns exist in all things after all. The "twist" with Ricky and unit 19 at the end of book two was easy to see, though no less satisfying for it.

Exceeded My Expectations!!

Wow, this book was so much more than I had expected! I had this on my wish list, but didn't buy it because the summary wasn't really grabbing my attention. However, when I ran out of books I figured "hey, it's written by John Conroe and narrated by JPC, so it has to be good, right?". Anyway, I ended up purchasing the book and it was by far the best book I've read in quite a while. The story was action packed, had solid depth and excellent character development. The weapon, ballistic, and technology details all had enough realism sprinkled in to make the story easily acceptable and digestible without questioning the realism.

I won't provide a synopsis or any spoilers, but if you are on the fence do yourself a favor and buy the book now. It's definitely one of those "can't put it down until you finish" titles!

Classic Conroe but Amazingly Better

Zone war takes place in our time. There is a slight difference: over 25,000 autonomous combat drones are released in Manhattan. New Yorkers did notice, since the drones killed the folks and Manhattan is guaranteed off. If I had to provide one sentence for John Conroe's work, it would be "great characters put into fantastic situation taking the reader on a wonderful journey." Zone War delivers that and then some. I am surprised to state this, but I enjoyed Zone War even more then John's Demon Accords series. Maybe because this deals with technology over supernatural. Do not get me wrong, I love the Demon Accords. Over the years John has developed as a writer. With the Zone War, we get to enjoy a fresh start with this superb story teller. I have and will recommend this book to friends and family as an introduction to John's work. While Zone War had a satisfying end, I am cannot wait for the next book in this series so we can continue the adventure together.

Outstanding book!!!

I love John Conroe's Demon Accord series, fantastic books. But this is by far, my favourite. Unique story line and excellent character development. Can't wait for the next book in the series. We need to chain John to the keyboard for this series.

Slum-Dog Millionaire meets the Terminator :)

I've read books 1 & 2 in the Zone War series. Books 1's storyline is generally good. I say generally because you really have to have a suspension of disbelief to accept the premise of the story: Manhattan was taken over by 25K drones and they were somehow contained for 10 years. Really, they didn't spread out from NY? Since it's set in the future, and a higher tech level than current times, why did they just leave it in the hands of the robots? Why didn't they just drop EMP bombs and wipe out the robots? Anyway, I tabled that whole premise and continued with the story. The basic storyline throughout the books is good with plenty of action & various surprises that you may not expect.

I do like the characters in the book(s). The Protagonist (AJ) is likeable enough character. His interactions with other characters in the story is good. The one part that's hard to swallow is that he's an expert sniper and no one else can do what he does. Yes, I know the story has reasons for why he's a bad-ass. But most of the other spec. ops characters in the story somehow can't hold a candle to him (even though he's just a kid). I find it hard to believe.

This series sort of strikes me as a young adult novel than it does an adult book. Short on justification for why some things are the way they are or perhaps a simplified version. With a young hero that most of the adults are fawning over to hear his wisdom or praise his amazing abilities. If you can get past those things, then you'll certainly enjoy the books and their storylines.

Where is the next book?

Don’t start this on a weeknight or you will be going to work tired. Hard to stop listening. Very.good story!
More please!

Entertaining new series.

I really enjoyed the story. The situations are very believeable. I can't wait for the next book.

Give other authors a chance John

I purchased this book purely because of the author. The genre isn't something I typically go for but if I could inject The Demon Accords (TDA) directly into my brain I probably would.
To be fair, the first chapters were almost like a new book from TDA but without the supernatural elements so I was a little unsure. Roll forward 30 minutes and I was hooked, I'm writing this review after listening to it non stop.
I'm pretty sure there must be a rule somewhere that states authors can only have one amazing series at a time. John has just shattered that rule.
Zone War is fast paced, even out of the Zone the book moves with high octane action movie pace. While TDA isn't likely to be turned into a movie I'd be shocked if John doesn't get a call from Hollywood wanting to buy the rights.
if you like action, weapons, drones and written brilliance the you'll love this. Give it a couple of chapters to get on the boil/build up a head of steam then hold on tight.

PS: John, please write two books at once from now on, Zone Wars and TDA. Also, sell the rights asap, this needs to be a movie. I believe it's a trilogy, so 3 movies would be fine. It needs to happen.

Good action, simplistic plot

Kind of in the genre of teen boy fiction. Appreciated the much more accurate than usual attention to firearms tech. Fairly good robotics and military fantasy. The characters are cardboard cutouts, but not purely idiots-for-the-purpose-of-moving-the-story. Mildly interesting premise, with comic book level jeopardy. The protagonist is the most cliched possible teenage boy loaner gifted sarcastic awkward but gets the blond girl anyway. Good reader who struggles sometimes with technical pronunciation, but otherwise just fine. Basically a literary potato chip.

Wow

I was afraid I wouldn’t enjoy this book.. as a huge Demon Accords fan boy I kept my expectations really low hearing this novel was so different than that series.. man was I fooling myself, this novel is incredible.. Conroe is a genius

Really great

Not normally my style and I found some of the descriptions of guns and machinery a bit waring at times but overall I really enjoyed it. Great, likeable characters, unique storyline concept and well crafted.

Great book - solid story and great idea

Quick pace and gripping story. Not a master piece by any means but clever concept and good narration following the main character.

Fantastic and scary view of the future

Jon Conroe is rapidly becoming my favourite author. I’m yet to find one of his books that isn’t immediately engaging ( waiting on the next demon accords book) and thought I would try some more of his work. I wasn’t disappointed

More please!

Love it, like all John Conroe’s stuff! Love the characters and a whole new world to destroy! Keep up the great work and bring me new books to immerse myself in very soon!

Zone wars.

Another great book by Conroe. The first of a new series, and leaves you hanging for the next one.

What an amazing story finished it in 1.5 days !!

John Conroe is an amazing Sci-Fi fantasy author, all his books are phenomenal, James Patrick Cronin is a wonderful narrator, its like watching a movie unfold, im sad it was over so quickly, looking forward to the next one !!