The Brink audiobook

“Murray and Wearmouth’s latest THE BRINK is a white-knuckled rollercoaster. This novel is chocked full of everything I love: strange creatures, a world teetering on the edge, and heroes who I’d want at my side during any firefight. This isn’t just a story hopped on steroids—but one injected with nitrous and blazing on all cylinders. Give me more!” —James Rollins, #1 New York Times bestseller of Crucible The sequel to the international bestseller (including #1 Sunday Times bestseller) Awakened, by one of the stars of TruTV’s Impractical Jokers and a bestselling science fiction author.Former NYC Mayor Tom Cafferty has been haunted by the horror of a single day. The opening of the brand new Z-train subway line beneath the Hudson River—the supposed shining moment of his tenure. But the ribbon-cutting ceremony turned deadly when the train carrying Cafferty’s wife and other citizens was attacked by a horde of hyper intelligent, bloodthirsty creatures previously unknown to humanity.Everything changed for Cafferty, ex-NYPD officer Sarah Bowcut, and tech-expert Diego Munoz that day. They had uncovered the deadly truth: the attack was no accident.And now the creatures that wreaked havoc underneath New York have spread worldwide, and with a massive cover-up—and a secret organization holding nations hostage with the knowledge of how to kill them—Cafferty’s team must fight against impossible odds to save the entire planet from an apocalyptic scale disaster.An explosive and thrilling international adventure, the stakes are even higher in the latest book from bestselling duo James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth!

Another quick read! I can't wait for the film ;)

I always enjoy Murr's books. This is the second book in the series and it did not disappoint. This book is pretty scary, and I ended up having nightmares from it. If you like horror novels with politics, this book is for you. There is a lot of gore, so beware!

The first book in the Awakened series is a tight and claustrophobic horror story that saw a group of people trapped underground, being slowly picked off by vicious creatures. The book was filled with dark tunnels, hidden caves, and a race for survival that played out over just a few hours. It didn't have time to really slow down and explain much, and relied on the increasing build up of tension to keep the reader going. The Brink, by comparison is a much more leisurely read, thanks in part to opening the world up in scope and allowing events to play out over a longer period. It also feels less like a horror film, and more like an international thriller.The story picks up a while after the first book, and sees the survivors of that event, former New York mayor Tom Cafferty, his wife Ellen, tech guy Diego Muzo, and former SWAT officer Sarah Bowcut, having dedicated their lives to stopping the shadowy organisation that was responsible for unleashing the creatures into the tunnels below New York. They've spent months training themselves, engineering their own weapons to fight the creatures, and have been gathering intelligence on the Foundation For Human Advancement. By the time we meet up with them here they're ready to approach the leaders of Great Britain to try and get them to join in their private war.Already the book feels bigger, and this doesn't stop here, the book jumps across the globe from chapter to chapter, following the leader of the Foundation, Albert Van Ness, in his secret headquarters in Paris, showing events in a number of US cities, and having a literal ticking clock that can spell doom for countries around the world. The first book very much felt like a personal story of survival, a small event that pushed a handful of people to their limits, this in some ways feels more like a James Bond story.But, this isn't a bad thing, as I really enjoyed the expanded scope of this story, especially in how it explained more of the backstory that was only hinted at in Awakened. The first book didn't even tell us about the Foundation until half way through, and even then it was a vague description of who they were and how they were founded. Here, we not only got to see their operations across the globe, their advanced technology and secret bases, but also the very first encounter with the creatures. One of the early scenes in the book jumps back to World War Two, to show the story we were hinted at in the first novel, of Albert's father trying to escape the devastation of war and sneak Hitler out of the Fuhrer Bunker, only to discover the monsters that dwell beneath the earth. Any scene that builds upon he backstory is greatly appreciated, especially when we get to see Hitler ripped apart by monsters. It also showed that the series is capable of expanding it's scope to show other stories at other points of history, to tell tales of other encounters with the creatures in different eras. I'd love to see more done with this, perhaps a spin-off book or two that played with this idea. Why not have Roman soldiers fighting these monsters, or Vikings, or Samurai. Yes, it might be a little cheesy, but it's the kind of cheesy I'd be up for.I think that some people might be shocked by some of the changes that this book makes to the formula from the first, and if you were expecting or hoping for another tense horror story you might be a bit let down, but if you're wanting to see more from these characters and learn more about this world it's definitely going to keep you happy.What I found surprising, however, was how this book in some ways felt like a finale. I knew going into the first book that this was going to be a trilogy, so when (spoilers) come the end Cafferty and his team have essentially stopped Van Ness and saved the world I was a little shocked, as I'd have expected that in the third book. But perhaps this was intentional. I think Murray and Wearmouth knew that readers would be expecting something like that, and instead have decided to do something different.This isn't a story where the hero beats the bad guy and saves the day, by the end of the story the Foundation is gone and the world knows about the creatures, but the monsters are still out there. The threat of this advanced, predatory race hasn't been stopped. And, they've also made the bold decision to have Cafferty so obsessed with this cause, so dedicated to saving the world that the second book ends with him beginning down a similar path to Van Ness. He's beginning to believe that the ends justify the means, that his mission is all that matters, and I honestly don't know if he's going to become a villainous figure in the third book; and that excites me. Cafferty could become a monster himself to stop the creatures, or he could be forced to look at what he's doing and who he's becoming. I don't know what way it's going to play out, and I don't even know what I'd like to see more. Him being pushed to the brink and stopping himself from becoming a villain at the last minute would be great, but so would a story where the hero we've followed for two books becomes un-redeemable. The writers have taken what could have been a fairly one dimensional 'hero' character and made him so much more interesting.That's really what this book does, it takes ideas and notions that the first book had, things that we've seen before, and twists them into something new and interesting. It's not just a tense fight for survival anymore, it's a global conspiracy. It's not just black and white heroes and villains, there's moral grey. This could have been a fairly standard sequel, it could have stuck with what it did in the first book and played it safe, but instead it makes some bold turns and leaves me genuinely excited to find out what could happen next, which is kind of a perfect middle chapter.

I was really excited to find this book the other day sitting on the New shelf at my library! I had read the first book, Awakened, not that long ago and I had really been looking forward to reading this one. In case you don't know, this is the sequel to Awakened. I was eager to find out what the nasty underground creatures we're doing and I'll tell you now I was not disappointed! The book did start off a little bit slow but it quickly picked up the speed. The top villian from the first book, Van Ness, is back and so are the thousands of blood thirsty creatures! The stakes are much higher in here and billions of lives hang in the balance. Van Ness seems quite mad and that makes him extra dangerous.The heroes from the first book are back as well, including the former New York City mayor Tom Cafferty. He and the others who faced the dangers on the Z Train have to do it all over again, this time in different cities like London and Paris. The book moved at a rapid pace with some unexpected twists. It kept me very entertained and flipping the pages. It's a grand monster story but the darkest monster here is not the one with sharp claws and a wicked tail: it's a human..It's not fancy literature but an exciting creature story with blood, evil deeds, heroic acts, exploring dangerous places and some real surprises. I had fun reading this. Oh I should add I was a little bit worried that this book would not live up to the first one. The plot of Awakened was very intense due to the situation of the trapped Z Train. But I was not disappointed at all; there was lots of tense moments in here even though the plot was different.

A Political Horror ThrillerI’ve been sitting on this one… with no good reason. I enjoyed Awakened (I believe I called it a candidate for the best of 2018). I think I was worried that The Brink was going to let me down. In comparison to the title I gave Awakened – it did, but not really. The Brink was less of a horror novel and more of a political thriller with some horror elements thrown in. I’ll explain…The Brink tells the story of Albert Van Ness and his shadow organization. I have to tip my hat to Murray and Wearmouth – I honestly cannot think of a villain in another story that I disliked more than Van Ness. He was hateable in every single way. His organization is doing things that are awful and he’s trying to extort major governments for massive amounts of money in the process.Part revenge story and part political thriller – The Brink was still an well told story. I flew through it and couldn’t wait to see what was next. The opening (alternate history) was fascinating and told me right out of the gate that The Brink was going to be different.A good book for those who like political thrillers and horror books. If you read Awakened – you’ll enjoy The Brink as well.

A while back, I looked at the reviews for The Brink and I saw a lot of folks disappointed.I'm definitely not part of that crowd!For me, The Brink was everything I was looking for in the sequel to Awakened. I have always enjoyed government drama and thrillers, and this one served its purpose in gripping me and keeping me turning the pages. I really enjoy how Murray and Wearmouth take the time in their characters and making them complex, also very much relatable. I was pleased with how the book ended, and I'm certainly looking forward to the final book in this trilogy. Honestly, the only thing I had an issue with was the antagonist, Albert Van Ness. He comes across nearly as a cartoonish villain, and I felt it was unnecessary to give him a disability, but the reality is that even those who are disabled have the capability to not be nice people. Some disabled people can be antagonists; having any kind of disability doesn't change that. Usually I would dock off a star for the issue, but this remains a 5/5 due to the crazy, thrillery, fucking sweet scenes the authors described in graphic detail.

This was a good continuation of the first novel. It was pretty much non-stop action. We saw the villain at his worst in this novel and I can't imagine him getting any worse. It was interesting to see the main character's evolution in this book from hero to potential future villain. I can guess that in the final book the main character will either become the new villain or he will realize what is happening to him, walk away, and let others take over any remaining struggle. This evolution has been handled well in the first two novels and it will be interesting to see how it plays out. The ending pretty much left me wanting to go out and immediately purchase the third book, which I will. However, this was a relatively short novel at just slightly over 200 pages. I think this whole story could have probably been made into one book or at most two. I think this is another case of taking a good story and squeezing as many books out of it as possible. That is publishing today I guess.

I liked this book-it’s not as good as the first book in the trilogy but my experience is that middle books in trilogies aren’t usually as good as the first or last ones-maybe because there is more “setup” for the finale. This is a fast moving, pretty gory, kinda ridiculous but fun science fiction/horror novel. There is definitely much more human horror vs. the monsters-and I missed the extra monster action. This book is far from perfect plot-wise, lots of holes and stupid moves, but isn’t that what horror/sci fi books (and movies & tv shows) are all about??? Not going “into the basement” or “dark room”??? I don’t read this genre of book for more than entertainment! I don’t think this is supposed to be a statement of a potential reality! Some of the best horror stories are pretty silly and full of flaws!I am eagerly awaiting the final book in this trilogy!

This is the sequel to Awakened, a book about monsters; both real monsters and human monsters. In the first book of the series, a new subway system with high speed trains is sabotaged on it’s initial run. When the truth was learned, the president of the US, the former Mayor of NY City and a small group who had not only survived the attack, but saved others had formed a group to track down the man responsible for unleashing the monsters under NY City.A secret organization held power over the world, if each country did not pay the demanded amount of money to keep their country safe from the creatures; the organization unleashed the monsters upon that country.Now, the small group hunts down the man who is hell bent on destroying the US because of what they had done to Germany in both WWI and WWII.If they are able to catch him; what will become of those who took him down?

This is the sequel to Awakened, which I reviewed a couple of weeks ago. Monsters that live underneath the Earth are evolving - learning to tolerate light and oxygen - which make them a threat to overrun the surface world and drive humankind to extinction.While the first book focused on the monsters and gave us a minimum of information about the human extra-governmental group that hunted them while also using them as leverage to extort fund from governments around the world, this volume focused much more on the Foundation for Human Advancement and its leader, Albert Van Ness.I gave The Brink five stars on Goodreads. Like the previous book in the series, it is a fast-paced, quick read. I'm looking forward to finishing the series soon.

I actually went into this book with high hopes because I really enjoyed the 1st one, Awakened. It wasn't hard for me to get into since the beginning kept me entertained. It was a little comedy mixed with a bit of suspense, but, as quickly as it came in the beginning it left the same. I'm not going to say that I completely did not like the book because that is not true. I enjoyed it enough to keep me interested enough to come home and pick it up to read once I got the chance. This is why I am giving the rating a 4. I do have to admit that I expected much more. Please don't stop here. Give us a trilogy and work on the suspense and terror to go with the story a bit more.

WOW!This is the third book I've read by these authors. I was hooked by the first "Don't Move" and so I expected good things. I was not disappointed! Lots of action. Strong characters that the reader gets attached to. Engaging plot with great twists and turns. Literally, could not put it down, even to watch tv, so I did both at once because I'm a tv addict. This, and all their books, I suspect, are must reads especially for horror and monster fans. Great story. I already have the next in the series.

Book 2 of the Awakened series by James S Murray and it was just as good as the first book! I love the characters in these books and find myself feeling scared for them. I think this book was actually scarier than the first one, however I can’t say why without giving away spoilers! This one was really easy to read and very hard to put down. I can’t say too much without including spoilers for the series, so all I will say is that if you’re looking for a scary alien read... check out this series soon! I can’t wait for the next book!

This series having only been two books so far has reminded me of the Douglas preston and Lincoln child book, The Relic. Both are outstanding, I however am a bigger fan of the Relic, but that's just me, the book is in your court now, you decide, after all dont take my word for it, I'm just here to leave a positive review, and I hope I helped you decide. That's my review and I'm sticking to it. 5 out of t stars. Your gonna need a bigger boat.

this is the second book of the trilogy. It is so good, I immediately started the third book. this trilogy makes the pandemic look like a day at the beach. Political backstabbing, miss trust around the world! It is not just humans that are having this issue. in order to save humanity, it all boils down to one man! If you are a lover of dystopia, fantasy, science-fiction, and political thrillers, this is the series for you!

Another entry into the exceptionally well-done series. This whole series is fun, tense, gripping...I don't have enough good adjectives to describe it. These books have wonderful characters, good plot, good writing, good dialogue. If you are familiar with Murr from the Impractical Jokers show, you may catch some slight nods to his friends or references to the show etc. Overall I am incredibly glad I read these!