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Audiobook Review

Rainwalkers

By
Matt Ritter
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average rating is 3 out of 5
Performance
average rating is 4 out of 5
Overall
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Excellent, Unforgettable, Best of the nest

Very good, thoroughly enjoyed, 

Good, Solid, Enjoyed many aspects

STAR RATINGS GUIDE

Like Post Apocalyptic Adventure? Sinister Dystopias? A G Riddle? This is for you.

THE BIRDICT

šŸ’› If your ears prick up at the words ā€œkiller rainā€ then add this to you audio shelf. The premise is well-executed, with thoughtful development of the origin of the rain as well as its dystopian aftermath.

šŸ’š If, like me, you enjoy the general thought exercise of spending time in a broken world, you wonā€™t mind that it takes a few chapters for the plot to get going, And once it does, itā€™s a genuinely exciting race against time with sky high stakes.

ā¤ļøļø In a nutshell, we have likable characters fighting to survive in a grim reality. Thereā€™s a hint of romance, a scientific bent and a heap of camaraderie to keep things exciting. My only critique plot-wise is that I a shame that this is interspersed with a bit too much descriptive prose.

šŸ’œ This is very similar in nature to the work of A G Riddle, particularly his The Origin Mystery series. Like Ritter, Riddle puts the science in the centre of his fiction and has children as a focal point of his plot.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Pacific Street Publishing for providing me with an ALC in return for an honest review.

SQUAWKING THE TALK

šŸŽ§ Author Matt Ritter does a decent job reading his own work, but it is just that: A reading, I feel a professional narrator is needed to do this justice and would be a worthwhile addition. In particular, they would differentiate scenes and characters more clearly. They would also inject more energy into the performance.

šŸŽ§ The rain sound effect interludes were too frequent and just a touch too long. I could see them as good between acts, but not between every chapter.

BIRDS OF A FEATHER: SIMILAR AUDIOBOOKS

No spoilers for this one. Maybe next time!
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Click For Spoilers

Rainwalkers

THE BLURB

Rainwalkers is a story set in the not-so-distant future in a crumbling version of John Steinbeckā€™s Salinas Valley, after the breakup of the United States. A once rich and prosperous agricultural land is now a war-torn nation-state known only as The Valley. To combat chronic droughts, scientists seeded clouds with genetically engineered bacteria that created regular rains but unintentionally made the rains lethal to humans. Anyone caught in the rain dies within seconds, yet there are rumors of people who surviveā€¦ known as rainwalkers.

In a land of forced labor camps and waning oil fields, poverty-stricken agricultural communities support the metropolis of Salinas City and the authoritarian Valley Administration in their unending war against neighboring nations. In desperation, the Valley Administration intensifies their search for rainwalkers, who are believed to be powerful weapons in the border wars, by forcing children housed at Valley schools into the rain to be screened for resistance.

War hero Willie Taft lives a quiet agrarian life until the Administration abducts him and his wife, separating them from their daughter. Although his wife is killed during their escape, Willie continues his journey to rescue their daughter. He faces mortal challenges from the Administration military force, the sociopath bounty hunter on his trail, and the ever-present toxic rain. Time is running out as he fights his way through the Valley back to his daughterā€™s school before she is forcefully screened with other children in the deadly rain.
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