Blowback

Anniversary Day Saga, Book 2 (Retrieval Artist Universe)

By: Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Narrated by: Jay Snyder

Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

The Moon, shaken by the Anniversary Day tragedies, deals with devastation. The Earth Alliance believes another attack imminent, but no one knows where or when it will strike. Just like no one knows who ordered the attacks in the first place.

The Moon’s chief security office, Noelle DeRicci, does her best to hold the United Domes government together. But Retrieval Artist Miles Flint, dissatisfied with the investigation into the Anniversary Day events, begins an investigation of his own. He builds a coalition of shady operatives, off-the-books detectives, and his own daughter, Talia, in a race against time. A race, he quickly learns, that implicates organizations he trusts - and people he loves.

©2012 Kristine Kathryn Rusch (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Rusch does a superb job of making the Retrieval Artist books work as fully satisfying standalone mysteries and as installments in a gripping saga full of love, loss, grief, hope, adventure, and discovery. It is also some of the best science fiction ever written.” (New York Times best-selling author, Orson Scott Card)

Good book.

Any additional comments?

There is a lot of repetition from previous books to give new readers and old ones a small history of the series.

Otherwise the story is quite different from previous ones and the characters actually change opinions and learn from past experiences, while at the same time forgetting to learn from others.

I absolutely love the complexity of the world created in this Sci-Fi. Would absolutely recommend if you have read or heard the audiobooks of the previous installments of the series.

Like th series? This wont fail u--don't start here

What did you like best about Blowback? What did you like least?

[My headline is stupid because I couldn't fit it into 50 characters spelled out.]Returning characters are the best part. Although, Flint's character is rather inhibited by his concern for his daughter's safety.Still, it is a real-world constraint for his character. This particular novel fails to reach maximum entertainment because it has too many (albeit connected) story-lines in such a short space. I would have preferred the book better if it were longer and had more events / scenes / etc. like some of the earlier books.

Would you recommend Blowback to your friends? Why or why not?

Friends or anyone interested in tense plotting with interesting characters in a future (but not implausible) world should read / listen to this--Just not first. Read the earlier books to get hooked and drawn in.

Have you listened to any of Jay Snyder’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Snyder reads this kind of book very well. I look forward to his earnest and intense reading.

Did Blowback inspire you to do anything?

I am re-reading the entire series in order again to get the feel of the epic continuity.

Any additional comments?

Although once the reader knows the ending, the suspense is gone, of course, nevertheless, I find that this series stands up very well to repeat listening. Nine books is a lot of credits, but if others are like me, they'll get value indeed for their credit(s) because these are books I come back to--in order or just grabbing a random episode that I want to hear again.

More development of the main characters in this 1

I love The Retrieval Artist books! I have been hooked on them for years now. I was thrilled when this one was released, and I eagerly put it at the top of my list to listen to immeditately.

Lots of story lines being drawn closer together, seems like we will get an ending to some tags that have been floating along since the 3rd book in this set!

Fast paced, this book is continuing to develop deeper characters in Flint and our new head of Moon Security office. I keep wondering if the blowback is going to trace back to the first bombing of Armstrong, and the refusal of Earth Alliance entrance to that particular planet. But we readers and still in the dark on that one!

Lots of new threadlines that could be good plots for future books! I'll cross my fingers in hopes this series has not even reached the 1/2 point in total books!

Thanks, Audible Extremes for introducing the series to me in the beginning as a free read! My reading (listening) life will never be the same!

Very Worthy Addition to the Series

I'm never disappointed by Retrieval Artist novels. I love good science fiction, and Rusch has created an incredibly compelling and delightfully-researched world.

This novel re-introduces several characters from earlier Retrieval Artist novels and traces logical development well. Characters are wonderfully, imperfectly PEOPLE, and the plotting and pacing of this particular story are especially masterful. The story is full of politics, intrigue and plain old detective work.

Jay Snyder still does an excellent job of narration.

This is very much what I've come to expect of and love in the Retrieval Artist series.

great addition

I have all of the Retrieval Artist novels.

this one is a good one -- very enjoyable
looking forward to the next one

I would have given 3.5 stars if able

These are detective stories in space. No great strain on the brain matter and some gaping holes in the plot. I felt that I made a mistake buying the entire set after the first one thinking that the author was going to build on that story. She didn't really, The characters continue on with a series of detective stories that are not especially thrilling. I listened to them all and cannot say that I was inspired, but I enjoyed them for what they were, fairly bland. I wish we had 1/2 stars, these books only deserve three and half, the four is misleading but three would have been too low.

Great Series-Great Narration Too

I very much appreciate the writing Rusch has done in these first 9 novels in the series. She pens a good tight plot, the story arc runs true and the characters evolve as the series progresses.

I do think, though, the story wouldn't have been nearly as effective without Jay Snyder as its narrator. A great voice able to bring all the different persona in these books together as well as adding excitement to the story line gives so much to these books. I'm so impressed with his work. I intend to look for other novels he's narrated because I like the sound of his voice so much.

Blowback sets the series up for further expansion - and I'm glad. Though it did leave a few loose threads, all in all the plot is nice and tight and we understand why things are progressing the way the author has taken them.

Character development is this authors forte. She's allowed her characters to grow in their development as the time goes. This is especially important with Talia, a young outspoken girl who deserves a spin off series one of these days!

The civilization Rusch has penned is believable. It's very enjoyable to imagine meeting the aliens she's imagined and shes done a nice job of working around problems that would come from a meeting of different specie. It's quite believable.

I suggest these books be read in order. I'm sure each is set up to be sort of stand alone, but starting in the middle might be confusing, though Rusch does add a brief backstory in all the novels.

Suitable for most ages...I was listening in my car with my 8 year old grand daughter at the point where cloning was being discussed. She asked questions and I turned the book off and we had a good discussion about cloning. Now she wants to hear more of these books..it's a big jump from Mary Osborne's Magic Tree House stories she has on her iPod to Si Fi but I'm ready to encourage her to take it if she wants. I started Heinlein's Juvenile Books at 11 so why not?

A good book with action and situations where the listener is given opportunities to think about what she would think in the same situation.

Recommended Highly

Starts slow, but hang on!

Another in the retrieval artist series. This is not a stand-alone book, since there are many references to previous ones, and it would be hard to care about the characters if you don't know who they are. Several different threads are going at once, but they do come together! I found it a bit slow at first, but by the end my heart was racing! Looking forward to the next in the series!

Great Syfy

I’m almost done with the second book in the series and am loving them. They keep you guessing on who is the mastermind(s) of all the tragedies. The books will keep you on the edge of your seat. So far I highly recommend this series.

Exiting continuation from the initial book

What did you love best about Blowback?

It took the loose threads from the first book, tied a few of them, untangled some more - and made the story leaner. The story is terrifyingly addictive becouse of all the fascinating small bits and pieces the author presents.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Impossible to say - each thread got their own main character, and all are presented lively and natually.

What about Jay Snyder’s performance did you like?

He is REALLY good at presenting the characters like living people - and his reading style keep me attached to my headphones.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I wanted to listen in one sitting, but gaps in the recording makes it difficult.
'
This book and the first one was two books I did enjoy in several small bits and pieces - the first night I heard most of it in one sitting, but I re-heard the story in various sittings - from beginning to the end - the following days.

Any additional comments?

As in the first read: Several one- or two second gaps in the reading. I bought the Kindle version to find what was wrong and it seemes as if the first four words on some pages are cut.

I hate the gaps, it makes me wonder if Jay Snyder got a problem when submissing recordings - or if the Audible system got a presentation problem. Irritating. I am listening on four devices: An Android phone (HTC M8), a Windows 7 computer, a Macbook pro and a Acer Chromebook. The gaps are in the same places on all four devices.