Brushfire Plague: Volume 1

By: R.P. Ruggiero

Narrated by: Melissa Sutton

Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

Surviving is just the beginning....

When a virulent plague erupts across the globe, Cooper Adams faces a daily battle for survival as society unravels at a dizzying pace. As he organizes his neighbors for self-defense and strives to save those around him, he soon discovers the first clues about the origin of the Brushfire Plague that is killing untold millions around the world. In his pursuit to learn the truth, Cooper must combat looters, organized gangs, and those protecting the Brushfire Plague's secrets. When his son falls ill, his search to uncover the plague's origin and a possible cure transforms into a race against time. Ultimately, Cooper faces a paralyzing choice between exposing what he has learned with potentially shattering consequences and abetting a horrible secret and giving his nation a chance to recover and rebuild.

The truth becomes more terrifying.

©2013 RP Ruggiero (P)2015 RP Ruggiero

Resident Evil... Without the zombies.

Not in a bad way, mind you.
A pandemic story without zombies is quite refreshing given how inundated the media has been with them as of late.

A practical and unfortunately realistic take on how a pandemic and subsequent collapse of rule of law might play out. The ending might have fallen together a *BIT* too cleanly, but the scenario and motivations for doing so are ripped straight from recent news and debates.

The main character is realistic. He has his flaws, he loses his cool and he makes mistakes. He isn't overpowered by any means and doesn't always make it out of fights without losing blood himself.

My one complaint is that the story has a bit of a stutter in finding its pace starting out, but quickly moves into its own as it progresses.

The narration is solid and I have no complaints. She did extremely well with the reading and perhaps the only negative thing I could say is that her melodic voice doesn't really suit the somber atmosphere of the tale. Instead, I felt like Jake, being read a bedtime story recounting the events rather than experiencing them from Cooper's perspective. That aside, which isn't really her fault, she did a marvelous job.

All in all, definitely worth the listen and a different take on the usual survival story. I'd recommend it to anyone.

audio engineering/editing issues

story was okay - the conclusion seems forced and unsatisfying.

multiple issues with audio. Interruptions, failed takes kept in, audio fuzz that builds and then ends when a chapter ends, and an inconsistent break between end of sentence in a chapter and the next chapter title. (sometimes 20 second, sometimes no pause at all)

Good story, but recording has audio problems

I just had to write this as a heads up to the author/audible/audiobook director, that there are some audio mistakes on the recording. Several times, the narrator repeats herself when she stumbles on a line, one time even saying "blah," before starting the sentence over, and another time the director interrupts to give direction when she misses a line, and she answers. Also, the volume goes in and out, and sometimes it was almost impossible to hear one chapter while the other chapter was loud. I kept having to adjust my dock. Agree with the previous reviewer, that the narrator had a nice voice and read well, but her voice wasn't suited for this story, in which most of the characters were male.

Otherwise, good story and kept me interested. Could have done without the "why" of the plague. It was addressed too late, and felt contrived. If this was the way the story was going, a hint, and much more sinister clues should have been dropped in the story throughout.

Additional editing needed

Any additional comments?

In Chapter 27 about the 6 minute mark, there is a editing goof. A second party corrects the narrator and she continues.

Good story, poor recording

The story was well written, perhaps a bit to gun heavy but that is common in this genre. The audio recording was poor and contained many errors. It sounded rushed in the reading and editing. A better performance would have helped this book immensely.

How will Cooper save his family from the Brushfire

A mysterious virus is here and it is extremely lethal, killing more than 50 percent of all of those who come in contact with it. Cooper Adams realizes that he must get home and take care of his family. What follows is his story of survival and helping those around him survive too.

The narration of this almost made this unlistenable. About halfway through, I nearly stopped listening and just finished by reading it. I don't really like to speak ill of a professionals work, but this appears to be the narrator's first go at narration. Unfortunately, it really seems to take away from a well-written story. But, at the same time, I can imagine getting narration for your first book isn't the easiest either.

Cooper Adams is an interesting lead character. He's both likable and at times, he just does what needs to be done. Which, in a case like the book is portraying, I can fully get an understand. Adams isn't your typical prepper, nor is he your military "I'll do whatever I can to survive" kind of guy. But he is one thing, a survivor.

The disease behind Brushfire Plague was given some thought, thankfully. Recently I've been reading some books lately that are pegged with "plague" in the title that has little-to-no mention of the actual virus or plague that is destroying humanity. While Ruggiero doesn't go into super deep detail like others have that I love, he does do a good enough job to make it believable.

Brushfire Plague really felt like it took a while to develop. Normally this is done for deep character development, but in this case, it just felt like the story didn't shift into high gear until after the midway point of the book. For some readers, this could be a big problem. I'm wondering if the second book in this series will start at a faster pace and keep it there instead of dragging it out like this one did.

Like I mentioned above, Brushfire Plague was a great book marred by a really poor narration choice. First and foremost if you are going to be portraying a manly survival-instinct laden male -- why is there a female narrator? It was a severe bummer for me that this books narration took away from it instead of added to it. It definitely has the potential to be a big player.

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it really took some time to get going

50% of the world is already dead, and the virus doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.  Cooper Adams quickly realize that he must quickly make it back home so that he can take care of his family.  On his attempt to get home, he comes across more and more people who need help.  He also realizes that he is on his own until he can get to his family.

Sometimes a good story is made incredible by good narration (RC Bray's narration of The Martian), and sometimes a story loses a lot when it's narrated. Unfortunately, the narration of Brushfire Plague really made this book almost unlistenable.  I'm not sure if it was because it was the author's first book or what, but I think that a better narration would bring this book to the next level.

As a reader, I really enjoy when a book contains the world plague and actually has some information about the disease or virus that is ravaging the world.  Usually, this is overlooked and frustrates me to no end.  But, Brushfire Plague actually took some time to explain what was going on and for that I am thankful!

The main character, Cooper Adams is an interesting person.  He's both likable and not.  He does things just because they need to be done and doesn't stop to think much about the consequences.

Another issue with Brushfire Plague was that it really took some time to get going.  The author did a great job at world and character building but ended up spending too much time doing those things.  When a reader has to wait until almost half-way through the book to get into the action there is a problem.

Even with the slow opening, Brushfire Plague was a good book.  A good book with a poor narrator.  I think my biggest confusion lies in the fact that the main character is supposed to be this sort of "manly man" and the narrator is female.  I have absolutely nothing against female narrators, I just question the author and/or Prepper Press's choice there.  I'm sad that the narration took away from the story as much as it did because I really wanted to enjoy it.

Audiobook was provided for review by the publisher.

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This narrator is the annoying that I have ever listened to. She ruins the story.