Free Ex-Isle: A Novel (Ex-Heroes) Ebooks Online
“It is an easy thing to rule by fear.” It’s been years since the tidal wave of ex-humans washed over the world. Since then, thanks to St George and his fellow heroes, the community known as the Mount has been the last known outpost of safety, sanity, and freedom left to humanity. But even for the Mount, survival still balances on a razor’s edge—and after a disaster decimates the town’s food supply, the heroes must make a risky gamble to keep its citizens from starving. And then the news arrives of a strange, man-made island in the middle of the Pacific. An island populated not just by survivors, but by people who seem to be farming, raising children, living—people who, like the heroes, have somehow managed to keep the spark of civilization alive. Paying this place a visit should be a simple goodwill mission, but as the island reveals itself to be a sinister mirror-image of what the heroes have built at the Mount, the cost of their good intentions becomes dangerously high.
Series: Ex-Heroes (Book 5)
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Broadway Books (February 2, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0553418319
ISBN-13: 978-0553418316
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (129 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #79,118 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #80 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels > Zombies #820 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels > Superheroes #2375 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > Science Fiction
The Ex-Heroes novels by Peter Clines are one of the best high concept books which are presently out there. The concept is a simple X meets Y sort of setting. "What would happen if the zombie apocalypse happened in a world with superheroes?" I've also seen it described as "Land of the Dead meets The Avengers" and that's not a bad description. A bunch of low-powered heroes based loosely on popular archetypes are in the midst of the zombie apocalypse and do their best to save as many people as they can by creating a safe haven in a Los Angeles movie studio. I've enjoyed all of the books and I'm in good company as Nathan Fillon has given them his recommendation too but the last volume, Ex-Purgatory, showed there was a bit of wheel spinning going around. Now that the superheroes have successfully secured their homeland, it doesn't appear there's much else to do. I also felt the relationships among the characters were rather stalled as we saw Saint George and Stealth get together a couple of books ago but what they're doing is left ambiguous. Likewise, I was surprised by some of the relationships mentioned in this book but mostly handwaved. Still, I was interested in seeing what Peter Clines would come up with. Ex-Isle follows Zzzap finding an artificial island created from a dozen cruise ships and tankers fused together. Eager to get involved with another group of survivors, Saint George, Zzzap, and Corpse Girl journey there to make contact. Unfortunately, the locals are not only suspicious of outsiders but have a half-insane superhero ruler. Meanwhile, Cerberus is coping with PTSD even as she struggles to rebuild her armor.
As a huge fan of the Ex-Heroes series, I pre-ordered this book the day it was announced with eager expectation. I even purchased an additional copy for a friend who is also an equally big fan of St. George and friends. When it arrived, I devoured it as quickly as I could, as did my friend. The result? We concluded that it was... good. And good isn't bad. But compared to the other four books in the series, which we would both rate as thoroughly excellent, this one was... good.For you Star Trek geeks out there, reading this book is kinda like watching most of the Next Gen movies. They weren't bad. They'd actually have been perfectly legitimate episodes. But they weren't great *movies*. Most of what happens is fairly predictable. In the end you're glad you watched, but you're thinking less "opening night" and more "RedBox" in terms of time and money investment.[[[[Minor spoilers below]]]]In Ex-Heroes, you're constantly in awe of the amazing characters (and backstories) and their epic battle with PZ aka Legion (oh, and there's *zombies*! Cool!) Then comes Ex-Patriots with a bunch of new exciting characters along with a new nemesis, Agent Smith, whose power leaves you with that Sixth Sense feeling of awesome. That's followed up with Ex-Communication where our heroes (including a dead one) go toe-to-toe with Legion again, but with the additional character of Cairax Murrain that leaves the audience on the edge of its seat in anticipation. The final battle in this book alone would make it worthwhile for Hollywood to produce all three movies. Without doubt. Then, in Ex-Purgatory, Clines takes the whole story and turns it upside-down and inside-out.
I really don't believe in rating one book in a series as better or worse unless there is a marked decline in the overall quality. As an example, I read the first several books in the Anita Blake series, sorta liking them and hoping that they would start getting better, and then they suddenly got absolutely godawful, and then I read one additional book in the series to confirm it. At that point giving any one Anita Blake novel a one star review was less a reflection of the novel than the overall series. Well, here I'm not concerned about whether this is better or worse than the last book, but merely whether it maintained the overall quality of the series. It did, so I'm delighted that I can still give this series a solid five star rating. There was a fairly significant gap between the publication of the fourth and fifth novels in the series. I don't know if this was due to contract negotiations or writing other books, but I do know that he has signed a contract for a few more books in the series. I could be wrong, but I think we are guaranteed at least three more books after this one (though I am open to correction).I liked this series from the very first book, but I like that Peter Clines - who has written some very nice books outside the Ex- series and that anyone liking these should check out - has continued to shake things up a bit with each book. He continues to introduce new characters and new "heroes. The book deals primarily with two alternating stories, the investigation by St.
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