Finest Hour (The Survivalist Book 6)

This review is for the e-book series and not just one stand-alone book. The overall plot, characters, scenes and chronological events are done very well by the author; however, I wish the books were longer than just 200 pages per book. Each book in the series could have been 300 pages per book and completed in eight books.I truly enjoy this author’s style of writing when it comes to “The Survivalist” series. The author does an excellent at developing his characters both main and side characters. The characters will be appropriately develop for the reader to either root for their success or prey for their slow but painful death. Side characters have a way of slipping into the story either as filler or later on becoming a main character and the reader is always left guessing. The story plots are always suspenseful and usually have at least a few twists and turns to keep us guessing what’s going to happen next.The author attempts to link the reader to the father and son, although on two different paths, their successes and tragedies within their own journeys and he does a really great job at creating an emotional link with certain characters. If you skip a book or two in the series you will be a little confused and asking questions; therefore, I suggest you read the series in order.

This is an entertaining series - though I must say that the bits connecting the main plot together tend to be the same.Traveling to somewhere to do something, besieged by others intent on doing harm, Samantha in need of rescue, Raines pulls his Superglide quick draw style and eliminates a few bad guys. Elder Raines beats someone to a pulp.Pretty much sums up every book in the series so far. Great for light reading though.

I like the series and have read all 6 books now but find myself disappointed that the 6th "Finest Hour" is not the final installment (as reviews from #5 "Battle Lines" intimated).It's tough waiting for months only to find out after a couple hours reading, that I now have to wait longer for the climax, on top of finding a bad segway into a rerun of "World War Z" with the needing blood transfusions to negate the tunnels by Tanner and Sam.........The fact that Mason, Boone and Lelia get sidetracked when the clock is running sort of tips the reader off to a continuation of the ultimate conclusion pretty early on too, especially along with the sightseeing by Tanner and Sam.Seems we are going the long way around the barn here to get to the end and dragging our literary feet in hopes of further monetary enrichment when I was already chomping at the bit for the finale, hence the deduction of a couple stars from this follower of Bradley's series..

I have finished reading the first 6 books of the series and have enjoyed them all. I am looking forward to the final book which will wrap up the story. I wasn't sure what to expect when I began since many books in this genre tend to be overly political and have too much paranoia ingrained into them. This series doesn't fall into these traps and keeps the action going nonstop. Yes, some of the situations stretch credulity but it doesn't really take away from the story line. While you could start with any book in the series, I highly recommend that you read them in order. Each one builds on the previous books and reading them all is important to the story development. The two main characters are father and son but each is following a separate story line. They finally start to come together in book 6 and I presume (without giving away the plot) that they will come together in book 7. If you are a fan of action books, this series moves body count into a whole new category. I recommend these to anyone who likes near future what if books and to all fans of Jack Reacher type action novels. The author even throws in practical tips on prepping for disasters without being preachy about it.

I quickly became hooked on this series of plausible post-apocalyptic novels after reading the first in the series, Frontier Justice. Dr. Bradley has written an insightful series that provides valuable information for life in general as well as being prepared for a crisis. Having served 30 years as a field artilleryman with 13 years overseas including a combat tour in Vietnam, I could relate to the observations and experiences of Deputy Mason Raines who is a true American hero. In fact, I thoroughly enjoy how well Dr. Bradley has developed each of the main and side characters. The author is extremely knowledgeable about weapons, equipment, and survival skills.In this novel, Dr. Bradley begins with a motivational quote by that legendary football coach Vince Lombardi. He then has an insightful foreword on nations and individuals rising to the occasion and overcoming apparently insurmountable odds. I always told my junior officers and later my students that we must prepare for our “big day” by living right every day. At one point, the author discussed predestination and hand of fate. I felt he may have conflated predestination with providential. They are not the same.Although this novel was written before the rise of the political aberration known as Donald Trump, at one point, Tanner came forth with a statement about our government that sounded like a true “Trumpkin.”The author presents a much higher degree of coherent governmental organization than could possibly have survived the plague, for example, the dispatch of the team of 40 Black Dogs.The author provides truisms for life:-“When the Angel of Death comes for me, I’ll be ready. Until then, I’m going to fight the good fight, one battle at a time.”-“God doesn’t leave it for you to do. He asks that you do it for him.”I question the use of “Hooyah” by a Army personnel. “Hooyah” is a word used in the U.S. Navy to build morale and signify verbal acknowledgment. Army personnel use “Hooah” which can mean anything and everything except “no.” The Marines, God bless them, grunt “Ooh Rah” which means "charge” and is comparable to “hooah” in the Army and “hooyah” in the Navy.Inclusion of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets was a nice touch, but I am surprised that they had lasted as long as they did.As a beekeeper, I appreciated the knowledge displayed by the author when describing harvesting of honey.Mason’s emphasis of always keeping a vehicle pointed in the direction it might need to run reminded me my requirement of all vehicles being combat-parked when I was a battery and battalion commander.Mason’s caution with grenades buttressed my long-held belief, “Once the pin is pulled Mr. Grenade is no longer your friend.”I highly recommend this action-packed series to the general public as well as those interested in post-apocalyptic and prepper novels.

Once I have started one of these books I find them compulsive reading, even though the same or similar situations keep arising. The characters are continually investigating 'empty' buildings or areas where the reader knows something nasty is lurking but the characters are always taken by surprise.At least in this book a toilet is mentioned, rather than calling it a bathroom. However, the contents of a 'bathroom' were described which contained everything except a bath!!The development of the main characters is rather good and Samantha is appealing - I find myself worrying about her safety in these risky situations the characters embroil themselves in.A good read but try to pace yourself with how many of this series you read. They are not cheap and there are a lot of them, all very similar.

This series is made up of nicely set up individual books, while completing each one leaves you wanting more, than goodness I don’t have to wait, I can get it now

Survivalist twist a really good angle on the end of the known world and the need to survive, makes you think and wonder what you have within yourself when the need to survive was of upmost importance. Though as companion I would take the dog any day.

Realy enjoyed this book the story pulls you along and can't wait to read the next in the series.

good