A book that fell a bit short
3 out of 5 stars
I wasn’t even thinking of the irony of my title until I started to write up my review. Reaper’s Run follows Jill — a Marine who has had her legs blown off while fighting for her country. Jill was quarantined on a cruise ship with other “Sickos” who they think had the Eden Plague. I won’t go into too much more detail so I don’t spoil the story — but the story follows her as she tries to figure out what life will be like now that the world has turned upside down.
Sometimes a book just falls a bit short and it’s really no one’s fault. Sometimes you hear about a series or you see a synopsis or cover on Amazon or Audible that just really catches your eye and the book isn’t what you were expecting. I try to go into books with as open of a mind as someone can — and I did that with Reaper’s Run. But it just wasn’t exactly the story for me.
The funny thing is that I liked the story, but I didn’t love it. That’s why I’m giving it three stars. It was a good story with a good plot and a seemingly enjoyable main character. She seems a little green and a little bit too caring (and forgiving) to be the typical bad-a “chick” fighter. I’m not sure if that was a choice by VanDyke or if that’s just how her character played out.
I’m a little intrigued to read the first book. I would love to hear a little bit more about the virus/plague and figure out how it was released and by whom, but I don’t know when I’ll get around to reading it.
The narration for Reaper’s Run was done by Artie Sievers who does a pretty good job. I’m not sure what the wood knocking noise was for (I assume it’s when an author puts in the ellipses or stars in a book to signify a change of character or time). But, it ended up being kind of distracting. A lot of times it would have been obvious that time had passed and the story was just moving on. But a few times I did think it was helpful as it was moving the story along at a quick pace. The only other knock that I’ll give Sievers is that there were basically three voices for characters: a normal everyday speaking voice, a slightly higher pitched voice for Jill, and then a hick-ish sounding voice for pretty much everyone else. It made it hard to pick out different characters. Overall, Sievers did a good enough job that I didn’t stop listening to the story, but there is room for improvement.
Overall, Reaper’s Run was a semi-enjoyable story. There were parts that I liked and some that I didn’t like. It’s the first take it or leave it story I’ve read in a while.
Book Description:
Reaper's Run by David VanDykeNarrator: Artie Sievers
Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins
Series: Plague Wars #1
on August 14, 2014
Genres: Post-Apocalyptic
About the Author:
David VanDyke is a Hugo Award finalist and bestselling author of the Plague Wars, Stellar Conquest, and Galactic Liberation sci-fi adventure series, which have sold more than 300,000 copies to date. He is co-author of BV Larson’s million-selling Star Force Series, Books 10, 11 and 12. He’s a retired U.S. military officer, veteran of two branches of the armed forces, and has served in several combat zones. He lives with his wife and dogs near Tucson, Arizona.
- Bellosio by John F. Shekleton (Narrated by Ray Montecalvo) - December 2, 2025
- Wake Up, Nat & Darcy by Kate Cochrane (Narrated by Jeremy Carlisle Parker) - November 13, 2025
- Fix Audible’s Virtual Voice Fast: Add “-virtual” to Your Search (2025/2026 Working) - November 9, 2025
Hey, thanks for the review. I hope you try out more of the series, 17 in all. Characters develop, and there are plenty of different ones to like or hate.
I knew there were other books in this series (and honestly I did enjoy the book enough to continue it). I’ve had book 0 on my radar (I own the Kindle edition) for quite some time. I might have to check that out on audio soon.
Thanks for checking out the blog!