Military

4.5/5 Stars Walking to Hell by Knud E. Hermansen

Julie Gilbert historical, Military , ,
picture from amazon

Narrated by Jim Patton

Run Time: 4 hrs and 7 mins

Genre: historical fiction, time-split

Summary:

A short historical time-split novel with a 99-year-old Confederate vet telling one of his descendants part of his story. Ezekial McNair lived through the Civil War but can still recall the horrors vividly.

Additional Comments:

  • Take a while to get into the story that’s foretold in the book description. It begins with the outer tale and then starts the man’s story as a boy. That part is interesting but not super relevant.
  • Midway through the book we get to the part where he’s training and drilling with his regiment. That part is downright hilarious. There’s probably a lot the author straight up made up, but I can easily imagine these green, country boys making the same remarks about their expectations of war.
  • It stops after the first battle description then skims the rest of the war.
  • In that sense, the pacing is way off. It’s still enjoyable but would be a much stronger tale if it started with the training and went through at least a battle at the beginning, middle, and end of the war, eased off with a description of how the army disbanded and such. As is, it doesn’t even feel like a complete tale.
  • Content warnings: battle descriptions
  • Performance is okay. The narrator did all the male voices fine but struggled some with the teenage girls.

Conclusion:

Very good but has an incomplete feel. I’m sure it’s aiming for a series, but that’s unnecessary. You could write a hundred similar tales that differ because of the characters you make.

If you want to get 5 clean audio promos a month. Sign up here.

Have You Tried Kindle Vella Yet?

Christmas Shorts – (Mystery, thriller, Christian, suspense; Ongoing; story 1 is complete) Only one story right now, but will be a collection of short stories with characters from across my series. Typically, FBI agents with personal drama. Might feature an abundance of cute puppies.

The Minder Project Season 1 – (scifi, genetic engineering, superpowers; shares characters with Dustin’s Decision, Updated Wednesdays) The government gave her genetic Gifts. Now, it wants what it paid for from the program.

5 Steps to Better Dialogue – (nonfiction, writing skills; Complete) I feel like nonfiction titles should come with spoiler tags. This is a book for writers seeking to learn more about the creation of realistic characters and dialogue.

Assassin School Season 1 – (thriller, YA; Complete) Teen spies try to survive the rigorous training and other drama as powerful people battle to control the Ghost children.

Dustin’s Decision Devya’s Children Book 5 – (YA scifi, shares characters with The Minder Project; Complete) Genetically altered teens struggle to navigate the murky world and control their Gifts.

Awesome Movie Reviews: 5/5 Stars Hunter Killer

Julie Gilbert Action Adventure, Military, Movie Reviews, thriller , , , , ,

I own nothing of the image. It’s one of the promo posters they made for the movie.

***Any spoiler comments will be after the ads***

5/5 Review of Hunter Killer Surprisingly Suspenseful

Summary:

The trailer isn’t completely honest about everything in here, but it’s good enough to warrant a look. I was totally expecting Olympus has Fallen and London has Fallen, but it’s more like Enigma Code crossed with Independence Day (sans aliens) and The Hunt for Red October. There’s quite a bit of suspense.

 

Additional Comments:

– The story follows two main halves and a third subplot. The USS Arkansas and the Special Forces team are the main arcs. I found the weaving together of the two pretty seamless. A few points might have dragged, but overall, the screentime for these sections worked. The third thread in the tale involved the admiral and NSA agent overseeing everything.

– You don’t really get to know most of the characters’ names. There’s just too many of them that aren’t mentioned more than once. And there are a lot of extras because it’s a submarine.

– Who is this movie for? Fans of Clive Cussler books and military fiction will probably enjoy this story.

– Even though you could probably predict the story start to finish, they manage to throw in a few surprises, which I appreciated.

– Suspenseful: It’s stuffed full of moments where you’re not sure which way things are going to go, but you’re sort of just waiting for the whole world to burn down.

 

Conclusion:

It’s worth watching once or twice on a big screen. I’m not sure if it’s a own-forever-because-it’s-the-best-movie-ever type, but I enjoyed it a lot. Seeing it from the comforts of your home is fine, but I think it’s the type where the big screen of an actual theater will make everything seem larger than life.

Associate links to follow…

(If you click through and buy something, there’s the chance I’ll earn like $0.04 … not kidding, that’s basically it.)

Amazon Prime

The Collins Case – 2 FBI agents track down a kidnapped family.

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – a kid deals with her parents’ divorce, bullies, and the wonder of discovery.

Try The Dark Side of Science – Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.


OR

 

Spoiler Section:

– Almost cried early on this one. I forget which part.

– I liked that the seal team/ spec ops guys were fairly realistic (for a movie). You hardly knew their names, and they understood their role well. They’re ghosts. Well-armed ghosts.

– P.S. This is a version of history where Clinton won the presidency. They pretty much couldn’t be more obvious about that right down to the hairstyle.

– For one of these crazy scenario type movies, it’s terrifyingly plausible. There are probably a lot more checks and balances in place to keep things from spiraling out of control. Still, one has to wonder what really goes on behind closed doors. What are the missions the Special Forces guys never get to tell their grandchildren? On that note, sleep well, folks.

– I loved the admiral’s reaction to the other guy at the end. He totally  hesitated on shaking that warmonger’s hand.