Audiobook Review: The Gates by Iain Rob Wright
What will you do when the world ends? That's a question that needs answering quickly when the gates to Hell open up all over Earth. Taking place across the globe is an apocalypse like no other, and humanity will find itself at war against a smart and merciless foe. Follow the struggles to survive with several characters as things go from bad to worse. Humanity is dwindling.
Guy Granger is a Coast Guard captain in search of his kids. Mina Magar is a photojournalist taking pictures of horror she could never have imagined. Rick Bastion is a fading pop star with his head in a bottle and no hope for his future. Tony Cross is a soldier stuck on the Iraq-Syria border, but fighting insurgents is no longer a priority as a new threat emerges. Follow them all as they fight to stay alive.
When the gates open, all Hell will break loose!
*Small Spoilers Below
Iain Rob Wright is one of the UK's most successful horror and suspense writers, with novels including the critically acclaimed, THE FINAL WINTER; the disturbing bestseller, ASBO; and the wicked screamfest, THE HOUSEMATES.
His work is currently being adapted for graphic novels, audio books, and foreign audiences. He is an active member of the Horror Writer Association and a massive animal lover.
Review
Iain Rob Wright is an Author whom I've followed for quite a few years now. The Gates is a book I've owned many months now but just couldn't seem to bring myself to read. No, I wasn't worried the book would be awful. I've yet to worry about this Author being enjoyable and The Gates it would turn out would be no exception. No, instead I had been in a massive reading funk and just didn't feel like committing myself to a story several hundred pages long. Lazy? Yes. Do I feel bad about that? You bet. It is, what it is though. Thankfully, I realized I had the Audiobook as well and decided to give it a shot during my many long nights at work and I am so, so, glad that I did.
A good narrator is crucial to a good audiobook. The story can be the next Great Gatsby but if you have the wrong narrator reading the story to you it will ultimately fail. That is why I knew I'd have no trouble getting glued into The Gates. The narrator Nigel Patterson was phenomenal. He didn't just narrate the story, he breathed life into each and every character that graced each page. (yes even the female ones).
Another thing I really enjoyed about the story was the Apocalypse itself. No Zombies, no Alien overlords looking to enslave us, no RobotVampireNaziApocalylse,. This story was Armageddon pure and simple. Don't worry though, this is not some preachy Left Behind bs. Rather this is a story that just so happens to take elements of that found in The Bible and melded it with his own thoughts and ideas to make it uniquely his own. I think that's why I enjoyed it so much. Plus their are Giant Demons that can go fe, fi, fo, fum on your ass and that's pretty wicked..
Lastly, I really liked the characters. The cast of The Gates spans continents so naturally that means we run across a lot of characters. Normally a story can feel cluttered with a cast so large but because of the situations they find themselves in and the fact we don't have huge chunks of characters all clamoring to be heard at one time it didn't really feel stifling. Plus despite the large ensemble we do have main characters with a plot driving them but that doesn't deflect from all the other stories weaving in and out of them. It's hard to describe without spoiling but it makes sense when you listen to the book.
Now despite really loving The Gates I did have one minor gripe about the story and that was the very ending. A minor tweak could have made the events more impactful and really given the story that "Heck Yeah!" ending leaving me pumped to immediately start Book 2. I want to state that the ending was in by no means a disappointment just that it felt like it ran out of steam by stories end.
Final Thoughts
What more can I say? I loved this story, I highly recommend it. The pacing, the narration, the plot was all great. I can't wait to continue the story in Legion and hope to see some of the characters reunited despite all the odds against them. Go buy this one, you won't be disappointed I promise.
With that being said, I'll be rating The Gates by Iain Rob Wright ★★★★★.
*Copy reviewed purchased by me. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated in any which way for providing them.
About the Author
His work is currently being adapted for graphic novels, audio books, and foreign audiences. He is an active member of the Horror Writer Association and a massive animal lover.
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the gates is an awesome read I have read a couple of ian robs book the gates sums up my best reads from his collection superiorpapers.org did a couple of reviews on his book that is how I got to learn of this amazing author
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