Free Bird Rising

By: Ian J. Malone

Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin

Taylor Van Zant has a lot on his mind.

Like everyone in Jacksonville, North Florida, the early-20s bartender from Riverside saw his world upended when his brother, Terry, an interstellar mercenary and local hero, died suddenly in a freak starship accident. Five years later, having been stonewalled for answers, Taylor faced a choice: Honor his mother’s wish that he never go merc or defy it to save her life by resurrecting Terry’s company.

That was 13 months ago. Now the newly reformed Eagles stand on the verge of a major milestone: owning their own flagship. There’s just one problem. Terry left behind a ship that no one knew about, a rare breed of cruiser with a most peculiar secret.

Free Bird Rising is the story of a young man’s quest for justice and to escape his brother’s shadow. The shocking revelations he finds, though, will likely rock the Galactic Union to its core and get him killed.

©2019 Seventh Seal Press (P)2019 Podium Publishing

Excellent Addition to this Universe

The 4 Horsemen Series/Universe is one of my favorite's I've listened to since joining Audible.

Tales of the 4 Horsemen Spin off Series does not disappoint. Unlike most of the books in this Series, this consists of just one 9+ hours tale, rather than a collection of short stories written by multiple authors.

I found this comprised everything I've come to expect & enjoy from the 4 Horsemen - characters with some meat on their bones, plenty of action - both ground & space (but primarily ground), aliens, intrigue & a quest for justice where the good guys win, though sometimes that comes at a cost & is bittersweet.

It's never a simple good vs evil tale. Characters are often complex & there's always plenty of twists & turns. Some are predictable. If you've read a lot of sci fi, or any genre, you know what I mean, but the 4 Horsemen Universe's books almost always surprise me with a few things I didn't see coming.

The characters also have a sense of humor which I appreciate. The narrator does an excellent job, though his accents aren't always on the mark (case in point, a character w/the call sign Chowder Head - being from New England, RI in particular, I found that hilarious, but I also know the accent well & while he got the 'Chow-duh' part right (emphasis on Chow, pronounced as Americans say the Italian 'Cio,' with emphasis on the 'ow'). the rest of CH's dialogue wasn't fully realized. That's a minor point as most probably won't even notice & it didn't stop me from wholey enjoying the read.

This narrator in particular has a voice & diction that's easy on the ears. Happily, he narrates a lot of the books in this universe & as soon as I hear him start to speak, I'm conditioned to expect to hear a really good story. Like this one.

I can't wait to start on the next book in the 4 Horsemen tale. (When Audible had that huge all catalog sale at the end of 2022, I bought every 4 Horseman Tales book I hadn't read yet - along with a ton more & I can honestly say that of all the books I bought in that sale (at least well over 50), so far there are my favorites.

SUMMARY: If you've read & enjoy any book in the 4 Horsemen's Universe, I think it's safe to say you should get this & you'll be glad you did! I f you haven't read any, you can still enjoy this as a stand alone story, but it also might be the start of something beautiful - finding a new sci fi series to fall in love with. Then you can go back & start with Book 1 of the 4 Horsemen's main series & after that move on to the Tales Series & by the time you get to this book you'll probably want to listen to it again. It'll have even more meaning as you'll then be familiar with some of the characters that appear in it & that'll make it even better!

Thanks to the Author(s?) & Narrator for a job well done.

(If you found this review helpful, I'd really appreciate knowing, so please click on the "helpful" button at the end if available).

wow

Talk about a twist. This one had me on edge the entire time. From one thing to another the main character had a rollercoaster to get to where he got.