Invasion

Ice Hammer, Book 1

By: Basil Sands

Narrated by: Basil Sands

It only took an instant for the world to come crashing down.

The bombs came first, and the troops were close behind. Life in the dream that was America ceased when a deadly new alliance of communist states from Russia, China, and their allies invaded from the North.

The invasion splits Brad Stone's family apart. His wife, Youngmi, is captured and exploited by Alaska's new communist warlord. Brad and his sons narrowly avoid massacre and retreat into the icy wilderness. Brad, a former Marine, finds himself thrust to the front as the warrior they call "Ice Hammer" - a leader, a legend, and the most wanted man in occupied Alaska.

Brad, Youngmi, and their sons Ben and Ian must find their way through the horrors of war. They may not live to see victory, but they will not live as slaves. They have already learned a brutal truth:

The age of peace has ended. The age of the Ice Hammer has begun.

©2017 Basil Sands (P)2017 Basil Sands

An engrossing and expertly crafted and story!

Drawing on modern fears that come from the clash of cultural extremes existing in the world in which we all live, this tale lays out a plausible scenario of a surprise attack, (Think "Red Dawn"-ish elements) invasion, and occupation on US soil. The story brings to life the individual experiences and situations that each of the four members of one family are forced to live through as they find themselves in three separate groups on both sides of the conflict.

One a reluctant hero, another a prisoner of war, the others finding strength and clarity in family tradition and beliefs they've held dear. The other main characters in the story add depth and reveal the differing emotions needing to be understood in such an experience. Each one having their place and their purpose.

It's man against the harsh Alaskan elements and against a brutal invaders purge. There are moments of anger, of laughter, and the facing of fears. There's the uncertainty of deathly conflict and the heartbreaking grief that accompanies war. There are selfish characters and selfless characters. There's budding love and new friendships and the inevitable tears. There's plotting and strategy and new alliances formed.

The story ends as a great setup for the next installment in the series which I look forward to.

I am pleasantly rewarded when a story doesn't let me down. In short, I loath stories that have elements that are so out of place they rip me out of the story and remind me I am listening to a book on my phone. It can be unrealistic banter amidst terrifying events, overblown situations with solutions that defy physics, human anatomy or psychology. They are moments where I say "Really!?, You're going to force that down my throat? Do you take me for some idiot groupie? This story had none of that, and for that, I say thank you to the author, Mister Sands!

(I was gifted this book in exchange for my honest opinion and review. What you just read was my honest opinion and therefore my review!)

a range of emotions -  anger, sadness, laughter...

An invasion of the US orchestrated by China, Russia and their allies bring the US to its knees.  Invasion: Ice Hammer is focused on Alaska only, a very small part of the invasion but still riveting!  Brad becomes the Ice Hammer without realizing it; his sons are on the move with a boy scout troop now being led by a military leader; and Brad’s wife, believed to be dead is actually the prisoner of the Chinese General.

The invasion was completed in an imaginative way.  One that I found fascinating; not one of the usual boring dropping of bombs or suicide bombers.  I thought he did an excellent job of creating a very sneaky invasion and one that was total!

There are a lot of moving parts to this story but Basil Sands does a wonderful job of keeping them moving, bringing them together and creating twists and turns that keep the audience in suspense.  One note – one of my favorite characters from Faithful Warrior makes an appearance as the Hairy One!

While the characters are faced with grueling conditions, starving, traumatized beyond belief, there are still some very humorous parts that will leave you with tears in your eyes.  One is an older Korean woman who keeps the Hairy One on his toes by slapping his face after each kiss – this is so he gets the thorns with the flower!

Well-developed the plot moves at a good steady pace; the character development is well thought out and executed building the characters and their actions in conjunction with one another.  Nothing seems out-of-place other than with the exception of Brad being lax in trying to recover his boys.  A man such as Brad infused with his family, I would have expected him to take off immediately to find his boys but he doesn’t.  This was the only part that disappointed me in the book.

Sands keeps his audience on their toes with a range of emotions -  anger, sadness, laughter, and suspense.  I enjoyed this book immensely and can’t wait for the second in the series.

Basil Sands also narrated the story.  He performed the audiobook as a talented professional – I loved the voice Kadji (The Hairy One).  His voices and accents were well done.  I enjoy authors who read their own books – they inject the enthusiasm, suspense and other emotions that they had when writing their book thus giving their audience a true representation of their book.

There were no issues with the production quality of this book.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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Nice blend of genres.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.
I really loved this book. It was an action story about individual people. It combines a kind of survivalist/war story with an intrigue/love story. I was certainly sorry when it ended and am looking forward to the next book. Much respect for writing and narrating both.

Great from the breginning

What did you love best about Invasion?

I loved this book because it was good from the beginning. Not too much back story was given at the beginning

What other book might you compare Invasion to and why?

Does not compare to any other book I have read.

Which scene was your favorite?

When Mrs. Stone meets her old friend

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The way Brad feels for his wife.

Any additional comments?

I received this book in exchange for a voluntary review.

I liked it

I enjoyed this story. it was well written and i had a good range of emotions through out the story. the narrator witch is the author did a great job.

“This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.”

Alaska Invasion!

This book is narrated by the author who does a great job handling several accents well. Great production quality.

I'm about a third of the way through, and it is a pretty good story. It might be worth checking out after you have finished the James Wesley Rawls and Mark Goodwin sets.

Early in the book it felt like the author was going to get lewd with some of the story lines, but then I think the love interests might have died in the invasion.

Descriptions of the carnage are pretty brutal, but not in a horror genre way.

There are a lot more Asian women in This Alaskan story than I would usually think to associate with Alaska.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

American invasion from the Alaskan perspective

This story took a bit of getting used to. The author read this himself and at first I did not like the voices. But by the time I was half way through I realized that I liked the voices and everything seamed to fit. Once I got into the story it was very engaging and hard to put down. You really connect with the characters and want things to get better for them. Overall a good read with a reasonable stopping point before the next book that must be coming because this story is not finished.

Awesome Book

The book tells the tale of enemies of the US invading and occupying the country. Taking most surviving citizens captive. While the few that escaped are trying to live int he wilderness and build an army to fight back.

While the book is fiction it is written in a way that the reader is able to believe the events.

I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I truly enjoyed the book and am anxiously waiting for the next book in the series.

fun Alaskan story!

I really enjoyed all of the references to the Anchorage area! Great narration as well.

Invasion Ice Hammer

Despite the definite conservative christian leanings,I enjoyed this book.I could explain to the author that Christmas was first a pagan holiday that the church reallocated for their purposes....but I won't. I was a bit tired of the praying and comments about liberals.A boy scout group is on a campout when the Chinese invade by helicopter and on land.They kill everyone in their path, but take one Korean born woman into their 'care'.She is assumed to be the concubine of the general.It seems that the wilds of Alaska hold a lot of cabins and hide aways for peppers and the Scout leaders and fathers on the trip knew what to do.They train up the Boy Scouts and civilians to fight the good fight.I was provided this book by the author/narrator to the publisher.