Planetside

By: Michael Mammay

Narrated by: R.C. Bray

Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

A seasoned military officer uncovers a deadly conspiracy on a distant, war-torn planet…

War heroes aren't usually called out of semi-retirement and sent to the far reaches of the galaxy for a routine investigation. So when Colonel Carl Butler answers the call from an old and powerful friend, he knows it's something big - and he's not being told the whole story. A high councilor's son has gone MIA out of Cappa Base, the space station orbiting a battle-ravaged planet. The young lieutenant had been wounded and evacuated - but there's no record of him having ever arrived at hospital command.

The colonel quickly finds Cappa Base to be a labyrinth of dead ends and sabotage: the hospital commander stonewalls him, the Special Ops leader won't come off the planet, witnesses go missing, radar data disappears, and that’s before he encounters the alien enemy. Butler has no choice but to drop down onto a hostile planet - because someone is using the war zone as a cover. The answers are there - Butler just has to make it back alive…

©2018 Michael Mammay (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

95% Excellent. The last 5% mediocre.

First out of the way: R.C. Bray is and continues to be my favorite narrator.

Without giving too much away, a great mystery story that does a good job of building over time. Believable characters. Great pacing. And then stumbles a bit when it's time for the grand finale. I don't know if I'd call the ending *bad*, (because I've read my fair share of books that started great but had well and truly horrible endings and this doesn't fit that,) but it wasn't as satisfying as I'd hoped. That being said, while in many situations I'd call a disappointing ending enough of a reason to not recommend an entire book, in this case I'd say it's still an overall good book worth your time.

Ignore other reviews about ending

I almost skipped this book due to this being Mammay’s first book and the reviews about the ending. Impossible to really explain much without spoiling it, just trust the other positive reviews. Totally worth it, creative plot and that ending is... you are going to have to find out for yourself. Best Sci-fi of 2019 for me.

Well thats one way to prevent a war

The book while having a small character count, does a very good job at fleshing out these characters and is a very good military detective kind of story. There are plenty of twists, a lot of secrets and a very bloody ending. However you look at it though, R.C Bray does well to narrate Mammay's debut novel. If this is what hes starting off with I can't wait to see what he produces in the future.

Overall a good story but seems to end abruptly

Pros: Good writing/story, good narrator, kept my interest the whole time.
Cons: Seems like the story was going along and then suddenly it was over.

Just wow

It’s a sci-fi masterpiece. The story revolves around colonel butler who gets pulled from retirement by an old friend to help him find a missing individual on a foreign planet with intelligent life. A conspiracy surrounds his disappearance and the story unwinds.

Butler comes off as a grumpy old man with ample life experiences. The character is well rounded and fun to follow through this book.

The performance by RC Bray was great.

Let’s put it this way, I bought book 2 halfway through book 1.

What kind of ending was that?

Good book except for the last 15 minutes. Hopefully this is a series and will pick up in the future. If not, very displeased with how it ended.

When is genocide expedient, or how to stop worrying and love Gen. Jack Ripper!

A police procedural wherein the detective solves the mystery and defends the galaxy from evil aliens that ends with a twist!

Listened to it three times!

This is more a detective story that happens to happen in space more than true sci-fi and there’s nothing wrong with that! There are a lot of characters to keep track of so somewhere in there I got a little confused but I liked it enough to just play the whole thing over again! That cleared up the confusion, and listening to R.C. Bray AGAIN was no hardship, he’s perfect! I don’t see anything else offered by this author on audible but when I do I’ll buy it, I wouldn’t mind a book 2! Spend the credit!

Edit: I’ve listened to this book 3 times (because book 2 and 3 came out and I like to start from the beginning and mainline right through to the end!), and I still say spend the credit! I’ve been through books 2 and 3 and I can say I’m looking forward to book 4! If book 4 doesn’t come out soon I’ll have to start the series all over again and I’d be ok with that! This author along with R.C. Bray, who can read nothing wrong, completely rock this space opera! It’s fun! It’s funny! It will get you out of your head! Spend all your credits!

New favorite author

Great audible book. Very believable, and excellent dialogue. love RC Bray as well. I will be following this author.

Bray and Mammay make a powerful combination

Bray brings to life the rich and complex characters Mammay has created in this powerful and enthralling debut story. This book is full of twists, turns, and unexpected surprises. Do yourself a favor by giving it try - I'm sure you'll be just as excited about it as I am. Can't wait for the next story in the series.