The Serpent Underneath

By: Julie A. Fragoules

Narrated by: Randy McCarten

In a post-apocalyptic world devastated by a social-economic collapse, Haven Segreti is forced to conform and serve as a member of an elite administrative pack behind the community walls of the New Republic. She faces difficult choices, torn between an illicit liaison with her mentor, Adrien, and a chance of a deeper connection with a troubled young man set on revenge.

Between submitting to the world or rebelling against it, between helping her friends flee to a better future, or saving the family she left behind.

Meanwhile, Adrien Damaso, the protege of the President of the Ruling Council, manipulates people and circumstances toward his own subversive ends, leaving a trail of gruesome murders in his wake. He may prove her best ally if he doesn't kill them first.

To the west, Nathan Hambrice wakes from a coma to find the world he knew is gone. With the aid of a military leader, Nathan travels east in search of his family and Haven's mother, Alexandra, whose family compound may have survived the collapse. However, Nathan's incursion into the New Republic puts him and anyone who helps him in grave danger.

As their paths collide, the three must navigate a dangerous landscape where their choices will determine not only their own fate, but the fate of a nation.

This dystopian thriller weaves engaging characters through an allegorical tale that plays American political theory against opposing ideologies and current social, political, and philosophical issues for a terrifying view of a future it may be too late to avoid.

©2017 Julie A. Fragoules (P)2023 Julie A. Fragoules

This could be true life

This could be true life if this country continues in the direction we are headed. The author does a good job with realism of possibilities. I found the idea of "packs" of students with their mentor/teacher to determine the next job interesting but certainly not surprised by the decision being based on "favor" and the ability of the student to conform. One "negative" is that, in my opinion, there's just too much narrative for information. Especially at the beginning. I prefer getting the "background" of what happened or is happening through the character's conversations with each other. The positive of that is that the narrator has a fantastic way of telling the story, and therefore, kept me going. Randy McCarten has a natural talent for voice inflection (definitely not monotone!!), story telling and fantastic character voices.
All in all, I enjoyed the book and highly recommend.

Realistic

A post-apocalyptic tale of social-economic collapse, survival, deadly political games, and a serial killer in the guise of a public official keeps this story entertaining and frightening. Given today’s economy and political divide, this story hits close to home. Haven Segreti must decide her future and the future of all those she cares about. Agonizing, she discovers that each of her desires will require a different decision and they will have severely conflicting results!

The author, Julie A. Fragoules weaves a story pulling from today’s headlines and political unrest to create this story. It is engaging and horrifying at the same time. As the listener, one cannot help but make connections between events in the book and current-day events. Fragoules is clever and talented at subtly hitting very close to home with the subject matter. Further, the characters are intense and distinct. The plot twists are well executed and not always expected. The building of the storyline and character development is deliberate and slow.

The narrator, Randy McCarten, delivers a smooth and sharp performance capturing and projecting the personality of each character in vivid detail. The quality of his performance further enhances the story capturing the imagination of each listener and the personality of each character.

This is an interesting and captivating story, but it hits very close to the real situation at home which makes it more horrifying.

There were no issues with the quality or production of this audiobook.

It could be

This book can really make you think of what the world could become like if…..