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Formats
Kindle Edition eBooks Details
  • 11/2016
  • 9781370736201 B01N01QFTQ
  • 432 pages
  • $4.99
Paperback Details
  • 11/2016
  • 9781539545699 B01N01QFTQ
  • 316 pages
  • $12.99
D L Richardson
Author
Welcome to the Apocalypse: Pandora
“Players, welcome to the apocalypse…” Kelly Lawrence is a grieving widow. Jack Minnow is a website designer. Reis Anderson is the son of a senator. Each of these players has their own reasons for signing up to The Apocalypse Games, a state of the art virtual game designed to entertain doomsday preppers, gamers, and cosplayers. Altogether, over 100 people enter NASA designed simulation pods and hook up to the mainframe computer with one goal: survive 24 hours of an apocalypse. Instead of game over at the end, they’re plugged straight into a new game. Then another. It’s clear the computer has malfunctioned. What’s not clear is why. With no communication to or from the outside operators, they can only fight endless battles and hope they’re rescued before it’s too late. While they can’t die inside the game, they can die if the pods break down while they’re still hooked up. This game of survival just got real.
Reviews
5 stars - Jas P - Amazon reviewer

This is a full on ride into the depths of hell and back again.
I picked this up as a part of the Kindle Scout campaign, unfortunately it wasn’t selected, but I was lucky enough to score an ARC to give an honest review. I had been really interested in the couple of chapters that had been on KS, they had been interesting, given me a peek at the characters, and a rather interesting premise to this story.
The basic storyline is 3 friends go along to this new virtual reality gaming world, were you are plugged into ‘pods’ and hooked up to a simulator that gives you a very realistic simulation. You ‘see’, ‘feel’, ‘hear’ things within these pods through special sensors that you are attached to. You are basically hooked up to a life support machine within side this pod that can keep you going for 3 days feeding you fluids and nutrients and dealing with bodily waste for that time. Although after 3 days, your body would have started to atrophy.
The simulation though, is mind blowing, so utterly immersive and realistic that it costs $5000 for this short day long trial run to be the first to try it out and report back on how fantastic their new machines are.
So come in, select the Apocalypse of your choice to join in on, saddle up, and ‘Welcome to the Apocalypse….’
The players can choose from multiple different apocalypse scenarios, vampires, nuclear wasteland, zombies… The list goes on, but I won't spoil all the fun. There are some that push the boundaries of human decency, but I guess that is the point.
And that is where this story gets really interesting. The Author could have just made this a feast of apocalyptic killing, filling the book with every possible scenario that you can think of to give some readers the thrill of reading about all sorts of obscene blood and gore. But instead, she has gone for a bit more of a psychological profile of the 3 main characters, Jack, Kelly and Reis, and through their interactions with the scenarios, let us explore their relationships, and their personal lives. Kelly is coming to grips with the one year anniversary of the loss of the love her life. He created the game and she is looking for any sign of him in there, will she find it? Jack has joined her to support her, but he has a dark tragic secret of his own from his past. Will he be able to face his own demons and survive to help his Sister?
Reis, the perfect poster playboy with all his money and good looks, (who joined Jack as a friend to help out), is actually nothing of the sort. The game will also reveal all of his inner secrets, and Reis may well be in the deepest trouble of all.
Will he be able to endure Pandora’s torments?
There are several sub-characters as well that help bring this story to life. All of the characters have been very well written, bringing a depth to the novel and making it a fascinating read.
This was a really interesting book on multiple levels, from the various Apocalyptic scenarios described, to the individual Characters and their stories, right up until the end, and what happens, leaving you wanting to read the next one NOW!
Can’t wait to read it and find out what happens. This is what reading is all about, fun, interesting and amusement.

5 stars - Readers Favorite

Reviewed by Arya Fomonyuy for Readers' Favorite

It is supposed to be just an internet game, a tantalizing game you finish and feel like you have just come out from another world, only it turns out to be more than a game. It turns out to be a very dangerous experience for all the players. Instead of being a fun game, it soon becomes a game of survival.

Welcome to the Apocalypse – Pandora by D.L. Richardson is a riveting blend of science fiction and fantasy, a story about the joys and perils of virtual games. Readers are introduced to compelling characters, including Jack Minnow, a website designer; a widow, Kelly Lawrence; and the son of a senator, Reis Anderson. The players are hooked up to the mainframe computer and they must survive twenty-four hours. Although this is a virtual game, meaning they can’t possibly get killed, things change when they are immediately plugged in for the next game without any “game over.” They know something is wrong and they only hope someone can come in to help. If the pods break down, they might die. Question is: how long can they continue playing before someone comes to the rescue?

Welcome to the Apocalypse – Pandora is an exciting read, an engaging thriller for fans of video games and apocalyptic literature. I loved the pace and the sense of urgency the characters experience from the moment they know their lives could be in danger. D.L. Richardson comes across as internet savvy and the reader has no doubt that she’s done her research for this story, one that is utterly captivating with numerous twists and surprises. The suspense is biting and the reader can feel the pulse of the characters. From the very first to the last page, the story is emotionally charged, the action intense, and the conflict driving the plot forward. This is a very interesting read and highly recommended.

Amazon

I received an ARC (Advance Review Copy) of "Welcome to the Apocalypse" by DL Richardson just a week ago.

"Welcome to the Apocalypse" is one of those tales I normally avoid because there seem to be so many of them. But it has much more than that, something most movies and books of this genre is missing: It holds a deeper history for its characters, giving them motivation that drives them deeper.

The premise is based around three main characters who have been together since adolescence: Kelly, a grieving widdow; Jack, her brother and a website designer; and Reis the son of a senator. They each sign up for the game together for their own reasons. The game consists of a devilish Virtual Reality simulation played from inside NASA-designed simulation pods hooked up to a mainfraim. The game is simple: survive 24 hours of an apocalypse. The catch is that when they reach the end of the game, it throws them into another apocalypse, then another, and another, until it's apparent there is a huge problem! A computer malfunction! Will they die inside the pods, unable to communicate their dilemma to the outside world?

When I first started reading the first game, I thought, "Not another zombie book". But I was pleasantly surprised as DL Richardson did that with more class than any other apocalyptic story I have experienced. Yes, there were zombies, vampires, alien invasions, and much more, but she also delved into the human psyche and provided a deeper analysis through her main characters.

As they passed from one scenario to another, it became clear that the story deals with an Inception-like concept that will have you questioning your own reality. DL Richardson shows how much she has researched different apocalyptic situations that would blow the most hard-core survivalist away, and just when you think she's covered every single kind... she brings another out from the magic box!

But that's not all! Just when you think there is a resolution to the issue, and there is, the final twist tells us there is even more to Welcome To The Apocalypse than steak knives!

What is it?

You'll have to read this product from Australia to find out! And when you do, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Rachel Sawyer blog

I really, really liked this book. The concept and plot was so different to any dystopian novel I’ve ever come across. It wasn’t exactly Terminator, with robots rising up to kill humans, but more like Star Trek-type technology becoming sentient and killing humans – Pandora didn’t need a body to kill you, her consciousness simply hopped from person, to technology, and back again to destroy her players. She knew your deepest darkest secrets and gave you an end of world scenario based on it – which is so genius and original, bravo DL Richardson!

If you’re still not convinced, you have any number of apocalyptic scenarios to peak your interest – vampires, zombies, aliens, cannibalistic children, pathological warfare, technological warfare, etc. So chances are if you can dream it, DL Richardson wrote it. What’s not to love?

As for the main protagonist’s: Kelly, Jack, and Reis. They were deep, interesting, and grew with every chapter.

Kelly annoyed me a tiny bit in the beginning with her whiney, self-destructive behaviour but, in saying that, she had just lost her husband and had hopes of seeing him in this game. She was also the quickest to catch on about the repercussions of the death dreams. She was strong and resourceful without being “the chosen one” (which seems to be the only way characters can be strong nowadays). She grew a lot in the book, as a person and as a sister; she went from self-destructive, emotionless shell of her former self, to a strong, protector, who helped others along the way.

Jack, good, sweet, protective big brother Jack. He fully encapsulated the big brother roll; he was a hero, a friend, and a protector, just like older siblings tend to be (I should know, being the youngest of two sisters, this is how they are). He might not have understood Kelly, or her feelings, all the time, but that didn’t stop him from being right there in her corner. He was calm and collected in almost every apocalypse scenario (which is probably the polar opposite of how I would’ve handled cannibalistic children or alien invasions). He was the glue that held the trio together and for that I will always be a little bit “Team Jack”.

Reis, my gosh, poor Reis! The more I learned about him the more I just wanted to reach into the book and hug him. How anyone could go through what he has and still be able to deal with life is beyond me. So bravo, DL Richardson, for writing a male character who was emotional but strong, who was broken, and sometimes weak, but always willing to get back up and fight. Not just your average emotionless tough guy. He’s given me hope!

 

So to answer the simple questions;

Did it catch me from page one? Honestly, no, but it did catch me early on, maybe the fifth or sixth page.

Did it make me want to stay up all night reading it until my eyes burned? Yes! In fact I did, a few nights, I even took it to work and read in my lunch breaks, then cursed when I had to actually go and do work.

Would I recommend it to a friend? Hell yes! My friends are going to get so sick of me talking about this book; they’ll HAVE to read it!

Am I excited for the next instalment? Again, HELL FREAKING YES! I need it, and I need it now! And at the same time, I’m now terrified of my toaster, my computer, my phone, and just about everything technology related in my house.

My rating? 8.5/10 – again, bit slow to start, and sometimes the plot staled for me, but only for a page or two and then it was back to nail biting, edge of your seat stuff, all in all a fantastic book!

News
11/15/2016
Pre-orders rank #5 amazon Hot New Releases sci-fi

Pre-orders have ranked Welcome To The Apocalypse - Pandora #5 in Amazon Kindle e-books Best Seller list Science Fiction TV, Movie & Game Tie-in.

Formats
Kindle Edition eBooks Details
  • 11/2016
  • 9781370736201 B01N01QFTQ
  • 432 pages
  • $4.99
Paperback Details
  • 11/2016
  • 9781539545699 B01N01QFTQ
  • 316 pages
  • $12.99
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