Title: Daimones (Daimones trilogy #1)

Author: Massimo Marino

Genre: Science Fiction, Post-apocalyptic

Publication Date: September 2012

About the Book (from Goodreads):

 Dan Amenta woke up one morning to discover the world had changed…the Apocalypse had arrived.

Death, destruction, and disaster were wreaking havoc across the globe. Yet Dan and his family remained untouched and he sensed some sort of supernatural power had left them the only three people alive on Earth. They were not.

The efforts to survive and find others brought Dan to discover the disturbing truth about the human extermination. He met Laura, who brought revelations about the catastrophe, and her presence – a young, sexy, disruptive girl – raised questions about what was moral and ethical in the new reality. Other survivors reported what they had seen, forcing Dan to seek explanations from his own past.

Ancient hallucinations strike Dan with the force of a sledgehammer and bring him face-to-face with his new role in a scenario with roots millions-of-years old. Planet Earth was now in the hands of an older power but not the one Dan had ever envisioned.

Review:

I received a free audiobook for an honest review.

Diamones starts out slowly and at first I wondered how I was going to be able to listen to it without my mind wandering. It did get interesting pretty quickly, though, when they woke up to a changed world, and it kept my attention throughout,.

The way that Massimo Marino described what Dan, Mary, and their daughter were going through made me feel like I was there. I could feel their frustration when they couldn’t find another living person and their joy when they did find someone. I did think that there was a little too much detail at times. For example, I didn’t care to hear a list of all of the items in their neighbor’s desk drawer.

I didn’t like the way Daimones ended but I am pretty sure (I hope) that was intentional by the author. I look forward to reading the next book in this series.

I definitely recommend Daimones for all readers especially if you like post-apocalyptic stories without zombies (yay).

 

About the Author (from his website):

I wrote fantastic stories and science fiction since I was a kid, short stories and novellas, but never had anyone read them. It was a personal thing: My father and my older brother received “Astounding Stories” and other Sci-Fi ‘zines, but I was too little to be allowed to read them, so I looked at the covers…and imagined things for myself. Then, work and life took their toll and I stopped writing those tales.

Slightly over two years ago, in 2011, for various reasons, I started again with some burning inside that needed to come out. On the first weekend I got over 15000 words, then subscribed to critters.org for peer review, lurked a year keeping on writing and getting feedback, and last September my debut novel, “Daimones“, saw the light. It received the 2012 PRG Reviewer’s Choice Award in Science Fiction. A debut novel among so many established authors in the competition.

In September 2013, “Daimones” won the 2013 Hall of Fame – Best Science Fiction from Quality Reads UK Book Club in collaboration with OrangeBerry Book Tours, shortlisted among thousands of other great candidates. I’m writing now Vol.3 of the Daimones Trilogy,  published the Vol.2 “Once Humans (Daimones Trilogy)“, a small collection of short horrid stories, “Stranded Love, and Vol.3 The Rise of the Phoenix (Daimones Trilogy).

So, what about me now… I’m Italian, and because even in Italy that means everything and nothing at all, I should say, I am Sicilian. I was born in Palermo, and as it happened with countless Sicilians, I left it, back in 1986. I lived more years abroad than in my home country, and I have changed in many and different ways than my old friends there. It is always a pleasure to go back, but it is now 6 long years since my last visit. Saudade? Maybe, a little. I lived in Switzerland, France, and the United States.

I am a scientist as a background, and have spent over 17 years in fundamental research. Most of my writing are then academic stuff, and I always wonder at how much Google is able to find about everyone. I am sure one has to Google oneself so not to forget too much…I worked for many years at CERN—an international lab for particle physics research near Geneva, Switzerland—then in the US at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. Fantastic moments and memories from those years. In 2005 I moved to the private sector, worked with Apple Inc., and then for the World Economic Forum. I’m glad for your visit today, explore the various areas with book reviews and authors interviews, the blog, and my writing, too, if there’s time.  I hope we can become friends over the lines…