Titanium Rain, Volume One (audiobook) by Josh Finney





Great Near-Future Sci-Fi Military Action!

Published by The AudioComics Company in 2012.
Multicast performance
Duration: 1 hour, 28 minutes
Unabridged.

Titanium Rain is a near future military adventure story about a group of physically enhanced American and British fighter pilots and their missions against an Imperial Chinese government over mainland China. This AudioComics production of Titanium Rain is an adaptation of the 2010 publication of volume 1 of a graphic novel series of the same name by Josh Finney. Finney adapted the graphic novel for this multicast performance done in the style of the old-time radio show, complete with multiple actors, top-notch special effects and a soundtrack especially written for this production.

The listener discovers that China has suffered a military coup thanks to their Communist leader being killed by an Islamic terrorist. The general who took over China has proclaimed himself to be a new Emperor, has started a de-Westernization of China campaign and sneak-attacked several ships in a Japanese harbor with a submarine. This starts World War III.

America is winning the war but it has come at a terrible cost when it comes to pilots. Quite simply, America is losing pilots for its new ultra-high tech planes faster than they can replace them. So, the American government has come up with a plan called the Phoenix Squadron. They recruit pilots who almost qualified to fly these planes and give them an injection of nanobots that rewire their nervous systems and make them physically and mentally tougher. They go from being “wash outs” to being the best of the best.

The audiobook bounces back and forth from military action to interactions among the pilots on the airbase. Both are very well done and a nice ensemble feel develops. The action is especially gripping and Finney is not averse to killing off characters, which keeps the drama heightened. This is war, after all and people die.

Be warned, Titanium Rain is an audiobook about war and there is a lot of explicit language.

This enjoyable first installment is a strong foundation for what is intended to be a series of stories about the Phoenix Squadron. 

 I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5.

 This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Titanium Rain, Episode One (Dramatized)

Reviewed on April 20, 2013

Note: I received a copy of this audiobook without charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I honestly thought it was very good.

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