I love Jonathon Maberry and the Joe Ledger series, it has been consistently excellent for years. Deep Silence was the same for 95% of the book. It just felt like the ending was a bit contrived. Like the book had to end so let's do it in the quickest way possible. But, still worth reading.

I am very much looking forward to the new version that will be presented in Rage.

I received an ARC of this from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Holy crap, that was a ride. I thoroughly enjoy anything Joe Ledger, and Jonathan Maberry did it again!
First off I love how this one ties in some of the aspects from previous books (no spoilers here). Maberry really knows how to capture your attention from the first page, and as a reader I love how realistic his writing is. I feel as if I am part of the DMS...sigh....or any team that Joe is apart of.
Also, it was great to hear things from Church's side. I'd die for more of his backstory! (Hint Hint Maberry!)
All in all this was a wonderful read, I didn't want to put it down, and was excited for the next chapter.
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

Deep Silence is another action packed and stunningly intriguing and fast paced entry to the Joe Ledger series. The novel is a high octane mystery/thriller from start to finish. Echoes of Ledgers' previous adventures in Extinction Machine, Kill Switch and Dogs of War come together for a fresh new set of horrors that series fans will gobble up from start to finish. Excellent pacing, villains, and action plus some fantastic twists and turns. I love the ideas emerging for bringing the series and its characters into a new phase for future books!

Deep Silence is GENIUS!

Okay, so what do you get when you mix a team of DMS agents lead by Joe Ledger, sci-fi weirdness, world-ending terror and the delightfully, delicious and twisty mind of Maberry? You get edge of your seat, heart pounding AWESOMENESS that’s what! I mean what a ride…seriously!

Deep Silence is well-written and contains heroes and villains, world catastrophes, natural disasters as well as supremely, superior sci-fi spookiness. I don’t want to give too much away but let’s just say, I read this advanced review copy (ARC) but still plan to purchase the audio book when it’s released to hear Ray Porter breathe life into Ledger. Yup, Deep Silence is that good!

Well done Maberry!

I received an advanced review copy (ARC) of this book from the publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Synopsis from Publisher/NetGalley.com
Terrorists-for-hire have created a weapon that can induce earthquakes and cause dormant volcanoes to erupt. One terrifying side-effect of the weapon is that prior to the devastation, the vibrations drive ordinary people to suicide and violence. A wave of madness begins sweeping the country beginning with a mass shooting in Congress. Joe Ledger and his team go on a wild hunt to stop the terrorists and uncover the global super-power secretly funding them. At every step the stakes increase as it becomes clear that the end-game of this campaign of terror is igniting the Yellowstone caldera, the super-volcano that could destroy America.

Deep Silence pits Joe Ledger against terrorists with bleeding-edge science weapons, an international conspiracy, ancient technologies from Atlantis and Lemuria, and an escalating threat that could crack open the entire Earth.

This is my first time reading this author and I enjoyed the experience. The novel is an action packed sci-fi, plot twisting story about a team of agents trying to save the world from terrorism. I had a bit of difficulty keeping up with the ever changing timeliness and character viewpoints but the plot kept me at the edge of my seat!

Thank you Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

He was a cop, then a solider, and now still active as a special operative, but maybe only for so long, as this is the tenth and final instalment with Joe Ledger and Department of Military Sciences.
Kill Switch and Extinction Machine maybe his most traumatic cases, and Deep Silence is one of the most trying as DMS are up against earthquakes, mind control, green crystals, one powerful machine, and the destruction of America.
There is an interesting green crystal in this tale that is not kryptonite but has some menacing power.
A great tool Joe Ledger has is a MindReader, an instrument DMS use, that will make many wish and gift lists.
If you have been there from the beginning and a constant Joe Ledger reader you would be reading this installmnet without critic concern.
If this is your first delve into Joe Ledger then this will be a thrilling action packed intense read.
The chapters shift through timelines and they can take some getting used to, with patience this story plays out quite well.
Settle in and absorb the finale of Joe Ledger and DMS series.

I'll admit a bias - I'm a huge Maberry fan, and this series is one of my favourite series ever. Deep Silence is a perfect continuation of Joe Ledger's adventures. Weird stuff happens, the world gets terrible, and Ledger and the DMS fix it. Maberry is a master of putting his characters through the wringer for readers' entertainment. The edge of your seat moments come from the action, as well as a genuine fear for the wellbeing of characters you've come to love.

Maberry ends Deep Silence with the promise of even more unhinged adventures for Ledger and his team, which is the worst part of this book - that you're going to have to wait until the next one.

This is hands-down my favorite series!!! The way Jonathan Maberry writes keeps readers on the edge of their seats. I also totally recommend getting the audio to listen to Ray Porter as Joe Ledger. It brings the series to an all new level. I cannot wait to listen to this one!

Another outstanding Joe Ledger book from Maberry. The character development is excellent and the pace is just right. I hope we never see an end to Joe Ledger.

I've been a big fan of the Joe Ledger series for many years now. I did not, however, care too much for this. Perhaps I've out-grown the series or this is merely a one-off dud in an otherwise pretty spectacular series. Even through the first third of the book, nothing very exciting happens and Joe's smart-ass attitude has worn pretty thin at this point. Maybe it was a case of "wrong book at the wrong time" for me, but this one simply didn't hold my attention.

I love Jonathan Maberry. LOVE. I always enjoy his books. The only downside to reading the ARC is that you have to wait even longer for the next one!!

For those of you whom have never read the Joe Ledger series (there's a few of you, but I'm fixing that slowly), I wanted to do a brief review of the series as a whole, given that (according to the author's announcement on Twitter) this is the last book that finds Joe with the DMS.

I'm not a huge fan of everything that Jonathan Maberry writes. Most of his work I am 'take or leave' with. (Even his zombie series.) However, I have absolutely freaking loved the Joe Ledger series from the very first book. (Which also included zombies.)

Maberry's primary character, Joe Ledger, is unique in several ways. While he has all the typical action-hero traits one expects from these sort of covert-ops novels/movies, he is not defined by them.

* He is not fearless. Joe is completely willing to admit when he's scared. The difference is - as is the very definition of true bravery - he acts even when he's terrified.
* Relationships - both on the romantic and platonic levels - mean something to him. He's not a walking case of 'Look! Great milkbags! Must engage in the bumping of uglies forthwith!'- While he definitely enjoys his romps, he also falls in love (albeit this doesn't always work out for him, but still.)
* He is not entirely sane. Right from the first book, you understand that Joe's mental status is a little bit...fractured. With good reason.
However, while I do like Joe, I wouldn't keep coming back to the series if it wasn't for the supporting cast of characters.

In the first book you are introduced to the core cast of characters (it flexes a bit, but certain ones stay the whole series). The other DMS agents are varied in background, appearance, and attitude. What they do not vary in, though, is their devotion to doing the right thing and saving people every chance they can. It is this bond - what's right, not what's easy - that unites the group. They are not just coworkers, they are family. There are some of the characters that I love so much I "Yay!" aloud as soon as they show up for the first time on a page in a new book.

Side note: I can't believe he took us through 10 books at the DMS, and I still don't know if I believe that {redacted for spoilers} is actually fully human!

The Joe Ledger series is science-thriller oriented. However, that does not come close to describing what you're actually going to find in the books. Maberry looks at both cutting edge technology and biology developments, and uses them to craft believable takes on known horror baddies. How could a zombie outbreak really happen? Forget Jurassic Park - what could villains actually do with gene-splicing in real world applications?  That type of thing.  It's completely fascinating.

While not all of the books have been 5-star amazeballs, the series as a whole has been pure balls-to-the-wall, ass-kicking, wise-cracking, surprisingly gut-wrenching awesomeness. Even in the books that I haven't absolutely loved, Maberry's pacing has been exquisite and his action scenes intense. His dialogue regularly makes me snicker. The emotional elements have my heart aching at times.

There's only been a handful of series that I've followed as obsessively as I've followed this one. I highly recommend it (and even more strongly recommend getting the audio book versions when possible. Ray Porter gives life to the Joe Ledger series in a way that not many others could.)

So - about Deep Silence...

Maberry owns it. Again.

Deep Silence brings back plot elements from previous books in a continuation of the series that makes perfect sense.  The core crew is present (Echo! Echo! Echo!), but all the important secondary characters show up again as well. Various subplots are moved forward. (None of them gave me a happy, but I can see why he did them.) Ghost growled, farted, whuffed, and sniffed his way further into my heart. 

Joe hits a very dark, very scary point (worse than we saw a few books ago). I'm honestly surprised it took him this many books for it to happen. I was holding my breath during certain scenes even though I knew he'd make it out of it 'okay' because - hello - he's the main character! The author handles it very well though, and even if I couldn't completely believe how the situation worked out, I was still emotionally invested in the scene. (I know, I'm being vague, but I don't want to even partially ruin it for you.)

Church shows more emotion than we've seen from him in previous books. While it was, realistically, a good development, part of me cringed a little because - that's not Church! But -- it is what we needed. A reinforcement that not even Church can be this stoic, action-driven, apparently emotionless person all the time. Sometimes emotion happens, and its nothing to be ashamed of.

Politically - this was a bit difficult to read. It is obvious that Maberry draws influence for his sitting president from our Top Dunce and Dingleberry. I read to escape so I was a bit whiny when I realized I was going to have to deal with that ridiculousness on the page as well. Joe and I share very similar views on what being a patriot means. Luckily, El Nimwit's presence is kept to an absolute minimum, so mostly I was able to just enjoy the story.

As stated earlier, Deep Silence is the last book that sees Joe with the DMS, so obviously there is a fair bit of drama and decisions to be had in this book.  It is a very powerful read, and the ending was near perfect. (Well, a certain name had me snorting a bit, but, dammit, I can cut the man some slack, right?)

Overall, Jonathan Maberry delivers another adrenaline-engaging, heartache inducing, "Oh Crap!" entry into the Joe Ledger series, and I say it's a Must Buy.

Admittedly not my favorite Joe Ledger adventure, but still a fun read. Took an uncharacteristically long time to truly rev up the plot, but once all the pieces were in place, Maberry shifted into stick-the-landing mode. As Maberry does.

Well, I must confess that this isn't even close to my favorite SMS/Joe Ledger book. But, in all fairness, I've never read a Ledger book that I didn't love. Joe is one of my book beau's. I love him dearly. This book just didn't grab me by the short hairs. Although, I LUBBID the ending. Maybe it was because I read this book at the same time that agent orange "Trump" sucked Putin's um...diddley whacker on a world stage, "seriously, what the hell.?" Funny how some books almost seem to know what's going on in the world. Maybe Mr. Maberry has a crystal ball? This book, while not my favorite, still rocked my footies off! I'd recommend this and really the whole series. My thanks to St. Martin's Press, Jonathan Maberry, and Netgalley for this arc.

Okay, I’m not going to lie.

My all time favorite Jonathan Maberry character was Chong from the Rot & Ruin series. However Joe Ledger runs a close 2nd. And I was beyond thrilled to read this book.

Deep Silence is just about everything you want from a Maberry book. It’s a fast, hard, action packed read that still manages to pull your heartstrings – even as you’re left gasping for breath. The fate of America is at stake and the danger is epic! (It’s also got something special for horror readers – no spoilers!)

Ledger and the team are just as sharp and edgy as ever and the danger is omnipresent.

Some readers may have a little trouble with the time jumps. The initial part of the book jumps all over the place in time – but Maberry handles it well. Stick with it because he manages to tell a very complete story this way, giving the reader a very complete understanding of all the players in our drama.

This is a very welcome entry into the Ledger world – and it’s just a blast and a half to read!