Looking for a cozy relaxing read? Move on. This Series is SF Thriller with suspense, tension, dread ratcheted to the max! Imagine you held the fate of humanity, the last survivors of the human species! It's enough to drive a sane leader insane; and additionally, you've got to maintain cruising speed in a former warship constructed 250 years ago! There's no access to the surface, which is radioactive and barren. The only access to the surface is via "Hell Divers," intrepid if not fearless individuals who sky dive from the airborne ships, to periodically scour abandoned ruins for essentials like fuel cells and pressure valves for the ship's nuclear reactors.


Every dive means the possibility of death, in the constant electrical storms, in potential equipment failure, and from the unexpected mutations on the surface. Never is a pause to breathe or relax. Readers won't relax either.

This is a post-WWIII dystopian action novel, with the remains of humanity in ships above the earth. The characters are (mostly) believable, and I enjoyed my first book by this author.

A dark, thrilling cautionary tale about what could be waiting for us just around the corner. Excellent world building, stunning characters, and an un-put-downable story.

If you have read any other books by Nicholas Sansbury Smith then you might understand why I was very excited to be reading another. Was I disappointed? No I was taken to Earth in the future, where life continues after it was nuked in WWIII until it was uninhabitable. The human race is surviving in two monster airships circling the globe. The author has an imagination which is credible enough to draw you right in and make you believe it could be reality, whilst supplying you with endless action and thrills. A fantastic book and look forward to reading the next instalment.

I really enjoyed this book. A great read for all the book, could not put it down.

My thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for an eARC of this book to read and review.

This book is written in a very action-packed way, so if you like adrenaline pumping action scenes, this book is for you. It takes place 250 years after WWIII, where the Earth is pretty much a nuclear wasteland, with two airships over America (I'm assuming they are the last of people, no mention is made of other countries with survivors), carrying the last 1,000 people in the world.

To get supplies the ships need, they have "Hell Divers", the average survival rate is 15 jumps (reminds me of the movie Reign of Fire, where the average survival time on a jump was five-15 seconds, something like that, it's been a while since I've seen the movie). They jump down 20,000 feet, grab what they need and then do a helium balloon thingy lift to the ship that follows the beacon on the balloon and meets them in the sky.

Science is not the strong suit of this book. Neither is more than two dimensional characters.

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER!!!!

The POV of this book is a grizzled vet of jumping, 96 jumps and counting. He's old and tired and kind of wants to die, but half of the whole of humanity needs him to keep jumping so they will survive. The book starts with him about to do a jump with a team of three other people.

1) His best friend and vet of tens of jumps, who has a son. Who wants his best friend to take care of said son if anything should happen to him.

2) Token black guy, who doesn't say a word, but has a thousand-yard stare and seems to have a death wish.

3) Cocky young pup, full of vinegar, who is on his 15th jump and going to make it!!!

Who, of the four, survive? And if the BFF dies, before he dies, does he exact a promise from the leader of the team and his BFF to watch over his son and raise him well?

What do you think? If you are thinking, "No, he wouldn't go all trope-y and kill off the only POC other than the MC so far! He WOULDN'T use the schlocky "Take care of my kid for me, PROMISE!", before the BFF bit it trope. He wouldn't use the old and tired "kill off the young enthusiastic guy who's going to make it!" trope.

Would he?

Yes, yes he would.

And then electronic keypads on a building that are 250 years old STILL work (HOW are they powered? Solar? Through the building? Batteries? How does that still work after 250 and in radiation???)

And the monster-thingies JUST so happen to put their nest over the door that hasn't been used in centuries, because dramatic tension, how is the hero going to get out? GASP!

Then he finally gets back to the ship and apparently the poorer people on the ship are Christians and wear crosses because it helps them deal with how crappy their lives are. I'm of two minds about that. I'm ok with it in one way, because believing in God can help to make things more bearable, BUT it kind of seems like he is going "opiate of the masses" with it, which doesn't sit well with me.

I DNF'd this at 12% in, because with the tropes, I felt like this was more of an action movie than a book. I also don't want to continue if the book is going to be negative towards Christianity.

I've read other less than stellar reviews about this book and apparently the science, or lack of it, and the tropes gets worse, so I have decided to put this book down for the time being. I may come back to it later, sometimes books don't speak to you at one moment, then call out to you and amaze you at another stage of life. I don't think so with this book, but I have been proven wrong before.

Two, I didn't hate it, but don't really like it, stars. Not for me, but if you like action/adventure and don't mind the tropes that go with it and science that makes no sense, you may enjoy this book.

Ahhhh my love for Hell Divers was an insta-love bigger and more obsessive than of one of a sparkly teenager fanger! 😍

Can we talk about how freakantastic this book is pleeeeeease????

Yes? YES! Let’s talk about it. Get comfy because I got lots to tell you. This is gonna take a while.

Let’s talk about first impressions, OK?

Hell Divers was a first impressions feast!

This ARC caught my attention because of the title. “Hell Divers” How is that for a title, huh?

The Cover: Guys in futuristic suits diving through a hellish sky. How is that for a cover???

The opening line…

"The average life expectancy for a Hell Diver was fifteen jumps"

HOW IS THAT FOR AN OPENING LINE????? That got the gears of my imagination spinning wildly and screeching like exorcised hellions! 😈

Then, in page 1…

"Ash turned a blind eye to the diver teams’ debauchery; after all, she was dropping them into the apocalypse to scavenge for parts on the poisoned surface of the Old World."

HELLOOOOO. Pffffffff say NO MORE. I’m yours! I’m ALL yours! You have me! I’m drooling at page 1! 😍

Daredevils diving into a poisoned apocalyptic world. A thousand HELL YEAHS!

But even before we dive into Hell with them, let’s talk about the Hive, the massive airship where they live. The Hive is such Steampunk treat! I imagine it as an oversized, more sophisticated version of La Minerve…

Don’t you just profoundly adore my visual image of the Hive???

Now… Let’s talk about the overpopulated, claustrophobic, disease-ridden, life in The Hive. 😳 There is social inequality, famine, rebellion… holy s$&@!… There is everything that there should be.

And let’s talk about the fact that the captain is a woman, and a very respected and capable captain who is shouldering the responsibility of the survival of the remains of humanity [five hundred and so souls] under these impossible conditions. HELL YEAH, GIRL POWER! 🙅 Nice touch Nick. I will forever be your biggest fan for making this awesome captain a woman. [hummmm…. Nicholas I think I’ll call you “Nick” now that I am like this oversized fan. Please let me know if it’s not OK and I’ll stop. But please let me know in writing. Please enclose the formal request in an autograph hardcover and mail it, yes? ]

So let’s talk about these daredevils especially the MC. Call him X please. Short for Xavier Rodriguez but really short for eXtremely eXtraordinary and seXy.

So I was there, like… gaping, like… sighing like an idiot… “ooooohhhh his name is X. Like the Xmen I adore?. Like Wolverine? [giggling moment] and the last name is Rodriguez as in “latin stud” Rodriguez maybe? [gasping moment].

Whatever! Who cares? X is perfect. X is one badass daredevil “diving so humanity can survive” [sigh] [sigh] [sigh]😍

I’m in love with this X guy, just so you know. 😍 This is the guy you want to be stranded with in a desert island when the ship sinks.

Though he is a totally flawed drunken asshole [well, he lives in the Hive people] he is also awesomely brave and selfless.

Well X, you are right up there with Darrow from Red Rising now. You two are the Apex of my heroes pyramid.

All other heroes, come here please. I need to talk to you.

CALLING ALL THE OTHER HEROES

Yes, YOU, so call Alpha Males. Don’t plain dumb. Come here. You too, controlling sparkly vampire. And you too, controlling kinky billionaire. ALL OF YOU. Please gather around. Ok. Everyone Here? All of you? Thanks! Thank you gents. Ahem, excuse me. OK. OK. Silence.

Hellooooo…quiet all of you!

X is the real deal, gents. The real McCoy. The standard by which you all will be measured from now on!

And now… let’s talk about Nick’s writing. His writing is like… well.. like an overnight FedEx package… HERE! BAM! Package delivered! Simple, streamline. AWESOME. The way the multiple POVs are handled so you get all the different perspectives of the life in The Hive… BRILLIANT. NICK IS A GENIUS. That’s it. I said it.

Let’s talk about the world Nick builds! This is dystopian/apocalyptic readers’ Disneyland when all dreams come true. So I just learned this because I, of course, stalked Nick’s webpage… Nick worked for Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management in disaster mitigation [giggling] [giggling] [giggling] soooooo this world is soooooooo well thought and described down to every possible detail: The poisoned earth, the crazy climate, the wastelands, the ruins of the abandoned cities, the technical specs of the divers’ suits and of the airships. The life in the Hive, how they farm, how they manage their waste, how they deal with sickness and crime. Family relationships, friendships, love affairs… political and personal dramas brewing everywhere… love, hatred, loyalty, betrayal. You name it… Nick thought of it!

And let’s talk about the nonstop action. The diving through the perpetual electrical storms of this apocalyptic sky. The landing in the radioactive wasteland that Earth is. The trekking through the dangerous ruins of decayed cities… Holy hellish hecatomb!

And let’s talk about the hellions of mutants that inhabit Earth. Holy hell, these beasts are so deliciously horrible, terrifying and despicable.

I don’t think I ever made as many updates in a Goodreads Progress Report as I did for Hell Divers. I guess I just wanted to read the entire book to my all Goodreads friends. I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH!!!

This was an absolute thrill ride of a book! End of the World meets Steampunk airships and futuristic paratroopers who risk their lives to dive to the radioactive world below? I'm all in!
Hell Divers is a vast world split between two warships, Ares and The Hive, when something goes wrong, the divers are sent on a rescue mission only to be hunted by the vicious Sirens on the surface.
I love the play on mythology as well as the pulse-pounding action scenes. X and Captain Ash are both incredible characters, each standing out in their own right, and lords I don't need to express how much I love a woman being the leader of the ships.
Hell Divers feels familiar, like a good friend or loved pet but it switches it up just enough to keep you guessing!

I enjoyed the book and think that others will enjoy it as well. I'm not usually a science fiction fan, but this book would make me one. I look forward to reading more by this author.