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Alpha cover art

Alpha

Written by: Jez Cajiao
Narrated by: Jessica Threet,Christopher Boucher
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Publisher's Summary

When you steal a hundred grand from some very bad people, the best way to survive is to stay small and quiet...

Possibly it's not to save a pair of drowning girls, not go 'viral' on social media and certainly not to let the local police take your passport, trapping you on a small 'party' island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

But Steve isn't the average guy, he's ex-military, ex-enforcer and ex-human. He's a one man nanite fuelled nightmare for those that cross the line, and he's decided that its time to clean up his act. He's going to make up for the things he's done, and save 'the little guys'.

It's a nice fantasy, but even he has to admit, it's really just a justification, because he's a very bad man, with horrifying abilities, and he's only just learning what he's capable of. He needs a reason to not go to the dark, and if that's hunting down the creatures of the night and beating them to death with their own femurs: well, he's just the man for the job.

Stolen money. Greek Islands. Werewolves and Enforcers...what could possibly go wrong?

©2022 R J Cajiao (P)2022 Podium Audio

What listeners say about Alpha

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that's a nope

The author tried too hard to make the MC sound tough and edgy, comes off like a mega-chad douche instead. The narrator tries to carry the story, but can't quite pull it off. it's a nope for me, wonder if I can get a refund

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Not for me.

The narrators tried their best to bring this douchey edgelord to life, but sadly they didn't have much to work with. Tries to be edgy but just comes off as 80's cheese action movie. And not the good kind.

Narrators are the only good part about the book. I would recommend them. Not the book though.

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Deus-Ex meets Fantasy

Fantastic narration as always.
This has litrpg elements surrounding a similar vibe to Deus-Ex. Main character is really strong but authour kept good tension throughout the novel.

Definitely getting the second novel.

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the narrators know what's up

the beginning of the book is very intense. probably the best narration i have ever heard.

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Allmost lost me...

Cheesy 80s action star on the run from past life becomes super cyborg wolverine and decides to fight evil.Hes a manly man. How manly? Motorcycles, leather jacket, and sun glasses manly.Hes too cool for "tech" and only uses it for porn or ordering food. Despite being ex military and knowing several languages he shows a suprising lack of patience and uses 1 liners so corny i let out several grunts of pain in public while listening to them. 2 Things saved this book from a 2-3 star/no review at all.

1.The ending of this book was so bat shit crazy regarless of how unimpressed i was with 3/4 of the book i have to see the rest. So congrats author ill get the next one. You got me.

2.The voice acting was PHENOMENAL. Both narrators did a excellent job.It reached the point where I think all litrpgs should use this as the baseline, it makes the stat reading much more bearable and the romace much more exciting.

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Actually Really Good

The Narration and story were both pretty good. It was cool to see a litrpg that takes place in our modern world. The romance was great; very emotional and evocative (be aware, there is some explicit content). Also, despite being an OP badass in the "regular world", he still faces threats far above him so it's not boring. Finally, the depiction of the powers was simply awesome. Just... badass. Very cool. 12/10.

The two cons are that: 1, the litrpg elements are very infrequent and mostly pointless for the story. I actually found it jarring sometimes because most of it was unnecessary. That, and con 2 explained below.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

He gets his powers from alien nanobots. By killing other people and creatures, he takes their nanobots and becomes stronger. They give him "warpoints" and stuff that he spends to make himself more powerful. Cool, that tracks, totally fine. But then every once in a while it describes target HP and other standard rpg facets that are just completely not necessary and even immersion breaking given the style of the story and that we never recieve any kind of damage notification.

Con the second: he's the only one who knows their powers come from alien bioweapons tech. Both factions have no idea where and attribute it to either a blessing or curse from God. But he could have saved himself a lot of trouble if he was just like "Actually it's aliens. See, here's the ship where I got them and here's what the bots tell me." Instead, despite the story establishing he understands the source/reason of their powers, he's constantly like "I dunno, lemme just get tortured for three years instead of just saying that."

Oh, and con 2.5: the Batman description and vibranium power of his armour is just dumb and too cringy. Only happens for few minutes so not a big deal.

I really hope they get into the reason for their existence in future books (made by aliens to presumably fight other aliens) as that would be hella cool.

END SPOILERS

Despite my long description of the cons I found, they are ultimately minor and overall, I actually really loved this book. Can't wait for the next one. Definitely recommend.

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another hit

jez always does an amazing job, the book takes a bit of build up for the story but damn does this get good, also the choice of narrators was on point. 10/10

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  • Wade
  • 2022-07-09

Book was doing well until he get's a girlfriend

Who meets a girl and spills his life story and secrets to her because she keeps asking to know things that she has no right to know...The story was doing really well until the writer decides..."hey you know what would make this story even better??? what if I was to allow the MC to meet up and fall in love with a Karen...yeah and I should have the MC become a love-struck braindead jackass and do all manner of dumb sh*t to ruin the entire book....talking about taking ice cream and adding a big pile of crap hoping it would improve the taste....NO Jez Cajiao that will not make it taste better...DO BETTER MAN

19 people found this helpful

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  • JW
  • 2022-07-13

I don't know why I keep trying.

I don't know why I keep trying with these books. His other series, Underverse and Rise of Mankind, were both very similar. They have interesting premises and I'm intrigued by the concepts they've come up with. Yet the stories are hampered by the most unlikable characters & a struggle to write anything worthwhile outside of the fight scenes. I could handle all of the quality moments being action focused if there was ever a reason to give a s*** what happens to the MC.

If you're like me and aren't sure after his previous works, nothing has changed. If you loved his previous stories then you're in for a treat.

I will give bonus points for the way his characters discuss anything to do with sex. It's what I imagine a 13 year old boy who was just exposed to the internet thinks people talk like. Adds to the humor quite a bit but I'm not certain it's supposed to.

14 people found this helpful

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  • Bubba
  • 2022-07-17

F***in' Awesome

As a huge fan of Jez's work, this came out of left field for me as I wasn't aware he had another new series. His 'UnderVerse' series has been my favorite so far, but somehow this new 'Arise' series has taken the cake. It combines the best aspects of 'UnderVerse' and 'Rise of Mankind', massively trims the typical MC self-loathing, and best of all it shines as a LitRPG without the 5-minute character sheet recaps we hate so much.

Cheers to Jez for having both a male and female narrator. I realize it raises the production costs, but it makes books so much better. It messes with one's psyche after hundreds of books with men voicing beautiful women; I'm probably preconditioned to finding the voice of female long-term smokers more attractive by this point (thanks to audiobooks).

The female narrator is top notch; her range of accents/personalities alone are impressive, yet somehow she manages to layer life-like speech idiosyncrasies on top of that. It improves the performance from the level of a theatre performance, to the dialogue found in great movies / candid documentaries. It's her fault now though that I'm in love with a fictional Danish girl; she has raised the bar too high.
The male narration is also solid. For several chapters I didn't realize the MC is British, as the narrator uses an American accent, but in the end I'd rather have great narration over a poor accent. Risky, but smart choice in the end IMO.

3 people found this helpful

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  • Kindle Customer
  • 2022-07-09

A truly phenomenal performance!

I seriously had trouble putting this down. Every step in the story is a struggle for a the MC to find his humanity (or whatever is left of it). And the performances by Mr. Boucher and Ms. Threet are some of the most phenomenal I have ever heard.

Its so hard to find a narrator that puts so much feeling into their work, and Mr. Boucher's performance reflects a truly passionate love for the art of narration and voice acting.

For the love of God and All That is Holy, this is a must read.

3 people found this helpful

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  • Anonymous User
  • 2022-07-07

Great listen

I found this book to be fun and engaging. Will definitely be getting the next installment.

3 people found this helpful

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 2022-07-06

love it

It a good story and great narration. Hopefully the second audio book is coming soon.

3 people found this helpful

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  • IllusiveLemon
  • 2022-09-30

This guy is so cool...

The MC is cool. The coolest guy you've ever met. No, I take that back. He's cooler than cool. Here he is, just chillin in the water when all of a sudden... BAM! Hot chick and her friend randomly approaches him, and proceeds to immediately make out with him. Seriously? Do women exist to prop up the MC's vanity?

What does the MC do when previously mentioned women are drowning? Well, he saves them of course! But wait! He's got to save them in the most outlandish and vanity driven way.

"The camera on the phone in the dad’s hand panned around, tracking me, my bike’s engine filling the air as I raced past, sunglasses on, designer stubble and short hair, the bike and my hard-earned muscles making me look like a f***ing god among lesser men as I shot the camera a grin before standing up on the seat and driving it straight off the edge of the cliff and out over the sea."

Really? It was at this point where I just couldn't continue. Sure, I finished the chapter, but that was it. And I'm disappointed too. The prologue and the whole premise of the book sound interesting! And the voice acting is phenomenal from what little I've listened to. I'm just sorry that they had to narrate this misogynistic, ego driven character.

2 people found this helpful

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  • Hrasco
  • 2022-07-15

was great until the last 2 hours

had amazing direction and possibility of more content. except I felt the story was rush towards the end. tons of development between MC and love interest and then rushed the ending. that is why I gave it 3 stars. overall great book.

2 people found this helpful

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  • Bobsquatch
  • 2022-07-09

Not for children but a great book!

The language is appropriate for the MC and it just helps to draw you in to the story. What can I say I tried to go to sleep but just had to finish. For me it was that good. Kinda litrpg but a progression based on collected blank blank. I don't want to spoil it. I truly enjoy these twists on litrpg. There are so many that just want a solo leveling or just grind and grind. This has a story with emotions that range all over the place but it makes sense. I just hope the author is able to keep up a good pace without compromising the story. The narration was great and please don't change that at all. Buy it with a credit or just pay for it. You won't regret it!

1 person found this helpful

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  • Schalock
  • 2022-07-08

I need more more and more.

I need my fixed man I'm good for it I swear just a little bit.

1 person found this helpful