Event Group trilogy conclusion

David Golemon's Overlord is the 3rd and final installment of the Event Group trilogy concerning an impending invasion by aliens that was hinted at in the 1st two installments. Overlord is the codename for the plan to defend Earth. The story builds on the first two parts, Event Group and Legacy, but adds many more players to the mix. Final preparations for Overlord are consummated and the plan is somewhat executed. Mixed in are both intelligence and political opponents who lack insider information and harass, rather than hinder the main characters.

The sci-fi elements are limited to wormholes with funky time effects and powerful lasers. While an engaging and exciting tale, with good pacing throughout, the story suffers from a crude, naivete. Basically, the overlord plan was designed and wholly known by just 4 individuals, one of whom is already dead, two who get injured and are out of action, with the last being the little friendly alien who has been holding back. This leads to the continual mantra of "need to know" which seems useless when world ending events are unfolding. 70 billion aliens in spaceships sailing across the galaxy looking for food also seems pretty lame (you can create an energy source big enough to bend space-time, but you can't produce food - really???). The actions of speaker and intelligence chief were also overly simplistic and farcical.

The narration was quite good with an excellent range of voices that was needed for the expanded character set.

6 people found this helpful

I think I lost my watch down south...

Would you try another book from David L. Golemon and/or Richard Poe?

Yes, definitely into the Event Group series. The team of Poe and Golemon is ourstanding.

What did you like best about this story?

Historical references are well researched.

Which character – as performed by Richard Poe – was your favorite?

Oddly, the rogue president and his crowd. An the Russian commander.

Did Overlord inspire you to do anything?

Read more Event Group thrillers.

Any additional comments?

This series, performed by Poe, is one of my personal favourites on Audible. Well researched, with enough drama and such that it is as realistic as this kind of stuff can be. Highly recommended.

6 people found this helpful

Well written, entertaining and narrated well

Even with several instances of SyFy exaggerations (time paradox, flying saucer wormhole generators, &c) the novel was very entertaining and even touched lightly into the military SyFy genre. With that said, the author's obvious insistence to interject partisan politics into the story was grating. The bad guy just happens to be a corrupt southern slightly portly REPUBLICAN Speaker of the House (Newty images abound) while POTUS is portrayed almost as a man of all seasons was a disappointment. One point reduction for being partisan when there was no need to be.

4 people found this helpful

Embarrassed for the writer

Any additional comments?

This has to be one of the worst books that I have listened to/read in decades. How does someone this bad get published? The dialogue is so pathetic and the characters are so one-dimensional that at times I wondered if this was written as a parody.

3 people found this helpful

I Grieve For Matchstick

What did you love best about Overlord?

Even though Overlord was a long listen, the story buzzed along. There are several compelling storylines interwoven with the overall plot. The book is filled with valiant knights in armor and rat faced bastards, plus Matchstick - the hero.

What other book might you compare Overlord to and why?

Nothing really comes to mind. I tend to take each book as an original story with its own little functioning world within itself.

Have you listened to any of Richard Poe’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

First time listener. He did a top notch job. Kept the story moving. I will look for his other narrations.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

As much as I have extreme reactions to anything these days - I have slowly, yet inexorably slouched into a rather tiresome jaded state of being over the last 22 1/2 years for reasons I shall not go into, and for the fact that you probably don't really care about in the first place.

The ending part of the audiobook when one of the rat faced bastards and his MIB posse finally caught up with a group of the good guys saddened me tremendously. I remember uttering a pained "No!", getting a lump in my throat, and, as I looked down onto the ground slowly shaking my head back and forth.

Any additional comments?

Purchase Overlord! You owe it to the poor sods in Beijing and Mumbai - you will know why by about the 2/3 mark of the audiobook - and above all others, Matchstick.

3 people found this helpful

Good series

More often than not by book three of any series my attention span wanes. The characters and story line stays lively. Would be hard to relate to the characters out reading the first book. It is more memorable than 2 maybe be the characters are developed then.

1 person found this helpful

One of the best I've ever listened to!

Couldn't put it down. Awesome!!! Simply awesome!!! Not sure how else to say it...One of the best books I've ever listened to...says a lot with a library containing over 250 audio books.

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Tobyv

This book forced me to drive slower each day as I wanted more time to listen. I hope the Group continues. Well done David!!!

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End of the Event?

Overlord reads like the summation of multiple underlying plot lines, some that began in "Event", the first book in the series. Reads like either the end of the road or the series taking off on new tangents.
The characters are the normal archetypical jingoistic stereotypes from their respective countries, except the Speaker of the House who's your standard Tea Party'er taken from CSPAN. ;-) In other words - the usual suspects down to the 'men in black'.
As I've said in past reviews of this series, Mr. Goleman is master yarn spinner. He manages to suspend belief just enough that his tall tales can be enjoyed to escape from the mundane travails of everyday life. What more can you ask?
He IS a tad sloppy with getting all the details correct in his books, but he is so consistently sloppy that it's almost a trademark by now. Richard Poe has only gotten better over the life of the series to the point that I'm looking for other books narrated by him.

1 person found this helpful

Another Grandslam!

I love the Event Group. I wish/hope they really exist. The characters are so well written. I can hear them breathe. I take this more personally. It is always a great mix of fact and fiction. Mr. Golemon has written another awesome book. I love his style. All of the previous books blend together into a great series. All I can say is please give it a try. If you liked the X-Files, just imagine an entire underground complex instead of two people.