Strands of Sorrow (4) (Black Tide Rising)

Fantastic finish of a great series. This the 4th and final book of the "Black Tide Rising" series was totally awesome. When Marine Corps Lieutenant Faith Smith gets an M1A1 Abrams tank for her 14th birthday, the writing of this scene was the highlight of the book. I am so totally looking forward to the upcoming anthology of stories about this Zombie, Post-Apocalyptic world. Only sad thing is that this series is now over. I am going to re-read the entire series, for the 3rd time, to just, revel in the writing and being involved with these exceedingly well-written characters.

Good book and series, but not sure it has a lot of re-read potential for me. I think what it needed was a much more aggressive editor - in the book and throughout the series there are characters introduced in detail, never to be seen again. Ending was thematically a rehash of Last Centurion, felt rushed and outside of the context of the rest of the series.

I can't complain too much about Ringo's style of writing. After all, I keep buying his books. That said, I came close to setting this book down on a number of occasions due to the "out of control fascination" with Faith. I'm used to his central characters being completely over the top, but let's not forget the fact that SHE DOESN'T TURN 14 UNTIL THIS NOVEL!! The whole "sage wisdom" she dispenses on one page is supposed to balance out her "youthful ignorance" on the following page. (Or at least that's what I'm guessing.) So, readers are left guessing whether the next "Faith-ism" is going to be "Bimbo Faith" or "Delta Force Faith". And did Mr Ringo issue her actual testicles to scratch, or is that just to be inferred. Having served in the US Army, I know that while soldiers with more than a year or two of actual time in service might be "amused" at a 13 year old's antics for a brief (oh, so brief) period, they're not going to KOW-TOW to a kid. No matter HOW much of a caricature the author writes her to be. I'll take a moment to add that I also have first hand experience with attempting to raise a teenage daughter who thinks she's 13 going on 23, and the " I'm an expert " attitude would have gotten old not long after it began. I'll also add that during my time in service, I also had the displeasure of serving with, or under "Barbie Doll Officers". Again, the "Show Me Respect" attitude one minute is irreparably undermined by the "Cut Me Some Slack" request that comes afterwards.

This would have been a better novel (and series of novels) if Ringo had just dialed down the testosterone.

.…but at least the author hints of a forthcoming anthology in his acknowledgements page.
This one wraps up the series by starting on the West Coast with battles there (Ringo introduces the problem of an untended submarine reactor but never gets around to giving us the resolution). The bulk of the story takes place on the East Coast with attacks starting on the mainland, mostly in Florida and Washington DC, I think one interior contact (and vaccine delivery) briefly described.
Sophia has moved up to helicopter pilot, still learning the skills, while Faith…is Faith. Mrs. Smith, again, gets hardly a mention, and makes no appearance! Prince Harry is mentioned twice (but makes no actual appearance- the vaccine is being produced in London and regular submarine trips are being made back & forth).
The action takes awhile to get going but might be even bloodier than ever- a new twist is introduced that has the zombie hordes finally running in fear away from the Marines in a couple of instances. Faith is seriously injured at one point (back to work the next day) and finally has a confrontation with a rescuee over her age and rank, soon resolved.
The war effort in Washington is about to take a serious turn when Faith, Sophia and a couple of friends take it upon themselves to save the day.
"Strands" leaves us hanging about the future but gives some hints (a couple I find implausible- especially one about Mrs. Smith) DC alone will take years to clean out.
The best Ringo/Zombie fiction I've read.

John Ringo never fails to deliver. My only complaint with Mr. Ringo is his demonstrated tendency to deliver 3 or 4 or 5 incredible books in a series, then (apparently) lose interest with that series and start a new series. Each and every Ringo book I have read has been incredible; my only complaint is the lack of completion of his story lines. Hopefully someday he will go back to his older series and add to them. Buy this book!! It is well worth the cost.

Strands of Sorrow (2015) is the fourth SF novel in the Black Tide Rising series, following [[ASIN:1476736952 Islands of Rage and Hope]]. The initial volume in this sequence is [[ASIN:1451639198 Under a Graveyard Sky]].

In the previous volume, Hoag was escorting a load of refugees to a safe warehouse in Camp Delta. Her Gunnery Sergeant was stuck in a mob of zombies. He ordered her to leave his group behind to save her team and the refugees. She reluctantly obeyed his orders.

Hoag took her group to Building Fourteen. Someone opened the main doors and Hoag rammed the Humvee through the infected into the warehouse. The fireteam keeping zombies out of the building dived to either side as the Humvee plowed through the infected. Hoag stood on the brakes and stopped the vehicles just before a pallet of water bottles.

Hoag was still in shock from the loss of her gunny. Hamilton briefed the newcomers on the situation. Later, he gave a private consultation to Hoag.

Meanwhile, Wolf Squadron was working its way toward Gitmo. The Alexandria alerted Division Seven to another sonar contact. Sophia discovered that the target was a military liferaft with two uninfected Marines and their infected Lieutenant onboard.

In this story, Commodore Walker is tasked with the mission of clearing Navy Base San Diego It looks like another failed mission to him. However, North Island looks like the best starting point.

Unfortunately, North Island is covered by zombies. The SN-23 has a spotlight that is powered by the ship reactor and has shined for nine months. It seems ready to continue shining for an indeterminable period. It is attracting every zombies in the San Diego area.

The SN-23 is anchored next to an aircraft carrier. The zombies are coming into the carrier and exiting directly over the submarine. Lyons soon discovers a method of killing zombies. As they rush to see the live humans, some are pushed over the edge of the flight deck of the carrier and fall to their death. However, this method is risky for the humans.

Walker tries the Beast, a large improvisation like a souped up paint gun. It shoots steel bearings and tears into the zombies. Yet there are more zombies than bearings.

Walker sends a team into the SN-23 to turn out the light. This removes the attraction for the zombies. The base is soon cleared of most of the remaining creatures.

This tale returns the Wolf Squadron from London and distributes metals and other recognitions. Then they start clearing Blount Island. Faith learns what a tank really is, but the ones on the island are not ready to roll. Her platoon decides to present her an M-1 for her birthday.

Faith finds the pink-colored tank is a great attraction for the zombies. They follow it whenever it crossed the infested zone. Faith blows them away by the thousands. She thinks the Abrams was the best birthday gift ever.

Highly recommended for Ringo fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of beachhead assaults, clearance parties, and military discipline. Read and enjoy!

-Arthur W. Jordin

4th book in the series. Awesome. John Ringo has stated that he was only going to write 4 in this series, but there are enough untied loose ends to cover at least two more books.
In all seriousness he had me laughing out loud on one page, and two pages later tears were running down my cheeks. John Ringo is one hell of a writer.

Great ending. Have a few questions about a couple of characters that I would like to know what happened to them. Not a big fan of series due to the long wait between books, but this time waited until they were all out before reading them and it was fun. Enjoyed the fast pace and characters.

Luckily it did not get wet from UPS guy dumping it over the fence into the grass. Everything was much better after I read the first page, what a hoot! Could not put it down.

Fun, cool, interesting, action-packed, and unique take on zombie apocalypse. I'm a big fan of John Ringo's books. He writes in a very comfortable style.. he's a good writer.. but he also knows how to throw in great humor mixed with technical detail and hardcore military concepts. Mix Neal Stephenson, Steve Martin, Tom Clancy, and Richard Marcinco... while drinking Scotch and listening to Crux Shadows. He's at the top of my novel watch list.