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  • Emergence

  • Dave Hooper, Book 1
  • By: John Birmingham
  • Narrated by: Sean Mangan
  • Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (165 ratings)

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Emergence cover art

Emergence

By: John Birmingham
Narrated by: Sean Mangan
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Publisher's Summary

"Monsters" said Vince Martinelli. "There are monsters on the rig, Dave."

Dave Hooper has the hangover from hell, a demonic ex-wife and the claws of the tax office sinking into him. So the last thing he needs is an explosion at the off-shore oil rig where he works.

But this is no ordinary industrial accident, and despite the news reports, Dave knows that terrorists aren't to blame for the disaster. He knows because he has killed one of the things responsible.

When he wakes up in a hospital bed guarded by Navy SEALs, he realises he hasn't been on a bad acid trip. It all really happened. Yet his shock is cut short by a startling self-discovery; his contact with the creature has transformed the overweight, balding safety manager into something else entirely. A goddamned superhero. Then he learns the attack on the rig is only the first.

©2015 John Birmingham (P)2015 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Critic Reviews

"[Birmingham displays] an exuberance and virtuosity that is positively 'Clancyesque'." ( Time)

What listeners say about Emergence

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Jan
  • 09-09-2015

Perfect pulp fiction

Just the right mix of evil dead 2 and Rambo. Cool pop reference, cheesy one liners and all round goodness

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very enjoyable

First let me start off with my only 2 negatives with this book. 1 the long and overly exaggerate parts involving the monsters, their names and the way the see things. 2 Dave not exploring his new powers and using them more effectively. It was a fun book and I recommend it. Just those two things got a little annoying for me personally at times in the book. the narration was great, I'm used to his style from the Steve Alten Meg book series.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome

Great story and you cant help just liking Dave...only downside was Sean Mangans narration as a huge fan of his reading i was i bit disappointed in the production compared to his reading on Mathew Riley books as his gasps for breath and breathing in between lines became a bit off putting but dont let that stop you from enjoying a great book..

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars
  • TB
  • 23-07-2020

An expert world builder Birmingham is not

Edit: I came back and dropped the rating due to the second book being a 12 hour slow motion car crash.

I really enjoyed the End of Days series but this dip into giant fantasy world-building is just not grabbing me, I get that the requirement of long drawn out exposition helps sell the realism but it just feels like large chunks of the book drag on and on and on adding little to no value to the overall narrative, if the rest of the books have any more multi-page explanations about Dave's eating habits I may have to bow out for good.

It's alright if a little meh for large chunks, and has great potential, maybe it ramps up in the later books, god I hope so.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

almost there

struggled to get through. listening to audio with nasal breathing between sentences is just hard work

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

lost plot with male metaphors

Language and male metaphors really over the top and bad. Not funny at all after awhile. Have enjoyed othe series by this author so this is a shame.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

John Birmingham is weak

This story isn’t too bad for what it is. Predictable and obvious but still an ok listen.

But John Birmingham is a weak sellout. Pandering to the lowest American morons with the “climate change is a hoax” and other stupidity that he himself doesn’t believe and knows isn’t true. But he’s selling out because he thinks that’s what his market demands. Totally weak.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

As good as anything else JB has written!

One of Oz’s great st authors has come through again! This book has excitement, drama, thrills, and most of all, just like all of JB’s books, it has heart!
Do yourself a favour, check out at least one of his trilogies! If that doesn’t convince you to read the rest of them, then I suspect their really is no hope for you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have another of JB’s series to re-read, yet Again!!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Entertaining from the get go

Sean magnam brings this book to life.
really liked the back story on the monsters and different view points from which the story is told.


fast paced and exciting

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

just embarrassing

I'm a huge fan of John Birmingham's works. His Speculative Fiction is amazing. Loved Zero Day Code as well as Weapons of Choice.
But this.... I refuse to accept its from the same author. the characters are uni-dimensional stereotypes. the attempts at humour are juvenile. had to give up half way through.

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