What, another 5 star rating for a Lee Harden book by renowned author DJ Molles?
YES!!!
This was exactly like all of Mr. Molles' other books for me, where I got it in, and finished it in two sittings. It's a phenomenal, fast-paced book where you get into it and completely lose track of time. In fact, I'd say that's the ONLY issue with these books (and which goes for all of The Remaining series as well). The book comes out, you blow through it, and then you're stuck waiting until the author can finish the next book. All in all, it's a good problem to have, all things considered.
So, onto Primal. Hooooo boy, it's a doozy. Let's get into it.
In this book, we find ourselves some months past the disastrous ending of the last book, where Lee and company got caught in a trap by Cornerstone (the mercenary PMC behind the bad guy President up in Greeley) and nearly everyone was killed. Lee has turned into a hardened, murderous beaten-but-not-broken piece of steel and is on a personal mission to kill everyone involved with that ambush where so many of his men and friends died. He and his friend Abe have become like ghosts, hunting the Nuevas Frontieras (sp) Cartel men and have developed quite the infamy in so doing. They kill a lot of Cartel men, and meet up with some allies who made it out of the carnage of the ambush at the power plant from the last book who help them out along the way. The book culminates in a major spaghetti western-style showdown at the end with the head of the Cartel as well as the head of the mercenary PMC that had ambushed them in the last book, which leaves Lee standing victorious.
What's very interesting about this book is that we see a lot of Lee's internal emotional struggle and turmoil as he does his very best to burn all emotion from himself, and keep any sort of attachment to others from stopping him from doing what he needs to do, namely take revenge on the Cartel and the forces from Greeley (in the form of Cornerstone). The book's main plotline with Lee weaves its way through the book and ends with the bad guys dead, and the setup for the next book in full swing. As a sidenote, Lee and Deuce are reunited in a scene that's actually much more heartbreaking than it might at first seem, because Lee has distanced himself emotionally from everything to the point where he's unable to feel joy at being reunited with his faithful dog. At the end, though, they're together again and we can see Lee beginning to come back to himself, now that the primary goal of revenge has been accomplished and he's now able to turn his energy back to the overarching goals at hand, namely getting the United Eastern States on its feet.
Now then, the secondary plot, namely that of the Primals, is also starting to heat up. In a very "Meanwhile, back at the ranch..." sort of way, we catch up with the defeated remains of the UES who have fallen back to a small safezone after the catastrophic consequences from the fall of the Ft. Bragg safezone at the hands of the Lincolnists. Several thousand people all crammed into one small safezone, but not to worry because Angela (the President), Carl, and the Marine Commander (can't recall his name immediately) have been sending out armed teams of young soldiers to start clearing the way back to Ft. Bragg. They hit a snag in Augusta, GA when one of the squads is ambushed as a result of a highway being blockaded by cars. This is entirely new behavior, and so a couple more fireteams are sent to investigate, resulting in them being ambushed as well, and the members of one team dragged away by Primals. Fast forward a bit, and the squads are sent back in force and they find the leader of the kidnapped fireteam who's badly hurt. They get him back to base, where he recovers enough to share vital information: there's a new threat, introduced in the form of a new sort of Primal. These are female Primals which look almost human, and are much smarter than the low animal cunning previously seen. To make matters worse, the Primals have begun a breeding eugenics-style program, where they are taking their strongest Pack leaders, and mating them with these smart female Primals. It's revealed that the female "brain" Primals are now capable of utilizing basic tactics (hence having learned to use cars to block the highway in order to funnel the fireteams into an ambush) and are going to get smarter. It was revealed in the last book that Primals have incredibly quick gestation periods, where they are born and grow to maturity within a few short years, so that they are able to give birth to more, thus increasing their numbers exponentially. Clearly, this is a Big Problem. Our heroes discover that Augusta is essentially a giant breeding ground after the fireteams are swarmed by thousands of Primals, narrowly escaping back to the safezone to plan their next move. The good news is that the book ends with Lee coming back to himself, and a new major fuel source has been secured so I expect the next book will probably focus more on this coming fight against a quickly growing Primal threat.
And they ARE a threat. Previously, they were a mindless hoard who could be shot down like rabid dogs, and escaped from with a pickup truck. These new evolved Primals are larger and much stronger than a normal Human, and now with this new development that they are getting smarter, the threat level is high. Can't wait to see where it goes!!
Lastly, this book is another display of DJ Molles' mastery of the gun-fight action scene. Mag changes, CQB entry tactics, snipers saving the day, it never gets stale. Yes, that last one is a bit of a trope, the old "Hero is about to be executed by Chief Bad Guy, when suddenly his head explodes from a round fired from a quarter mile away, allowing the hero to free himself and fight back in the sudden confusion" routine, but it still feels fresh because it was so unexpected in that moment. In fact, I think that's what really continues to make these books feel so engaging. Lee could die at any moment. HE HASN'T, obviously, but I genuinely feel like there are always these moments where you absolutely do not know whether or not Lee will finally meet his match. That's the best part about these books, Lee is beaten, shot, stabbed, burned, bruised, battered, and still gets up, still goes on. He's not an invincible shining superhero. He's been running on something like 60-70% capacity for the last two books. Constantly tired, beaten down, not enough food, not enough water. But he gets up, he moves forward, because if he doesn't, his friends will die and the world will end. It's that simple for him. It's tremendous. He goes to that dark place in his soul where many of us will never go, to steel himself to do things that are absolutely inhumane. Just engaging, outstanding writing.
In closing, DJ Molles has once again crushed it with this book, and has left us in a place where we're ready to move forward. Lee has accomplished his immediate goals, and now has new ones on the horizon. The Primals are moving back to the fore as an immediate threat, but Lee will also have to deal with the danger that the US Government in Greeley still poses. They will have been badly hurt by the loss of the Cartel and the oil pipeline, and Cornerstone, but don't count them out. There's a lot left to do before Lee can lay down his head (and his rifle) and sleep.
I can't wait to read the next book, only a year away!!!
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From the Publisher
Post-apocalyptic military survival thrillers with a strong focus on military and firearms tactics.
*White numbers reference chronological reading order*
Where to Start?
Option 1: The Valley: A Lee Harden/Remaining Universe Novel
Option 2: Harden, Lee Harden Series Book 1
Option 3: The Remaining: The Remaining Series, Book 1
About the author
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2019
- Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2023
- Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2019
Top reviews from other countries
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- Juliet31Reviewed in Australia on October 31, 2019
One of the best series from one of the best writers I know
