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meme_too2's review against another edition
2.0
The story set-up was very predictable and a little boring. I found it interesting that the protagonist was embarrassed to let anyone know he was a prepper. But then, when it came time to use his skills, his prepping somehow made him into a one-man SWAT team. Too ridiculous, but some fun action.
judithdcollins's review against another edition
5.0
Top 50 Books of 2015 "Best Audiobook (tie), Best Father/Son Action Adventure Suspense Thriller."
No one can pull out all the stops like Daniel Palmer, one of my top all-time favorite suspense authors, having read all his books, while anxiously awaiting his next adrenaline rush thriller.
In Palmer's upcoming latest, CONSTANT FEAR, he turns up the complexity, suspense, and intensity, with father and son team, fighting against a terrifying enemy.
In Winston, Massachusetts, Berkshire County, a quintessential New England town with picturesque views, a small community with only twelve thousand residents, Jake Dent and his teenage son, Andy are hiding out, trying to stay alive in a double-wide trailer which they now call home.
Everything they need to survive is stored and Jake’s ultimate goal is to protect his son, Andy, a diabetic, and geek at Pepperell Academy. While Andy is a computer code maestro, Jake’s knowledge is limited; however, he is a pro when it comes to survival techniques.
Andy is part of a computer club (The Shire)—six members, that redistributes money from the obscenely wealthy to the needy. But this time, their hacking targets the wrong people; a vicious drug cartel from Mexico, wanting revenge and their money, at the tune of $200 million. However, they do not know the whereabouts of the money.
Nearly all the buildings of Pepperell Academy are connected by a series of tunnels, dating back a century. As a grounds manager and custodian, Jake has access to the secret passages—making it a perfect bug-out location (BOL).
As the book opens, father and son are on their way to yet another survival trade show (Self Reliance be Ready Expo held in NY). Andy is tired of living like this. The latest and greatest in survivalist gear, training, and the best prepper paraphernalia. Andy tells his dad he has control issues and with the loss of his career, and his mother--this survival thing is out of control. He wants to stop living their lives in constant fear of the end of the world.
“Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”
When Jake was twenty-two, he had a lucrative contract with a big-league ball club, a stop away from pitching in the majors, married to his high school sweetheart, and a father to a three-year-old boy. He crushes his BMW in a drunken accident after a teammate’s bachelor party; shattered his elbow-- his career over; sank into depression, his son Andy became sick, and his wife, Lauren left. She vanished, and they were divorced. Eventually, his brother got him a job at Pepperell Academy as custodian.
Thereafter he placed all his energies into survival. With the writings of Thomas Wiggins, the founder of a popular survivalist blog, gave him inspiration. He has devoted his life to becoming an expert survivalist. From weapons to physical training, food, storage, DIY fuel, gardening, livestock, medical supplies, and first aid. There was always a constant fear of the future and he wanted to be prepared. Jake knew when the day arrived, Pepperell Academy surrounded by undeveloped woodland and farms would be the perfect place for The Day with the home a few miles from campus.
Lance, his brother asked he keep his beliefs private. Nobody needed to know the school custodian was a dedicated survivalist, a doomsday prepper. Jake would keep the underground passageways and chambers a secret. Andy does not want to live life preparing for something which may never happen in his lifetime; however, his dad’s training may not be in vain, after all.
Now, Andy and his friends are held hostage, a massive chemical spill, an evacuation, murder. These guys want their two hundred million dollars. Andy will die without his meds. What had they done? It was supposed to be thrills mixed with a message. The Shire never meant to hurt anybody. It was a statement about society, about income inequality. Yes, they all enjoyed the rush of hacking—it was addicting for sure.
Jake is in a race against time to get to Andy, his son to save him. The campus had thirty buildings – who were these people, terrorists, with bombs? With six kids taken hostage and four armed men dead and Jake may be the key to unlocking the entry.
Will Jake, and Ellie, Jake’s friend and love interest, a cop with her trained dog, Kibo reach Andy and his friends in time before more people are killed? Jake swore when this was over, he would tell her of his fears. With comparisons of baseball and tunnels--the SWAT team, snipers, cops and FBI are unsure if Jake is a fugitive killer and the target of an unprecedented manhunt. And someone else’s greed may be connected for an intense and dramatic ending.
Highly recommend for those thriller seekers enjoying a fast-paced roller coaster ride. A perfect gift for father's day!
My Reviews
2011-Delirious
2012-Helpless
2013-Stolen
2014-Desperate
2015-Trauma
From 2011 to 2015 Palmer is in a class of his own, and find myself constantly trying to compare other authors to him; however, "not going to happen"; no one can compare, or live up to his brilliantly crafted complex plots.
"Death doesn’t schedule an appointment. It may show up at any hour, on any day, uninvited, unwelcomed.”
It is a given to followup with the audiobook, as hoping for Peter Berkrot, as Palmer and Berkrot are perfectly matched, making for an unstoppable dynamic duo.
A special thank you to Kensington and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
#JDCMustReadBooks
No one can pull out all the stops like Daniel Palmer, one of my top all-time favorite suspense authors, having read all his books, while anxiously awaiting his next adrenaline rush thriller.
In Palmer's upcoming latest, CONSTANT FEAR, he turns up the complexity, suspense, and intensity, with father and son team, fighting against a terrifying enemy.
In Winston, Massachusetts, Berkshire County, a quintessential New England town with picturesque views, a small community with only twelve thousand residents, Jake Dent and his teenage son, Andy are hiding out, trying to stay alive in a double-wide trailer which they now call home.
Everything they need to survive is stored and Jake’s ultimate goal is to protect his son, Andy, a diabetic, and geek at Pepperell Academy. While Andy is a computer code maestro, Jake’s knowledge is limited; however, he is a pro when it comes to survival techniques.
Andy is part of a computer club (The Shire)—six members, that redistributes money from the obscenely wealthy to the needy. But this time, their hacking targets the wrong people; a vicious drug cartel from Mexico, wanting revenge and their money, at the tune of $200 million. However, they do not know the whereabouts of the money.
Nearly all the buildings of Pepperell Academy are connected by a series of tunnels, dating back a century. As a grounds manager and custodian, Jake has access to the secret passages—making it a perfect bug-out location (BOL).
As the book opens, father and son are on their way to yet another survival trade show (Self Reliance be Ready Expo held in NY). Andy is tired of living like this. The latest and greatest in survivalist gear, training, and the best prepper paraphernalia. Andy tells his dad he has control issues and with the loss of his career, and his mother--this survival thing is out of control. He wants to stop living their lives in constant fear of the end of the world.
“Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”
When Jake was twenty-two, he had a lucrative contract with a big-league ball club, a stop away from pitching in the majors, married to his high school sweetheart, and a father to a three-year-old boy. He crushes his BMW in a drunken accident after a teammate’s bachelor party; shattered his elbow-- his career over; sank into depression, his son Andy became sick, and his wife, Lauren left. She vanished, and they were divorced. Eventually, his brother got him a job at Pepperell Academy as custodian.
Thereafter he placed all his energies into survival. With the writings of Thomas Wiggins, the founder of a popular survivalist blog, gave him inspiration. He has devoted his life to becoming an expert survivalist. From weapons to physical training, food, storage, DIY fuel, gardening, livestock, medical supplies, and first aid. There was always a constant fear of the future and he wanted to be prepared. Jake knew when the day arrived, Pepperell Academy surrounded by undeveloped woodland and farms would be the perfect place for The Day with the home a few miles from campus.
Lance, his brother asked he keep his beliefs private. Nobody needed to know the school custodian was a dedicated survivalist, a doomsday prepper. Jake would keep the underground passageways and chambers a secret. Andy does not want to live life preparing for something which may never happen in his lifetime; however, his dad’s training may not be in vain, after all.
Now, Andy and his friends are held hostage, a massive chemical spill, an evacuation, murder. These guys want their two hundred million dollars. Andy will die without his meds. What had they done? It was supposed to be thrills mixed with a message. The Shire never meant to hurt anybody. It was a statement about society, about income inequality. Yes, they all enjoyed the rush of hacking—it was addicting for sure.
Jake is in a race against time to get to Andy, his son to save him. The campus had thirty buildings – who were these people, terrorists, with bombs? With six kids taken hostage and four armed men dead and Jake may be the key to unlocking the entry.
Will Jake, and Ellie, Jake’s friend and love interest, a cop with her trained dog, Kibo reach Andy and his friends in time before more people are killed? Jake swore when this was over, he would tell her of his fears. With comparisons of baseball and tunnels--the SWAT team, snipers, cops and FBI are unsure if Jake is a fugitive killer and the target of an unprecedented manhunt. And someone else’s greed may be connected for an intense and dramatic ending.
Highly recommend for those thriller seekers enjoying a fast-paced roller coaster ride. A perfect gift for father's day!
My Reviews
2011-Delirious
2012-Helpless
2013-Stolen
2014-Desperate
2015-Trauma
From 2011 to 2015 Palmer is in a class of his own, and find myself constantly trying to compare other authors to him; however, "not going to happen"; no one can compare, or live up to his brilliantly crafted complex plots.
"Death doesn’t schedule an appointment. It may show up at any hour, on any day, uninvited, unwelcomed.”
It is a given to followup with the audiobook, as hoping for Peter Berkrot, as Palmer and Berkrot are perfectly matched, making for an unstoppable dynamic duo.
A special thank you to Kensington and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
#JDCMustReadBooks
jenostrum's review against another edition
1.0
This one sounded so promising, and maybe I would have loved it, had I actually been able to finish it. However, the reason that the father became a Prepper is totally implausible, and it's something I couldn't overlook. "Oh no, my wife left me, that means the worst case scenario can happen, I'd better start prepping for disaster!" Ugh, shut up!
scrapanda's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
3.75
emmarj's review against another edition
2.0
I received a copy of Constant Fear by Daniel Palmer in exchange for my honest review.
Jake Dent is a dooms day prepper in the closet. His son, Andy, is a hacker Robin Hood. What happens when Andy steals from the wrong people?
An interesting premise with an execution that did not do it justice.
First, the entire attitude that being a prepper is some awful, dirty secret that Jake has to hide didn't really jive with me. I'm a hippie and I have hippie friends - perhaps that's why I don't find the notion of being a prepper that odd.
Next, the plot device of the wayward ex wife seemed stilted and too convenient.
Constant Fear had several too-long passages of drawn out descriptions of Jake's gun collection or his myriad survival gear. A personal preference, but I just don't care. I'm sure if I was a gun or survival fanatic these pages would have been candy.
There was a part of the book where one of the main characters is going to check out a lead during a hostage situation. She believes she has approximately 40 minutes to solve the mystery of who is holding kids hostage and why before all of them are killed. So she stops at her house to pick up a dog and we're treated to a long description of an irrelevant trick the dog performs. A trick that was previously described toward the beginning of the novel. Uggghhh. This ends up being a convenient out for this character later but it was just so awkward and out of place that it distracted me from what was supposed to be a suspenseful few chapters.
Overall, Constant Fear gets two stars because the first half of the book lacked the cheesiness of the second half but this probably isn't something I'd recommend to anyone I know.
Jake Dent is a dooms day prepper in the closet. His son, Andy, is a hacker Robin Hood. What happens when Andy steals from the wrong people?
An interesting premise with an execution that did not do it justice.
First, the entire attitude that being a prepper is some awful, dirty secret that Jake has to hide didn't really jive with me. I'm a hippie and I have hippie friends - perhaps that's why I don't find the notion of being a prepper that odd.
Next, the plot device of the wayward ex wife seemed stilted and too convenient.
Constant Fear had several too-long passages of drawn out descriptions of Jake's gun collection or his myriad survival gear. A personal preference, but I just don't care. I'm sure if I was a gun or survival fanatic these pages would have been candy.
There was a part of the book where one of the main characters is going to check out a lead during a hostage situation. She believes she has approximately 40 minutes to solve the mystery of who is holding kids hostage and why before all of them are killed. So she stops at her house to pick up a dog and we're treated to a long description of an irrelevant trick the dog performs. A trick that was previously described toward the beginning of the novel. Uggghhh. This ends up being a convenient out for this character later but it was just so awkward and out of place that it distracted me from what was supposed to be a suspenseful few chapters.
Overall, Constant Fear gets two stars because the first half of the book lacked the cheesiness of the second half but this probably isn't something I'd recommend to anyone I know.
a_wondrous_bookshelf's review against another edition
3.0
Jake Dent lives with his diabetic teenage son Andy in the town of Winston, MA. Andy is a computer geek and part of the Shire--a group of hacker kids who steal money from rich people's bank accounts to give to charity. It's all nice and fun until the kids hack a drug cartel's bank account and steal millions of dollars. When the drug dealers stage a chemical spill at the school and take the children hostage; Jake an ex-baseball player turned Rambo, goes on a race against time to save his son and the rest of the kids.
I really enjoyed Daniel Palmer's new thriller Constant Fear. I wouldn't call it a page-turner, but it certainly kept me interested. The story is really well-written and the book has a great premise. The characters were well developed, but I found some of the chapters with descriptions of the guns and ammo to be a little too long and boring. Overall, I definitely recommend this thriller.
I'd like to thank NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This book is scheduled to be published on May 26, 2015.
I really enjoyed Daniel Palmer's new thriller Constant Fear. I wouldn't call it a page-turner, but it certainly kept me interested. The story is really well-written and the book has a great premise. The characters were well developed, but I found some of the chapters with descriptions of the guns and ammo to be a little too long and boring. Overall, I definitely recommend this thriller.
I'd like to thank NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This book is scheduled to be published on May 26, 2015.
biblioventurer's review against another edition
3.0
It was a good book with relatable characters. That being said, it was a bit violent for me (one passage made me nauseous) and I don't typically enjoy books with drug cartels and such detailed and technical descriptions of weaponry. I liked it but probably would not read another by this author.
nickieandremus's review
5.0
The beginning of the book was slow, possibly because the two topics were bitcoins and survivalist lifestyle, neither of which holds an interest for me. Once I got past the initial few chapters though, the book picked up speed and became hard to put down. Very suspenseful.
blueberry's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Murder, Gun violence, Gore, and Confinement