This was a very thought provoking dystopian audio. I really enjoyed (if that is the right word) and got very involved in the story.

I would thoroughly recommend this and the narration really suited it.

I was given an advance copy by the publishers and netgalley but the review is entirely my own.

The Killing Rain

A story set in a sad future where science while trying to create an end to the drought have created a killing rain. Only a few are not affected by the rain, those few are called rainwalkers.

Willie, his wife, and his daughter Helen have a good life until the collection. The administration forces of the valley have been collecting people and putting them in labor camps. While escaping the labor camp Willie's wife is killed but he travels on to find his daughter.

Willie must find his daughter before the administration forces her and her classmates to stand in the killing rain so they can find rainwalkers to use for their sinister reasons to fight their warring enemies. He must evade a bounty hunter hot on his trail to take him back to the labor camp.

Who can he trust to help and who is part of the Administration. Can he find Helen in time or will he be captured or worse perish in the killing rain.

This book was fast paced and the sound effects of the rain were awesome. The narrator did a great job. I think the audio books are so much better when read by the author. It was a good book and I enjoyed listening to it.

Thanks to Matt Ritter for both writing it and narrating it (what a great job), for Pacific Street Publishing for publishing it and for NetGalley for making it available for me to read and review.

Rainwalkers
By Matt Ritter

Really looks at the reality of science gone wrong. History tells us that mistakes happen when science is pushed for the betterment of Mankind. This book looks at the devastating results when science is used to solve one problem but is pushed too far. That nature can and will change the out come, and it's not always desirable. This is a dark look not only into science but politics. The fact that we can change our environment doesn't mean we should. It's a post apocalypse story with a strong moral warning that should be heard.

I listened to this audiobook courtesy of NetGalley and Pacific Street Publishing.
It was narrated by the author Matt Ritter who did a great job, very journalistic style narrating and no dramatics!

The story is set in the near future and is a stark reminder of how our climate could go.
We meet Willie Taft who has to surmount all types of difficulties and nasty people to rejoin his young daughter Helen.
I loved this audiobook, I loved the heavy rainfall clips between each chapter.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys dystopian books.

This was a really cool book - part environmental disaster, part adventure, part science fiction! The violence was kept to a minimum and the character development was wonderful. Willie’s hunt for his daughter Helen in the backdrop of dystopian Salinas with toxic rain was certainly an adventure.

One reason I enjoyed this story is how conceivable it is. Rainwalkers is an all too possible and slightly futuristic novel. Scientists sought to solve the devastating drought in a once robust land with genetically engineered rain clouds. Despite their best intentions, this man-made rain turned out to be lethal to humans. Rumor is, there are some people who are not affected by the toxic rain... these select people are known as rainwalkers. The book focuses on Willie Taft, who is ex-military and will stop at nothing to be reunited with his daughter after being separated by the authoritarian Administration.
The good intentions gone wrong, parents stopping at nothing to save their child, and the powerful governing body having no qualms of sacrificing few for "the greater good", it is easy to see why this story feels conceivable -especially now in 2021. The book did take a while to make me feel invested but it is made up for it as the story continued. This is the kind of story that stays with you and I am very glad that I had the privilege to read it.
I physically read as well as listed to the audio version of this book. Matt Ritter himself narrated the audio and was the perfect voice for Taft. I look forward to reading another novel by Ritter.

Very different from my usual reading but soon realised I was enthralled and had to keep going to find out how this story would unravel and I’m so glad I did.