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    Directive 51
    Directive 51
    Directive 51
    Audiobook21 hours

    Directive 51

    Written by John Barnes

    Narrated by Susan Ericksen

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    View our feature on John Barnes's Directive 51. The first book in a new post-apocalyptic trilogy from "a master of the genre"

    Heather O'Grainne is the Assistant Secretary in the Office of Future Threat Assessment, investigating rumors surrounding something called "Daybreak." The group is diverse and radical, and its members have only one thing in common-their hatred for the "Big System" and their desire to take it down.

    Now, seemingly random events simultaneously occurring around the world are in fact connected as part of Daybreak's plan to destroy modern civilization-a plan that will eliminate America's top government personnel, leaving the nation no choice but to implement its emergency contingency program...Directive 51.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateApr 6, 2010
    ISBN9781441858184
    Directive 51
    Author

    John Barnes

    John Barnes (b. 1957) is the author of more than thirty novels and numerous short stories. His most popular novels include the national bestseller Encounter with Tiber (co-written with Buzz Aldrin), Mother of Storms (finalist for both the Hugo and Nebula awards), Tales of the Madman Underground (winner of the Michael L. Printz Award), and One for the Morning Glory, among others. His most recent novel is The Last President (2013).

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    Reviews for Directive 51

    3.5/5

    105 ratings9 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book very much. It was a page turner. Particularly impressive is the author's knowledge of the United States. He provides specific geographic details about the many places that feature in this pre- and post-apocalyptic story.
    • 3/5
      You know, I really liked how this book started off. I was really itching for a good apocalypse -- let's burn this whole thing down! And we got into the book, and it was good. It all burned. Good riddance to civilization.

      And then we got into constitutional politics. Honestly, truly, I love politics, and I think the political bodies that the country would break up into if our communications and transportation broke down would be interesting. I'm just..not all that interested in following it.

      Read it for the first half. If you're into it, continue it for the second. I don't think I'll be reading further into the series because the majority of the BURN IT DOWN BURN IT ALL DOWN AHAHAHAHHAAH is already over. Darn.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 2/5
      Gave up on it about halfway through. It started off interesting enough, and exciting enough, but then it got bogged down. Couldn't tell where it was going, or if it was even going anywhere at all. No suspense, no mystery, no discernible plot.
    • 3/5
      This book was maddening. Some parts of it were really good. Others dragged on forever. The whole book had the feel of setting up the rest of the series. I will probably give the next one a chance but it won't get much of a chance. This felt like a near miss.
    • 1/5
      I normally like disaster books and speculation, but this was terrible. From a promising start about an unusual (and improbable, but that's not a flaw per se) premise for an world-wrecking scenario, the author piled improbabilities and sudden bolts from the blue until the plot and character reactions went far past my ability to suspend disbelief. The characters were the usual tropes (albeit well done), but the antagonists went from plausible to unbelievable, as did the reactions of the characters faced with the end of the technological world. [Dust] by Pellegrino and [The Rift] by Walter J. Williams handle the subject far better. Not recommended.
    • 5/5
      Not many books are "page-turners". This one is ... and it's hard to put it down. Strong story line. The only fault I find with it is that character development is a little weak. Still, the book is very well written and the story moves right along. I'm now reading the sequel, "Daybreak Zero".
    • 2/5
      This book just doesn't work for me – I started it in April 2011 and put it down after 50 pages. At that time I was finding it difficult to concentrate because of things happening in my life so I did not blame the book and decided I would give it another go at a later date. I picked it up again 2 weeks ago and got to page 260, which is just past the halfway mark, and decided I could not read anymore of it. The main problem? It is as slow as molasses in January. The characters are bland or flat or both. And there are too many of them with too many pages between each visit. I found myself too often trying to remember who this person was. Not good. Oh, and the politics, which seems to be what most of this novel is really about (and not the end of the world as we know it), just trudges. I found myself skimming so much of this book (and I am not a skimmer), looking for any sign that something might be happening, that I soon realized I wasn’t reading it at all, which is the point of reading…isn’t it….to read? So I picked up another book.
    • 5/5
      This is a very intelligent adult novel that is much like the popular young adult novels we're seeing pop up everywhere. It takes place in the near future and follows a group of government officials and president(s)as they try to rebuild America after massive destruction caused by a group called "Daybreak". Daybreak has released nano swarm and biotes across the country (and the world) that has destroyed everything that makes modern civilization. This novel is fast paced, exciting and well written, the action starts on page one and continues to the last page. I enjoyed it and I hope you will to (especially those of us who are adults and enjoy the young adult novels that are cropping up since the success of Harry Potter and Katness).
    • 4/5
      Directive 51 (A Novel of Daybreak)John BarnesAce (2011), Edition: Reprint, Paperback, 512 pagesUnnaturally deadly things, followed by fire, flood, famine... Industrial sabotage/ecoterrorism/'kill the Big System' is a really scary premise. The collapse of virtually all things technological drops the world back to the near-Dark Ages. Trying to maintain a Constitutional Government is what Directive 51 (a real thing) is about. No small thing in the absence of nationwide communication, a small group of people work to bring things back together from the brink of a second Civil War. Civilization itself is at stake.