Crawling out of the ruins of a nuke-shattered America, a new reality shapes an unpredictable terrain of human resilience and unabated savagery. Born and bred in Deathlands, Ryan Cawdor has seen the pulsing of its dark heart. And he understands more than most that tomorrow is certain to arrive. But to see it means surviving today -- any way he can.
Rumors of an untouched predark ville in the mountains of West Virginia lure traders in search of unimaginable wealth. They're coming from all directions -- the good, the bad, the worst. Ryan and his warrior group join in, although it means an uneasy truce with an old enemy, going back to the days of spilled blood and the legacy of the Trader. But as their journey to a place called Cascade reveals more of Deathlands' darkest secrets, it remains to be seen if this place will become their salvation... or their final resting place.
After the utterly fantastic last two books, the next writer that had the next book coming out had a lot to live up to.
Long timer Nick Polatta returns with a Deathlands that a lot of fans have kinda been waiting for - a return to the war wags.It ain't the past with the legendary Trader, but more of a continuation of the last solid book that Polatta gave us back a few years ago with Devil Riders and Bloodfire.
Trying hard to put the freshness and greatness of the last 4 books, Eden's Twilight pales in comparison, but manages to be an improvement of his last few books. The overall concept of the story is interesting, although there were too many uninteresting characters, both Good and Evil.
But if you're looking for mindless war wag warring, then this one is for you. I wanted the war wags to make a comeback too, but after I read over half the book, I felt it was becoming redundant.
 
First off read the first chapter and see how jak seems to love self heats,when and where in ANY books have self heats been anything but the worst of the worst to eat for ryan n the others? The group seems to love them in this one.then through out the entire book mildred takes the reins as the  expert on weapons n  the new war wag, JB seems to pretty much just stand there n ask mildred questions about ammunition n weapons,WTF?  mildred also chimes in with lil quotes that thru the whole  series was Docs profile,now millie is really really out of character! the entire book was like reading  something totally out of the series,it seemed nick hasnt really had his heart or his mind on this one.to all the deathland followers,this book is by far the worst of the worst and a spit in the face to all the loyal readers out there. i give this book a Zero.
verg good read. had me from start to finish. really liked ending.
OK, I must admit that the book had a great concept. A town untouched since the Nukes fell. Pre dark tech, making of their own weapons etc....throw in Ryan and crew joining on with a trader to find this city and you have the making of a decent story line.
I really liked the description of Cascade going through the first few days/weeks after the world ended. Very well described and pretty much how I see things could happen.
The intro of characters from Ryan's past are always good to keep story lines rolling. I personally had no issues of War Wag One coming back or even of Break neck Pete being introduced.....though I figured out that one of them would die.
NOW- the main problems I had with this book starts around chapter 22 until the end of the book...I seriously got the impression someone else wrote some of these chapters as there didn't seem to be a nice "flow" to the story. Too many mistakes.
-Jak is sent back to their veh but all of a sudden is captured with them and then later on is back at their veh firing a signal;
-CeeGee (Carl Gustav) is NOT a missle launcher....it fires a shell. It is a 2 man operated wpn. Unload and reload the shell type of deal.....anyone running with 2 of them, well, it just doesn't happen.....it is also a 84mm NOT 87mm.....seriously, just google Carl Gustav.
-One second Ryan and crew are driving a Humvee and next it is a Sheriff's van. That explodes when shot...one second he is with his weapons and next firing a 7.62 round into someone ..no mention of what weapon it was;
M-16 are 5.56....NOT 7.62.....again, got the impression 2 people wrote the last few chapters.
Every single M72 (Law) hits on first round....really, does this happen? No, it doesn't..trust me;
Etc, Etc, Etc.......just google the weapons you want to use and they can tell you what they are...or even better, ask someone that uses them......
The main reason that Ryan and the Trader go to Cascade is to get their hands on the new pistol being made in the city.....but there is no mention of any of this being traded....and of course the fight for the city...... I found it too confusing at certain areas of the book to know who had what etc.
I will end this review with a few questions.....Why so many Bio-weapons being introduced? A Kraken? Really? What was it guarding? Hell Hounds at the end an afterthought or was that ending planned? WHY WHY WHY when the chips are down does everyone find a great weapon to save the day....a missile, a LAW, and even a flamethrower.....
Good story line.....lost it at the end.