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Last Post 10/27/2013 8:58 AM by  silentalbino
Deathlands 96 - Downrigger Drift
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Ron Miles
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7/1/2010 8:26 AM

    This is the official thread for comments on Deathlands #96 - Downrigger Drift

    The bibliography page is located HERE

    You can submit your own review HERE

    Be warned, this thread may contain spoilers for the book.

    "Sadly then I knew the answer. All her life she was a dancer, but no one ever played the song she knew." - The Residents
    )3az )3aziah
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    10/12/2010 2:22 PM
    Hmmm....

    Whats going on this side of the Pond? In my mail box today from Amazon UK

    Hello,

    We regret to inform you that we have been unable to obtain the following item:

    James Axler "Downrigger Drift (Deathlands)"

    Our supplier has informed us that this item is no longer available. This item has now been cancelled from your order #203 etc. and we can confirm that you have not been charged for it.

    We apologise for the length of time it has taken us to reach this conclusion. Until recently, we had still hoped to obtain this item for you.

    You may visit the product detail page(s) above to see if these item(s) are available from other sellers.
    ===============================
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    thedupleman
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    11/4/2010 5:04 PM
    yep i got the same
    The other british one
    )3az )3aziah
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    11/6/2010 1:17 PM
    Its bollocks if you ask me.

    I placed an order with Amazon.com for a future DL book and got charged LESS for P+P none priority airmail than I was for 2nd class post with amazon.uk !!! OK the book will take 10-14 days (3-5 UK) to get to me but I think I can wait.
    ===============================
    Billy Fish: He wants to know if we are gods.
    Peachy Carnehan: Not gods - Englishmen. The next best thing.

    Please check out my FLICKR photos
    The Phantom
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    12/12/2010 6:52 PM
    Does anyone know who the author of this book is?
    Grantbo
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    1/20/2011 12:41 AM

    I found this book to be very interesting.

    I thought it was well written. It had a pretty good storyline. The adventures were exciting and had lots of cool baddies.  The fight scenes were mostly realistic (with lots of luck thrown in).

    I also found it to be a bit...er...forced.  I got the impression that this author didn't necessarily have a complete understanding of the series, even though he/she brought up things from previous books many times. It almost seemed like they were looking at a template or series summary to draw inspiration from.

    I say this because of two things that were described that were totally out of character for the series:

    Firstly, there was a description of someone giving Doc a 12 ga shotgun shell for his Lemat. This is just after he was described loading the muzzleloader.  Huh? This didn't make sense and was a silly mistake. 

    Secondly, the cannibals town had issues.  The adventurers would never have given up their guns. And I do mean NEVER. The series has shown time and time again they've been asked to hand them over with Ryan flatly refusing.

    In the same situation they left behind their ride, taking out a spark plug and firing pins. Ya right. The ride uses diesel fuel so would have a glow plug. In addition, they would never have left it unprotected to have it stripped of the trade items and other components. Never.

    It just seemed that the author was being lazy in creating this situation, which was disappointing.  The distruction of the town however was a nice touch.

    Finally, let me wonder a bit about damage.  Sure the main characters are tough, battle hardened survivors.  Yet the damage that many of them took would've put a normal person in a modern hospital for extended stays.  Look at the pike on the books' cover.  It grabbed/bit Jak by his torso and pulled him under.  But within 12 hours he was sneaking in to do the rescue.  I think in reality he'd be in bed praying that he'd live through the night.

    In the end I liked it.
    Kerrick
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    1/29/2011 5:48 PM
    Posted By The Phantom on 12 Dec 2010 06:52 PM
    Does anyone know who the author of this book is?

    I found it in Barnes and Noble today and took a quick skim through it (I didn't have enough money to buy it - I'll get it next week). I *think* it's Rick Hoskin - the characters keep dropping their "g"s ("runnin' and fightin'", for example), which they did in Baptism of Rage, though not quite as often.
    Wallace D
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    1/30/2011 2:15 AM
    sorry but even though I am new I do have to correct you,  when they get the vehicle in question they say it is run on gasoline not diesel and before they take the lav 150 on the trip it says they changed the oil and spark plugs, so being a gasoline powered vehicle it would not have glow plugs, even though in real life this vehicle would more than likely be diesel we have to keep in mind that these are stories written for enjoyment, not written for taking literally and expecting every single detail to be absolutely true to life accurate because if they did that the books wouldn't be released as fast as they are.

    Wallace 
    Wallace D
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    1/31/2011 3:19 AM
    Just finished this book and I would like to say that it was a pretty good read, it was very enjoyable with the usual odds against them at every turn plot, It is action packed with only a couple of incorrect details, but it makes up for that with the action and correct details. I will say it is a most enjoyable read and I would recommend this book to anybody even if they haven't read Deathlands before.
    )3az )3aziah
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    2/2/2011 2:04 PM
    The LAV 150 has a Chrysler 191-hp liquid cooled V-8 petrol engine

    http://www.globalsecurity...nd/lav-150-specs.htm
    ===============================
    Billy Fish: He wants to know if we are gods.
    Peachy Carnehan: Not gods - Englishmen. The next best thing.

    Please check out my FLICKR photos
    Grantbo
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    2/5/2011 2:29 PM
    The Lav 150 is run by a V-504 V-8 tubrocharged diesel engine.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/w...dillac_Gage_Commando
    )3az )3aziah
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    2/6/2011 4:41 PM
    Posted By Grantbo on 05 Feb 2011 02:29 PM
    The Lav 150 is run by a V-504 V-8 tubrocharged diesel engine.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/w...dillac_Gage_Commando


    There are lies, damn lies and Wikipedia...
    ===============================
    Billy Fish: He wants to know if we are gods.
    Peachy Carnehan: Not gods - Englishmen. The next best thing.

    Please check out my FLICKR photos
    Grantbo
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    2/6/2011 9:24 PM
    http://www.militaryfactor...ail.asp?armor_id=101
    )3az )3aziah
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    2/7/2011 4:57 AM
    Even my old copy of Janes Infantry vehicles -granted its a little out of date (but at almost £590 for the new one I will make do) have the engine as I noted above.

    Lets just agree its a petrol engine and leave it at that eh?
    ===============================
    Billy Fish: He wants to know if we are gods.
    Peachy Carnehan: Not gods - Englishmen. The next best thing.

    Please check out my FLICKR photos
    North
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    2/7/2011 12:28 PM
    Rick Skeldon of Textron Systems, the manufacturer, says the original version was the gasoline V-8 and the later upgrade versions are diesel. I suspect that the version available at Skydark was the gasoline version.

    "Wherever possible, standard military automotive components are used in the LAV-150, such as the engine, transmission and axles. When originally introduced, the Commando LAV-150 was powered by a Chrysler 361 V-8 petrol engine developing 200 hp at 4,000 rpm coupled to a manual transmission with five forward and one reverse gears and a single-speed transfer case. Late production vehicles have a Cummins V-8 diesel engine that develops 202 hp at 3,300 rpm coupled to an Allison automatic transmission and a two-speed transfer case. "
    http://www.army-guide.com/eng/product3942.html

    See also: http://www.army-guide.com/eng/product1149.html
    )3az )3aziah
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    2/10/2011 4:55 PM
    Posted By North on 07 Feb 2011 12:28 PM
    "Wherever possible, standard military automotive components are used in the LAV-150, such as the engine, transmission and axles. When originally introduced, the Commando LAV-150 was powered by a Chrysler 361 V-8 petrol engine developing 200 hp at 4,000 rpm coupled to a manual transmission with five forward and one reverse gears and a single-speed transfer case. Late production vehicles have a Cummins V-8 diesel engine that develops 202 hp at 3,300 rpm coupled to an Allison automatic transmission and a two-speed transfer case. "
    http://www.army-guide.com/eng/product3942.html

    See also: http://www.army-guide.com/eng/product1149.html

    Bloody hell you ARE the J.B Dix of the automotive world...




    ===============================
    Billy Fish: He wants to know if we are gods.
    Peachy Carnehan: Not gods - Englishmen. The next best thing.

    Please check out my FLICKR photos
    )3az )3aziah
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    2/10/2011 5:24 PM
    BUMP!!!
    ===============================
    Billy Fish: He wants to know if we are gods.
    Peachy Carnehan: Not gods - Englishmen. The next best thing.

    Please check out my FLICKR photos
    )3az )3aziah
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    2/10/2011 5:25 PM
    I have read this now and did enjoy it up to a point.

    SPOILER ALERT FOLKS !!!

    That point was the introduction of the stupid fish headed mutant things totally ruined the book for me. They appeared and I immediately thought of THIS

    I did also have a few issues with it:

    Donfil was a nice return to the past but pointless.

    Krysty despite being a user of the Gaia power was all too quick to want to open up the waste valves from the power station and irradiate a whole swath of water without so much as a thought of Gaia’s earth she was going to destroy.

    Jak recovers from the giant fish attack too damn quickly for my liking.

    And finally, it appeared that the writer was trying to throw in as many mentions of past adventures as he could in order to make long term readers feel as if he had a full and in depth knowledge of the back stories.  This was not needed in my opinion.

    I did notice this one blooper...

    Page 251 “... he came up with a revolver –Krysty’s S&W640...”
    Then
    Page 289 “...Ryan pushed the body of one of them over... finding her Smith & Wesson tucked into its belt...”
    Sloppy proof reading and poor writing on the part of the author I think.

    I would give the book 6/10 up to the section where the fish heads come on the scene and then it drops to 3/10.
    ===============================
    Billy Fish: He wants to know if we are gods.
    Peachy Carnehan: Not gods - Englishmen. The next best thing.

    Please check out my FLICKR photos
    Kerrick
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    2/12/2011 3:58 PM
    I don't think it was *that* bad... it's certainly one of the better books I've read lately. The constant mention of past adventures was a little unnecessary, true, and seeing Donfil again was nice but a little odd. The fishheads didn't bother me - they were the product of experimentation, after all.

    The good points:
    It's nice to see someone who can actually read a freaking map. Ft. McCoy does exist, as does Tomah, though Tomah is nowhere near Route 21 (the road is a few miles north and doesn't intersect I-90 at all). The rest of the map was right, though Chicago is only 200 miles south, not 400 (so I'm detail-oriented - sue me ).

    My gripes:

    JB had Ryan's flensing knife instead of his own Tekna (incidentally, that's the first mention I've seen of the flensing knife in a long, long time).

    Ryan was too... out of character, I guess. The group has always operated democratically, though he takes the lead. In this book, he tries running roughshod over everyone instead of asking their opinions, and the others keep rebelling against him. He was also micromanaging - telling them things that they knew perfectly well to do - and they kept calling him on it. That was rather annoying, on both counts.

    Krysty should've been exhausted after using her Gaia power, or at least worn out, but she kept going like nothing had happened.

    25 rounds of .308 and 25 shotgun shells for a bridge toll is highway robbery. 5 of one or the other would've been appropriate, IMO.

    As soon as Grandma Finnegan said "I just cleaned the place from the last visitors", I knew she was a cannie.

    The whole plan to release radiation into the rest of the plant was goofy. If the outer door had to be closed to open the inner one, don't you think someone would've thought "Gee... I'll bet this outer door is shielded."? And... an escape hatch?? WTF?

    JB used "Black dust" waay too much. In fact, he never used his normal exclamation ("Dark night!") at all. I can count on one hand the times he's ever said "Black dust!" (outside of a Pollotta book).

    Despite its faults, though, it was an entertaining story. I'd give it a 7/10.
    Millennial Man
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    2/12/2011 10:17 PM
    To bad no one was singing Fish Heads Fish Heads eat them up YUM.
    Phlogiston_Warrior
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    2/13/2011 2:45 PM
    I thought it was poorly written, too. Give it 5/10.

    Leaving the LAV was way too dumb for the group to do. The bridge toll was outrageous - Ryan should have shot the guy just for asking.

    The interaction between the 'companions' in this book runs from the warm & fuzzy crap at the first town to dumb action movie dialogue. This author would be better off reading the previous books rather than watching the Lifetime channels and Rush Hour movie reruns.

    The mutie lizardmen in the lake were very nostalgic. Very 50's sci-fi. This episode of the book could have been developed better and more sensibly. Jak's recovery is nothing short of miraculous. Kristy's solution would have probably killed the Waukee ville, too. Just thoughtless writing.
    )3az )3aziah
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    2/13/2011 4:12 PM
    Posted By Millennial Man on 12 Feb 2011 10:17 PM
    To bad no one was singing Fish Heads Fish Heads eat them up YUM.

    I guess you missed that you could click on the THIS at the end of the first major paragraph in my long post above?

    Go on try it now  THIS ...
    ===============================
    Billy Fish: He wants to know if we are gods.
    Peachy Carnehan: Not gods - Englishmen. The next best thing.

    Please check out my FLICKR photos
    Kerrick
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    2/14/2011 8:39 PM
    You're an evil, evil man.

    The summary is up on the wiki, for anyone who would rather read that.

    Edit (to save a post): Looks like I was wrong - John Helfers wrote this. Nice to see new blood.
    silentalbino
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    10/27/2013 8:58 AM
    Just finished this one last night, quite good apart from the aquatic muties. Love Donfil More first time round, felt he could have been in the story more. I always love DL novels where they go to a ville and actually leave it standing.

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