Canyon: A Post Apocalyptic/Dystopian Adventure (The Traveler Book 2)

Just a great read. Spoiler alert.This one starts with Captain Marcus Battle in Aleppo, Syria in 2020. His group has just been hit by an IED. All are dead and Sgt. Buck, a soldier Battle doesn't really like, is wounded. Battle needs to get him back to a checkpoint so he can be seen to by a doctor. Battle does what he can for Buck and then figures a way to get back to that checkpoint.This is all in Battles past and something that will lead to where he is right now. Where he is has he, Pico and Lola about to take on Skinner, his bosses and grunts. Skinner is the area Captain who in charge of making sure the drugs get where they need to go and the people are cowed and cooperative. How many he has to kill to make sure that happens doesn't concern Skinner at all.Skinner knows about Battle though. He and the others are calling him Mad Max. Battle has killed many of Skinners men and Skinner wants that SOB.Battle is a very capable killer. His abilities were honed in the Army and abilities and equipment he has in spades. He's decided to take the battle to Skinner. Of course Sylvia, the Sylvia in his head reminds him that he needs to go after Lola's son Sawyer and never mind fighting Skinner.Battle does blow up Skinner HQ and his house then decides to heed Sylvia. She's right. He needs to go after Sawyer.Sawyer is a prisoner and about to be transported to Lubbock for the Joneses. What that is he sure doesn't know but he knows it can't be good. Sawyer is thirteen years old and considered a thief by the cartel. A thief who will end up dying at the Joneses. A couple of grunts arrive and with three horses they head for Lubbock.So begins a damned fine read.This one has Battle, Lola, Pico, Skinner, his grunts, a general named Roof who turns out to be far more than he appears to be, a running fight on horseback, a captured Battle, the Joneses, a Sawyer, Pico, Pierce a Pierce who isn't who he appears to be, Battle and a Dweller named Baadal, a Baadal who's a resident of the Canyon, the Canyon that the Cartel couldn't take, the Canyon that has an agreement with the Cartel, a Battle, Sawyer, Pico, Pierce and Baadal who make it out of the Joneses alive, the grunts they kill, a Roof who released them all, a Skinner who kills Pico, a Roof who has an agenda, Grat and Emmett Dillion and Vermillion who follow Battle and his crew per Roofs instructions , a Battle who takes them down killing Emmett but leaving Grat and Vermillion, a Battle who takes their horses and he and his crew on their way to the Canyon, the end of the Syrian story and Marcus Battle and he crew doing their best to make it to the Canyon, safety and the chance to stay alive.Five Stars and then some. Super read.

The first book in this series Home was a pleasant surprise - I found the world and characters the author created fascinating, and the only negative I had was the cheap cliffhanger ending. So I came into Canyon with high expectations.The continued journey of Battle, Lola, and Pico to rescue Lola's son Sawyer from the evil Cartel was fun to read. I think Battle is a great main character, and despite being a little over the top, his exploits here are highly entertaining. Unfortunately the structure of this book is immensely frustrating. I've never been a fan of flashbacks, and here you have two timelines running - the book's present day story of Battle and the Cartel, and another storyline set 12 years earlier featuring Battle's military days where he's trying to get an injured comrade out of a war zone. The author switches between these almost every chapter so it's a very jarring read and makes it impossible to really get invested in either scenario. There was only one reason I could think of to spend almost half the book on a guy from 12 years ago, so the final pages weren't particularly surprising to me on how it all tied together.I'm torn on this one because I'm loving the Fallout style wasteland world the author has created, and Marcus Battle is an intriguing character. The Traveler series has the potential to be that fast and casual read I've been looking for in between heavier books, but the annoying structure of this one really brought it down. Book 3 is on sale for 99 cents as I write this, so I'll pick it up and see if things improve.

CANYON is the second book in THE TRAVELER trilogy. The first book HOME, which I finished before this one, was an exciting start to the story and you owe it to yourself to read all the books in order.In the first book Ex-Army Major Marcus Battle was living alone on his property in Texas when the pandemic The Scourge hit five years ago. His wife and son died along with 2/3 of the world's population.Lola, another survivor, shows up at his front gate bringing trouble but just wanting to find her 13 year-old son.In CANYON the main storyline of the book is Battle trying to help track down Lola's son, Sawyer. And, of course, that doesn't end up being an easy task. They have to go up against members of the Cartel that now controls thousands of miles of the U.S. in Texas and surrounding states.There was more character development in book two which I appreciated. I enjoy the post-apocalyptic genre and this is a good story.My only negative is one I've mentioned before. I would have liked this entire story to be in one standalone book rather than broke into a series. These first two books have been a trifle short and I think could have been easily combined. I can understand the author's reasoning: he's going to make more from three books than from one but doesn't anyone write standalone fiction any more?With that little rant off of my chest, I do recommend this series to post-apocalyptic or TEOTWAYKI fans. I'm now off to read book three WALL.

If you read book # 1 and like it, you'll like book # 2.I like both so I bought book # 3.

Fast paced, exciting, action packed apocalyptic style novel. Not my usual style of reading and too short compared to what I normally read, but still a good book.

Kept me up into the wee hours of the morning running,rideing trying to survive along with Battle and his companions,not knowing who the white hat general really was.I can,wait to read the next book.....

Tom Abrahams writes a good book don't often give five stars.

It was an exciting book. I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN.