The First City by Joe Hart #Review @authorjoehart @AmazonPub

NB: If you haven’t read the first two books in this series, please be aware this review will contain spoilers for those books.

In The First City, the third and final book in The Dominion Series, we come to the end of Zoey’s story. Her fight has become even more crucial when she watches a video message informing her she has an unborn daughter back at the ARC… and is told she might hold the key to the survival of mankind. Unwilling to risk the lives of her friends, she sets off alone, traveling to Seattle in search of answers. What she finds is danger from both old and new threats, unexpected reunions, and—finally—the long-sought answer to who she is.

This is a fantastically satisfying wrap-up to the trilogy, and I enjoyed it immensely. There were no loose ends left dangling, and the resolution of each character’s journey always seemed fitting.

I’ve read several books in this genre, and this trilogy ranks highly as one of the best of them. I thought the basis of the trilogy—female births almost nonexistent, and the resulting consequences of that—to be a unique take on a dystopian society; an approach that (as far as I know) had not been done before. It created an even more frantic sense of impending doom, with the very real possibility that the human race could eventually die out. The way people reacted to this catastrophe—bringing out the worst, rather than the best in them—also felt like something that could easily happen in such a world.

If you’re a fan of this genre, you should give this trilogy a read. I think you’ll enjoy it, as a whole, as much as I did.

I received an advance review copy of this book courtesy of Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer.

Author: Joe Hart

Title: The First City

Series: The Dominion Trilogy #3

Genre: Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic

Published: March 28th 2017 by Thomas & Mercer

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Purchase Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About the Book

In the thrilling conclusion to Joe Hart’s Dominion Trilogy, Zoey discovers who she truly is—and who she must become.

Zoey has only ever known a world with few women and a society capable of unimaginable evil. Now she’s about to learn she may be the only hope it has for salvation.

After she and her companions flee a vicious attack, barely escaping with their lives, Zoey finds herself faced with a new threat: video evidence suggesting she is the mother of an unborn baby girl—and the key to mankind’s survival. Knowing that her former captors will stop at nothing to control the power that lies within her, Zoey sets out on her own for the last American city, Seattle, in search of answers. But a new enemy awaits her there, and the truth she seeks may lead to her destruction as well as that of all humankind.

This stunning finale, hailed by bestselling author Blake Crouch as a “rapturous, thought-provoking, [and] impossible-to-put-down thriller,” begs us all to consider what we would do when asked to choose between humanity’s survival—and our own.

Other books in the series:

About the Author

Joe Hart was born and raised in northern Minnesota. Having dedicated himself to writing horror and thriller fiction since the tender age of nine, he is now the author of nine novels, including The River Is Dark, Lineage, EverFall, and the first two books in the Dominion Trilogy, on which this graphic novel is based. When not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising, exploring the great outdoors, and watching movies with his family. For more information on his upcoming novels and access to his blog, visit http://www.joehartbooks.com.

Author photo and bio via Amazon.

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The Last Sacrifice by Joe Hart #Review @AuthorJoeHart

The Last Sacrifice is a tie-in to Hart’s Dominion Trilogy, telling the story of what happened to Janie Tenner. Readers of the Dominion Trilogy will recognize her as the sister of Chelsea Tenner, and will recall her relating the story of Janie’s abduction to Zoey in The Last Girl. In this graphic novel, we learn what happened to Janie after she was taken.

I’m the type of reader who always wants to know more, so I was excited to read Janie’s story. Knowing what happened to her satisfied my curiosity immensely, and rounded out the series nicely, in my opinion.

The artwork throughout is beautifully done, easily conveying Janie’s horror, fear, etc. and giving the written words far more depth than they would have had, alone. I was amused to see a character who had a very strong resemblances to a certain actor, but it definitely set the mood for that character’s actions, so it worked for me.

A word of caution: you really shouldn’t read The Last Sacrifice as a stand-alone story. I’ve seen many reviews with readers opining that it didn’t make sense, or was too vague about what happened previously, giving lower ratings as a consequence. I can understand the frustration these readers must have felt because if you read it as a story that stands on its own, it’s not going to make sense to you. This graphic novel was never meant to be read as a stand-alone, however, as it gives a small slice of a much larger story. In order to fully appreciate this story, you really need to read the series, as well—otherwise, you’re most likely bound to be confused and disappointed.

I received an advance review copy of this book courtesy of Goodreads Giveaways and the author.

Authors: Joe Hart, Stuart Moore

Illustrators: Michael Montenat, Andrew Dalhouse, Chris Summers

Title: The Last Sacrifice: The Graphic Novel

Series: The Dominion Trilogy

Genre: Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic, Graphic Novel

Published: January 4th 2017 by Jet City Comics

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Purchase Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About the Book

Acclaimed novelist Joe Hart (The Last Girl) brings the engrossing dystopian paranoia of his popular Dominion series to the comics page in collaboration with award-winning comic book writer Stuart Moore (The Zodiac Legacy) and celebrated illustrator Michael Montenat (Clive Barker’s Hellraiser).

In the near future, with the world’s female population on the brink of extinction, teenager Janie Tenner is taken by the sinister National Obstetric Alliance. Desperate to escape and reunite with her missing sister, she finds an unlikely ally: grieving father Tom Vincent, whose own daughter has disappeared.

But will Tom lead Janie out of the darkness to the promised land…or into a fresh new hell on earth?

Other books in the series:

About the Authors

Stuart Moore is a writer, a book editor, and an award-winning comics editor. His recent writing includes EGOs, an original comic book series from Image Comics, and The Zodiac Legacy, a major Disney project created and cowritten by Stan Lee. His comics work includes Wolverine Noir, Namor: The First Mutant, Firestorm, and the graphic novels Earthlight, Para, Shadrach Stone, and Mandala. He also wrote the novelizations of Marvel’s Civil War comics series and Disney’s John Carter film. He contributed two series, Teach and Out with a Bang, to the launch of the online comics app Stela.

Michael Montenat graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and proceeded to play the fine art game for years. Now he has come back to what got him into art in the first place: illustration and comics. His clients have included IDW, Top Cow, Legendary, MonkeyBrain Books, Spacegoat, Darby Pop Publishing, BOOM! Studios, and Universal Studios Japan.

Author photos and bios via Amazon.

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#Review: The Final Trade by Joe Hart @AuthorJoeHart

At the end of The Last Girl, Zoe and her friends helped her attack the ARC and rescue some of the girls who remained there… but not all of them. Her friends Lily and Terra were killed, as well as Lee’s father, Simon—Zoe’s Cleric when she was imprisoned in the ARC. Zoe nearly died after being shot, and was left temporarily paralyzed from her injury. Worst of all, Lee abandoned her because she was a constant reminder of his father’s death.

In The Final Trade, Zoe has regained the use of her legs and life goes on as usual. While interrogating a NOA spy, she discovers the location of copies of records on all the women formerly held in the ARC. In the pursuit of this precious knowledge, the terrible truth about NOA’s association with the “Fae Trade” comes to light, and Zoe sets her sights on a new mission… to destroy the Fae Trade.

The Final Trade is book two in The Dominion Trilogy series, and there’s never a dull moment in this action-packed sequel. The story is told from the perspective of Zoe, as well as that of a mysterious woman called Wen, who travels with the Fae Trade as a cook. While Zoe plots the destruction of the Trade, Wen and her friend are planning their escape. Both sides of the story were equally compelling, and when the two merged, it set the stage for an explosive reveal that slowly built from the beginning of the book.

The evil specter of NOA takes a backseat to the Fae Trade this time around. Ingloriously repulsive and chilling in its purpose, Hart does an excellent job of portraying the depravity of the Trade without going too far.

With intense situations and thrilling action sequences alongside moments of raw emotion, The Final Trade makes for a powerful read that will have you clamoring for the final book of the trilogy. Highly recommended for readers of dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels.

I received an advance review copy of this book courtesy of Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer.

Author: Joe Hart

Title: The Final Trade

Series: The Dominion Trilogy #2

Genre: Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic

Published: September 13th 2016 by Thomas & Mercer

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Purchase Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About the Book

The thrilling sequel to the runaway bestseller The Last Girl.

Zoey is not the woman she once was. She’s watched her friends die at the hands of their captors, been hunted, and returned from the brink of death. Now she must find the truth about who she is.

In search of the family she never knew, Zoey learns of personal records stored in an Idaho missile silo that may contain the information she and the other women seek. With the help of her group of newfound friends, Zoey travels to the missile facility, but among the records, they uncover information that leads to an insidious and horrific new foe: the Fae Trade, a macabre carnival of slavery and pain.

Zoey’s journey into the darkest parts of the human psyche brings her perilously close to the ever-thinning line between good and evil, and the final cost in her quest for justice might be her own humanity.

About the Author

Author photo and bio via Amazon.

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Review: The Last Girl by Joe Hart

A virus caused female births to be almost nonexistent worldwide, and brought about the creation of the National Obstetric Alliance, the purpose of which is to find a cure and restore the female birth rate. The NOA actively searches for baby girls, bringing them to the Advance Research Compound, or ARC, in order to keep them safe and teach them about their important purpose in life.

Zoey has lived in the ARC her entire life, her every move constantly monitored by security cameras and guards. She feels like a prisoner and is determined to escape… somehow. A terrifying situation morphs into an opportunity for escape, but danger lurks around every corner and the freedom she wants so badly will come at a terrible cost.

I enjoyed this novel very much. A world populated almost completely with men and boys would be a very frightening place for women and girls, and Hart does an excellent job of maintaining an undercurrent of danger in every situation, including the mundane. This is the first in a trilogy of novels, so the end of the book leaves several unanswered questions, but they were the right questions, in my opinion. I’m looking forward to reading more of Zoey’s story in the next book.

If you enjoy reading dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels, I think you’ll like this one. I certainly did!

I received an advance review copy of this book courtesy of Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer.

Author: Joe Hart

Title: The Last Girl

Series: Dominion Trilogy #1

Genre: Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic

Published: March 1st 2016 by Thomas & Mercer

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

About the Book

A mysterious worldwide epidemic reduces the birthrate of female infants from 50 percent to less than 1 percent. Medical science and governments around the world scramble in an effort to solve the problem, but twenty-five years later there is no cure, and an entire generation grows up with a population of fewer than a thousand women.

Zoey and some of the surviving young women are housed in a scientific research compound dedicated to determining the cause. For two decades, she’s been isolated from her family, treated as a test subject, and locked away—told only that the virus has wiped out the rest of the world’s population.

Captivity is the only life Zoey has ever known, and escaping her heavily armed captors is no easy task, but she’s determined to leave before she is subjected to the next round of tests…a program that no other woman has ever returned from. Even if she’s successful, Zoey has no idea what she’ll encounter in the strange new world beyond the facility’s walls. Winning her freedom will take brutality she never imagined she possessed, as well as all her strength and cunning—but Zoey is ready for war.