Donovan 1-5 (Outpost, Abandoned, Pariah, Unreconciled, Adrift) - W. Michael Gear

Written by W. Michael Gear
Read by Alyssa Bresnahan
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

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Book 4 ‘Unreconciled’ filenames fixed
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Length: 97h 36m

Book 1 ● Outpost (2018) ● 18:13

Donovan is a world of remarkable wealth that comes at a high price. When Supervisor Kalico Aguila’s ship arrives, she discovers a failing colony, its government overthrown, the few remaining colonists gone wild. Donovan could make her career—or kill her. Planetside, Talina Perez is one of three rulers of the Port Authority colony—the only law in the one remaining town. With the Corporate ship demanding answers about the things she’s done, Perez could lose everything, including her life. For Dan Wirth, Donovan is a last chance. A psychopath with a death sentence looming over his head, he will make a desperate play for power. No matter who he has to corrupt, murder, or destroy. Captain Max Taggart is the Corporation’s enforcer. But is it too late to seize control of Donovan? Then a ghost ship, the Freelander, appears in orbit. Missing for two years, she arrives with a crew dead of old age and reeks of a bizarre death-cult ritual that deters any ship from attempting a return journey. But maybe it’s worth the risk, for a brutal killer is stalking all of them as Donovan plays its own complex and deadly game.

Book 2 ● Abandoned (2018) ● 18:03

The struggle for survival sharpens as resources dwindle, technology fails, and the grim reality of life on Donovan unfolds. Supervisor Kalico Aguila has bet everything on a fragile settlement far south of Port Authority. There, she has carved a farm and mine out of wilderness. But Donovan is closing in. When conditions couldn’t get worse, a murderous peril descends out of Donovan’s sky—one that will leave Kalico bleeding and shattered. Talina Perez gambles her life and reputation in a bid to atone for ruthlessly murdering a woman’s husband years ago. Ironically, saving Dya Simonov may save them all. Lieutenant Deb Spiro is losing it, and by killing a little girl’s pet alien, she may have precipitated disaster for all. In the end, the only hope will lie with a “lost” colony, and the alien-infested reflexes possessed by Security Officer Talina Perez. On Donovan, only human beings are more terrifying than the wildlife.

Book 3 ● Pariah (2019) ● 19:48

Corporate assassin Tamarland Benteen’s last hope is the survey ship, Vixen. With a load of scientists aboard under the supervision of Dr. Dortmund Weisbacher, Vixen is tasked with the first comprehensive survey of the newly discovered planet called Donovan. Given that, back in Solar System, Boardmember Radcek would have Benteen’s brain dissected, he’s particularly motivated to make his escape. The transition that should have taken Vixen years is instantaneous. Worse, a space ship is already orbiting Donovan, and, impossibly, human settlements have been established on the planet. For Dortmund Weisbacher, this is a violation of the most basic conservation tenets. Donovan is an ecological disaster. Down on Donovan, Talina Perez takes refuge in the ruins of Mundo Base with the wild child, Kylee Simonov. But the quetzals are playing their own deadly game—one that forces Talina and Kylee to flee farther into the wilderness. Too bad they’re stuck with Dortmund Weisbacher in the process. Back in Port Authority, Dan Wirth discovers that he’s not the meanest or deadliest man on the planet. Tamarland Benteen is making his play for control of PA. And in the final struggle, if Benteen can’t have it, he’ll destroy it all.

Book 4 ● Unreconciled (2020) ● 20:17

Where does one put a messianic cult of practicing cannibals? That becomes the question when Ashanti appears in Donovan’s skies. She was designed for no more than 4 years in space. It’s taken 10. The crew has sealed the transportees onto a single deck—and over the years, the few survivors down there have become monsters. Lead by the messiah, Batuhan, they call themselves the Unreconciled. Supervisor Kalico Aguila settles them at remote Tyson Station. With the discovery of a wasting disease among the Unreconciled, it’s up to Kalico, Dya Simonov, and Mark Talbot to try and deal with the epidemic. Only Batuhan has plans of his own—and Kalico and her people are to be the main course. Talina Perez has brokered an uneasy truce with the quetzal molecules that float in her blood. Now, she, young Kylee Simonov, a quetzal named Flute, and a clueless nobleman named Taglioni rush to save Kalico’s vanished party. But as always, Donovan is playing its own deadly game. Lurking in the forest outside Tyson Base is an old and previously unknown terror that even quetzals fear. And it has already begun to hunt.

Book 5 ● Adrift (2021) ● 21:13

The Maritime Unit had landed in paradise. After a terrifying 10-year transit from Solar System aboard the Ashanti, the small band of oceanographers and marine scientists were finally settled. Perched on a reef five hundred kilometers out from shore, they were about to embark on the first exploration of Donovan’s seas. For the 22 adults and nine children, everything is new, exciting, and filled with wonder as they discover dazzling sea creatures, stunning plant life, and fascinating organisms. But Donovan is never what it seems; the changes in the children were innocuous—oddities of behavior normal to kids who’d found themselves in a new world. Even then it was too late. An alien intelligence, with its own agenda, now possesses the children, and it will use them in a most insidious way: as the perfect weapons. How can you fight back when the enemy is smarter than you are, and wears the face of your own child? Welcome to Donovan.

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Gear, W. Michael - Donovan 1 - Outpost (2018)
Gear, W. Michael - Donovan 2 - Abandoned (2018)
Gear, W. Michael - Donovan 3 - Pariah (2019)
Gear, W. Michael - Donovan 4 - Unreconciled (2020)
Gear, W. Michael - Donovan 5 - Adrift (2021)