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Published: May 16, 2012
Words: 93,476 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9780985143824
Short description
Dan Amenta and his family wake up one morning to discover the world had changed: Apocalypse had arrived. They are surrounded by death, yet they are untouched by it. More and more they sense there had been a sort of supernatural power that left them the only people alive on Earth. They are not. Dan find answers in his own past and discovers his new role in a plot whose roots are million years oldExtended description
Dan and his family awake one day in a world where everybody is dead but nothing points to a cause. Initial searches for survivors give nothing and, in panic, the family turns their house into a stronghold. Acting as in a war zone, they find Laura. She manages to win the hearts of everyone and Dan's too. Dan's child hallucinations provide the answers to the humankind extermination: An older power controls the fate of men, and a few selected face the ultimate quest: a painful genetic transformation and work toward the rebirth of a new human race, or the oblivion and death in isolation.PA novels are often about cataclysmic events, survivors fending off dangers at every page, zombie attacks, aliens destroying everything for inscrutable reasons, or as a fulfillment of one latest religious prophecy. "Daimones" is nothing of the sort.
The novel puts a few survivors in a world having experienced a planetary culling of humankind, but there is no immediate cause to be pointed at. The Apoca.. (Read more)
Tags
apocalypse, alone, extinction, survival, aliens among us, awarded, awarded author, extinction of the human race, aliens beings intelligenceAvailable ebook reading formats
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Daimones by Massimo MarinoReviews
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Review by:
Lisa
on March 28, 2013 :
It took a number of pages for me to get into this story but once it grabbed me it didn't let go until the end. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the entire premise of what happened to cause the disappearance of most of the human race. However, when the "big reveal" came during the last twenty pages or so I was disappointed and would have actually preferred to be left guessing rather than have it end the way it did. My personal opinion is that the story line didn't need the extra SciFi push at the end but I'll still probably look into the next part to the story.
(reviewed long after purchase)
Review by:
AJ Murphy
on March 10, 2013 :
I was pleasantly surprised upon reading this novel. It is both provocative and suspenseful. The novel centered around a "normal family" that wakes up to find that during the night, the world has changed and all have perished save this particular family. The plot line is well thought out and keeps you turning the pages to find out what happens next. I would definitely recommend this novel.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)
Review by:
J. C. Allen
on Feb. 26, 2013 :
A normal family wakes up to find the rest of the world has perished during the night. We then follow as Dan tries to figure out what happened and why he and his family were spared, as well as how they will survive. We experience the fear and anxiety, the search for others, the determination to prosper, the moral choices one is forced to make in extraordinary circumstances, and the final realization that their future would depend upon not repeating past mistakes.
An apocalyptic story without any zombies, gore, or mass destruction – a quiet ending to a civilization which has become uncivilized. It explores the thought processes behind the will to survive – how far you’re prepared to go to protect and preserve life when choices are limited and your reality has undergone an extreme makeover. It forces you to question how well you would do if faced with the same options.
Suspenseful and provocative, this is a very entertaining book – one that draws you forward to see how each obstacle is overcome. Mr. Marino’s scientific background is evident in his writing, and he has written a well thought-out story with great detail and insight into the psychology of survival. Bravo, sir!
(reviewed within a month of purchase)
Review by:
L. W. Fulton
on Feb. 24, 2013 :
Daimones by Massimo Marino
This story offers a unique perspective on how one family handles the end of the world as they know it.
Instead of a world-wide sweeping account of what happens, this story centers on one family. They are going about their daily lives when overnight, everything changes. I got involved in these characters. I felt their angst. I was invested in their daily lives. Then suddenly, the world changed.
I was with them as they accepted their new reality. I was with them when they tried to reach out to other survivors. I felt their sadness and their desperation as they struggled to deal with the changes to the world that affected them in such a profound manner. I was with them as they changed to deal with the new realities that had been thrust upon them.
I enjoyed their love and care for each other. This is an intimate portrait of a family who woke up one morning and discovered the impossible had happened.
I felt a sense of triumph and sadness as they made their way through the transition from the old world to the new. This is an excellent story. I highly recommend it.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)
Review by:
Isis Erb
on Feb. 19, 2013 :
I was lucky enough to receive this free in exchange for an honest review, and found it to be an enjoyable read. The story begins with absolutely zero indication of what is to come. And what is to come is a story of vast dimensions.
This book is challenging to review without including spoilers, which I try to avoid whenever possible. Interestingly, the longer I think about the story the more details I discover to have been hidden in plain sight. I was so focused on the 'here and now' of the story that I did not initially 'see' the not so hidden overarching parallels, even when directly mentioned.
For a large portion of the story things are mostly believable - yet there are parts that seem to progress much faster than one would expect in real life. Things like that threw the balance off a bit for me, though some do get explained later in the story.
Characters are well written, and it reads like a pretty fair representation of our world anytime from the mid-nineties on. There is some interesting 'recycling' of history as we currently understand it to be (until the next big discovery blows all prior theories out if the water that is).
Personally I am happy that this is the first in a series. Marino has done a nice job with telling this tale, but I feel that had it ended with this book it would have cut out right before the truly challenging part of the tale.
(reviewed within a week of purchase)
Review by:
Isis Erb
on Feb. 19, 2013 :
I was lucky enough to receive this as an ARC, and found it to be an enjoyable read. The story begins with absolutely zero indication of what is to come. And what is to come is a story of vast dimensions.
This book is challenging to review without including spoilers, which I try to avoid whenever possible. Interestingly, the longer I think about the story the more details I discover to have been hidden in plain sight. I was so focused on the 'here and now' of the story that I did not initially 'see' the not so hidden overarching parallels, even when directly mentioned.
For a large portion of the story things are mostly believable - yet there are parts that seem to progress much faster than one would expect in real life. Things like that threw the balance off a bit for me, though some do get explained later in the story.
Characters are well written, and it reads like a pretty fair representation of our world anytime from the mid-nineties on. There is some interesting 'recycling' of history as we currently understand it to be (until the next big discovery blows all prior theories out if the water that is).
Personally I am happy that this is the first in a series. Marino has done a nice job with telling this tale, but I feel that had it ended with this book it would have cut out right before the truly challenging part of the tale.
(reviewed within a week of purchase)
Review by:
Beatriz Collazo
on Feb. 19, 2013 :
I was really glad to win this book, my thanks to the author!
Dan is a socially aware character with a tendency toward honesty and frankness that translates to outspokenness in the workplace. He seems familiar and likeable. Once certain events happen in the exposition, it is surprising that the family did not react more emotionally to the stresses around them, but I detected a strong sense of bemusement and detachment as the events unfolded.
Ironically the main character links his survival skills to things he has learned from Hollywood, at the same time that I found myself thinking this would make a good film; the author has a very visual narrative style that nonetheless allows the reader to fill in the blanks. I found myself thinking I would make different provisional decisions but that did not detract from my enjoyment of the story.
At first contact with other survivors it seems hopeful that Annah will have a future to look forward to, but hope quickly dies and I found myself breathlessly reading late into the evening to see what happens next. The ending did feel a bit rushed but as I understand it there will be more books set in the Daimones world, which I hope will flesh out the last chapter in more detail. This is a great start to the trilogy. Without ruining the plot, I will say that I have added Massimo Marino to my list of authors to watch and look forward to his future work.
************* Spoiler Alert**************
I know writers have often explored the idea of polyamorous relationships. As a woman, it would never happen in my house. I know the author was laying the foundation for the premise of rebuilding society, but I would have preferred more weight placed on the discussion, on the decision and explanation to Annah. This raised a lot of unanswered questions that I hope will be covered in the coming books, including why Dan was chosen.
(reviewed within a week of purchase)
Review by:
Lisa Williamson
on Feb. 03, 2013 :
With the large range of post-apocalyptic novels out there right now you find the world ending in a bloody mess. Disasters and other nasty things that we are to read through. Most are darker than a tomb underground. Massimo has taken us through a different post-apocalyptic. The end of the world came to most of the 7 billion humans suddenly. I won't say it was neat and clean but it was startlingly quick and odd.
This novel takes you through the days and months after the end with a family. A man, his wife and daughter somehow survive and go through their days coming to grips with what happened and finding ways to survive. Whether it is that they were in the Geneva area of not it is almost idyllic except for the lack of other survivors. When they finally make contact with a man on the still working internet and then find a young woman the story takes off.
This treatment of the end of our world, the introduction of a benevolent alien species and all it entails had me reading this book in one sitting. For the post-apocalyptic style story this was almost light and a read I think would be fine for the YA audience. Yes there is one sex scene but it is incredibly mild, touching and appropriate. A highly recommend this to those who want to read end of the world but are just not up to the blood, gore and danger of other works.
(reviewed within a week of purchase)
Review by:
Ch'kara SilverWolf
on Jan. 24, 2013 :
This post-apocalyptic sci-fi novel is brilliant. It captured me from the beginning and I could barely put it down.
Dan and his wife and daughter wake to seemingly be the only ones left alive in the world. It is a testimony to how one family strives to keep their humanity intact, and yet adapt to their changing world. I felt their joy when they discovered they were not alone.
The descriptions were so well presented I found myself `there' with Dan and his family. The incorporation of the aliens was well written and descriptive as to make you wanting more. I look forward with anticipation to the next book.
(reviewed the day of purchase)
Review by:
Danielle Nicole Bienvenu
on Jan. 22, 2013 :
To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect with Marino's book. I've read a few apocalyptic novels before but this one was very different. I liked how Marino made me feel like I was actually there. The beginning took a while to get into but once I got past the statistics of birds dying (which later helped build the story), I was hooked. I was left wondering 'What would I do?' and found myself sympathizing with Dan and the plight he was thrown into. Although as a reader I was able to grasp what Dan was dealing with I enjoyed how Marino also made the characters sound inconsequential. They were one small piece in a gigantic world. "It did not matter, we did not matter. We had become inconsequential matters to the rest of the world." I could see this book becoming a movie. And contrary to a statement below, I did not find Dan insensitive with women and love.
(reviewed within a week of purchase)
Review by:
Richard Bunning
on Jan. 19, 2013 :
I loved reading this book. Some parts of it held my attention like a vice. I can still hear the roar of roller blades, the shatter of glass, the cawing of circling crows.
Some passages needed a touch more editing. However, the little stutters in the flow, the very occasional clumsy phrase, certainly didn't spoil the book. I guess it might if you happen to be the sort of grammarian that suffers pain from every linguistic deviation, but then you must often be short of reading.
I had the constant nag at the back of my mind that the electricity supply for Geneva should have died, along with 99.9% of the population. Though this continuing availability was never explicitly explained the implicit assumption I eventually made tied the threads together satisfactorily. Another strand that I felt needed earlier enforcement was the childhood experience of Dan, which led to his life of chronic tinnitus. The early avoidance of these issues was I'm sure in part due to a determination to hold the surprise of the ending. I, though, like to see all the main circles of direction earlier in a plot build.
We start with reports of animal population crashes that might have come from the culturally shifting writing of Rachel Carson, move through a quiet apocalypse, then delve into the individualistic process of survival. Finally, Marino pulls together an episodic and dystopian past history of mankind, and the promise of a new galactic spirituality for our species. Erich Von Däniken, Philip K Dick and Arthur C Clarke might all have been sitting around a table collectively weaving together the elements of the new start instigated by the Daimones. I can see Marino sitting at the end of the table rapidly scribbling notes. Then finally, he selected a touch of each to colour his vision. Though each of these great authors probably inspired a few sentences, I feel that there is a lot of novel speculation to come in the rest of the planned trilogy.
I really found this to be a very enjoyable read. I am sure this is partly because I'm a writer of speculative science fiction of a similar nature. But also it's because this is, even with science fiction discounted, a very entertaining book. The differing psychological profiles and difficulties of the main characters are well drawn, giving very real feeling grist to Marino's speculative ideas.
Not every aspect of the book deserves 5 stars, but we are required to use this crude classification. As you will have noted, I gave 5. I thank you for having taken the trouble to read my review.
(reviewed the day of purchase)
Review by:
Paty
on Dec. 12, 2012 :
An addendum to my review...
I can tell you without hesitation is that the world that Mr. Marino created intrigued me and I do look forward to the next book in the series. Yes, despite the complaints that I have, I feel compelled to see this new world through to either the end of the series or to the point that I am so angry that it outweighs my interest.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)
Review by:
Paty
on Dec. 10, 2012 :
I honestly would prefer to give this 2 1/2 stars if I could.....
I can't decide if I would reccommend this book or not. There were many things that I liked about it and yet many that I didn't as well.
Though while it did start out very slowly and had numerous grammatical errors and the vocabulary at times was terrible it also contained some thought provoking statements interspersed throughout. I must admit that on and off through the book I did skim because it would get so bogged down with details that were quite frankly, in my opinion, not neccessary to the story. I am already educated and didn't feel the need to be re-educated. Furthermore, I much prefer to be shown the story not just told and yet way too often I was only being told.
.....SPOILER ALERT.....SPOILER ALERT.......
I understand that the situation isn't normal and I am intellegent enough to understand the reasons Mr. Marino had for writing it this way and how he wants readers to feel about it. However, an author cannot control how a reader will feel and though he told me that he viewed Mary's choice as being made in order to hopefully make a better life for her daughter I do not see it that way at all. As a wife and mother I can state unequivocally that if I was in Mary's place I would have killed the manipulative bitch long before she horned in on my husband. When she gave Mary the ultimatum to share or she would go I would have told her not to let the door hit her in the ass on her wait out. Quite frankly the position Mary's in now would lead me to suicide. I could not and would not live like that. Nor would I teach my daughter to accept a life like that. How could she believe that he loves her so much when he made the decision that he made without discussing it with her first?!
While I agree that a story must provoke feelings and strong reactions an author walks a fine line.For me that line was crossed. What I've been told in this book is that sex with the suppossedly much loved wife isn't even interesting enough to show us yet sex with the new, young beautiful college student warranted detail. Doesn't seem much different from all the real life cheaters running around in the world. Furthermore, while we are then told that he loves them both we see almost no contact, let alone intimacy with the wife. We are told numerous times how beautiful Laura is and yet I can't even remember what the supposedly loved wife looks like. UGH! He was obviously thinking with the wrong head and just as obviously didn't love his wife as much as he'd told us that he did.
In closing I would like to say that I have seen a few reviews that compare this to Stephen King's "The Stand" and must disagree. While yes they are both post apocalyptic stories with some paranormal leanings that is the only thing they have in common. One is good vs. evil while the other ultimately leans more towards religious.
I want to acknowledge that I was given a copy of this book by the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)
Review by:
Larry B. Gray
on Nov. 30, 2012 :
Daimones by Massimo Marino is a post-apocalyptic book with a slightly different take on the storyline. It was a great read and I found it hard to put down once I started reading the book.
The author is an excellent story teller, weaving a tail of survival which was well thought-out and developed. The story was deep but it was also easy to follow. I often found myself pondering what he said and thinking wow.
I really enjoyed the characters. They were very believable and easy to relate to. Massimo Marino did a great job of developing them and relating them to the storyline.
This was a great read and I really enjoyed it.
I highly recommend Daimones by Massimo Marino.
[Please note: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.]
(reviewed within a week of purchase)
Review by:
Ida Jansson
on Nov. 19, 2012 :
Daimones is a beautiful book about hope and despair in a world that is changed forever. The story feels very real and captures the reader from the first chapter. It is not difficult to put yourself in the main characters shoes, even when his world is turned upside down. You can truly feel his pain and hope. For me, this story was very capturing (I actually dreamed I was in the story myself two nights in a row). I can`t wait to read the next book in the trilogy to find out what happens with Dan and his family.
(reviewed within a week of purchase)
Review by:
Jeff Bailey
on Oct. 08, 2012 :
A very pleasant read by a new author! The first half of the book walks you through a modern apocalypse. You get to know Dan, the protagonist, and his family. If you are reading based on the sci-fi description, don't give up. The second half of the book will reward your patience!
(reviewed within a month of purchase)
Review by:
Natasha Slight
on Oct. 07, 2012 :
Recently, I have had the immense pleasure of reading Daimones, by Massimo Marino. We begin with excerpts of real news articles about the death of thousands of fishes and birds. For those of you who keep up with current events, you will have noticed that the internet has been peppered these past few years with such articles.
Our main character Dan is a loving family man who does the daily drone of going to work. What I really enjoyed at the beginning of the book is the description of the work environment, the peer competition, and the office politics. Here I’m thinking the author might be pulling from real life experience and I like it, because it’s believable! Write what you know as they say, right?
Dan is not happy with some of his coworkers, specifically the kiss-ass types who always manage to push their ideas onto the head honchos, despite the fact that it wouldn’t be in the company’s best interest. I’m talking about Carl who can and will suck up to every honcho in the company for his own advancement. Sound familiar anyone? On the other hand, we have Dan. To use Dan’s words, ‘he refuses to oil squeaking wheels or lick boots.’ Suffice it to say he gets fired and it’s the last ‘normal’ day he’ll ever have....at least for a while that is.
Here’s one of my favorite quotes: ‘I (Dan) was an impediment for someone, or considered to be one, refusing to put lipstick on pigs.’ Ouch!
Dan drives home while listening to a barrage of bad news streaming from the radio. Reading this part reminded me of why I don’t listen to the news. Waaay too depressing! But Dan on the other hand can’t believe how disastrous humanity has become. Killings, terrorist acts, species dying with no apparent reason, countries at war, on and on it goes. I almost wanted to smack Dan on the shoulder and tell him to shut off the radio.
Fast forward and Dan gets home to his family and is pummeled with more ‘evil’ news on TV. The author succeeds in showing just how decrepit the human society has become. And you know what? Things can actually get worse! Dan, along with his wife, Mary, and his daughter, Annah all head to bed at the end of the evening. All seems normal and poor Dan is now wondering what he’s going to do for work.
He wakes up in the middle of the night because of a strong windstorm blowing outside. The next morning the family is chipper and Dan heads out to bring Annah to school. On the way, he spots a tractor with the driver slumped over. He calls his wife and asks her to call the emergency personnel. Then he gets on the highway and that’s when things take a queer turn. There are cars everywhere, having crashed in one way or another. Nothing moves and there is no noise. Dan freaks and heads back home.
From there the story takes us through Dan’s discovery of what has happened to the people of the community. He goes to see if his neighbors are all right and comes back wishing he hadn’t gone looking. Confusion, sadness, and fear start to mix into a potent mixture. What has happened? I’ll let you discover this for yourself.....Will you believe me if I say that Facebook just might save the day?
The scenes the author has created made me laugh, made me feel sad, and had me questioning myself if I were put in that same position. What would you do if you knew your child could be the only one left alive in the world with no hope of a future, only waiting for her dying day? See what I mean? Makes you think. One particular scene even freaked me out. I mean really freaked me out! I’m not joking! Sitting alone in my office with darkness outside my window, I couldn’t take it anymore one night and had to shut the blinds. The next scenes seem to dig into my unconscious fears. What if I saw that glow? Aack! Lying in my bed that night, I kept expecting to see that slow moving glow to show up in my hallway! I don’t watch horror movies and there’s a reason for it...I have an over active imagination and I scare easily.
Despite a few grammar issues, I truly enjoyed this book. The writing is witty and sharp, and the author has obviously done his research on doomsday theories. In the end, when everything is explained about the First and Second Loss; it’s like watching a marathon of Ancient Aliens, which I absolutely love! All of the information condensed in so few pages was truly mind-boggling. The author provides so much accurate information on so many different scientific notions that you can’t come away from reading this book without having learned something. The ending leaves the reader with a sense of hope for humanity. As I said before, this book will make you think. All in all, this is a highly recommended read!
(reviewed within a month of purchase)