Book notes: Hell Divers V by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

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Hell Divers V: Captives by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

Synopsis:

“Humanity has finally found a new home, but the price is blood….

After a long, perilous journey, Hell Divers Xavier Rodriguez and Magnolia Katib discover the Metal Islands, a sunny, habitable zone where thousands of people live by fishing and farming. But this “paradise” is really a violent warrior society ruled by the cannibal King el Pulpo. For the first time in X’s life, he is forced to lay down his arms and surrender.

Back on the airships, the Hell Divers are recovering from a gruesome discovery at Red Sphere, where they learned the truth about World War III. Now, they must fight another war – this time for what remains of their own endangered species. As the battle approaches, alliances will be forged and others broken.

Forced to fight in the Cazador army, X faces his toughest mission yet. Will he help his people come down from the sky and claim the promised land, or will humanity go extinct?” -Audible

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Opening thoughts:

While I love this series, I feel like I’m going through it too quickly. I should really slow down to enjoy the series, but at the same time, I can’t put it down. I’m glad that my favorite charactes are still alive, but not sure how much longer their luck will last, especially with these odds. I’m excited to see how this war plays out between the “sky people” and the Cazador army on the sea.

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Key notes:

Prologue

• The Cazadores saved Roger’s life and wanted him alive for some reason

Chapter 1

• X was being kept in solitary confinement. Meanwhile, Katrina and the other hell divers were figuring out the best plan of attack using the two airships and their battleship

Chapter 2

• Michael and Les were discussing bringing Timothy the AI back online to help them
• Magnolia managed to kill one of the guards by pushing him over the railing, but didn’t resist afterwards, and figured she could find another opportunity to escape later

Chapter 3

• Katrina managed to make contact with the Hive and told them they could tell everyone the truth of what they were getting into in hopes of recruiting a strong fighting force

Chapter 4

• They dressed Magnolia so that she could join El Pulpo to watch the gladiator fight with X and Roger

Chapter 5

• X and Roger managed to survive the battle and kill the Hammerhead, the undefeated champion
• Michael asked for Timothy’s help in figuring out if the AI robots called Defectors, the killing machines, could be controlled for their upcoming battle 

Chapter 6

• Katrina made contact with the Seawolf and confirmed X was alive. But now they were under attack by large flying creatures

Chapter 7

• X was being sent back to the mainland to fight sirens

Chapter 8

• Michael told Katrina his plan to use an EMP bomb to capture the defectors and any laser weapons to help in their fight. She agreed to let him go with a skeleton crew for 4 days

Chapter 9

• They made it back to Red Sphere, and the EMP was successful

Chapter 10

• They had a funeral send-off for Jeb before they put his body into the ocean

Chapter 11

• The barracudas, the team X was going with, fought sirens, but had an alternative mission, apparently

Chapter 12

• The hell divers on the Zion fought off two wave runners approaching them and might have to deal with more later

Chapter 13

• X and the barracudas fought off sirens in a greenhouse; however, a larger apex predator was approaching

Chapter 14

• Magnolia was given the option to marry El Pulpo so that her people could live on one of the oil rigs in a cage. Instead of hoping that they would come rescue her, she hoped that they would stay away and stay free in the skies
• The crew of the Zion started their attack against the casadores cruiser ship, though Katrina got hit by a bullet in the torso

Chapter 15

• Michael’s team made it into the lab and found pods full of hybrid human machines
• Magnolia suffered through a final dinner with her soon-to-be husband before news of their ships being lost caused El Pulpo to leave immediately

Chapter 16

• All the Barracudas fought the giant armored beast, which they managed to kill with only X, Rhino, and Wendig alive in the end

Chapter 17

• The crew of the Zion boarded the Cazadores ship to see if anything was salvageable
• They looked into the hybrid man’s memories and discovered it was Dr. Diaz, the one who ran all the experiments to extend biological life

Chapter 18

• X’s group made it back to the shore, where the rest of the fighting force was cleaning up and scavenging
• They took a few casadores prisoner but discovered victims who were treated cruelly and starved by the casadores. Katrina decided to free the victims and feed them

Chapter 19

• Magnolia seized an opportunity to kill the two guards and take Imola hostage

Chapter 20

• The Deliverance came, and they all regrouped

Chapter 21

• Michael’s operation to attach his new robotic arm was a success. Also, Leila told him privately that she’s pregnant
• Sophia and Magnolia managed to escape onto the Seawolf, but they were trapped by other ships

Chapter 22

• X and the Barracudas were ambushed by Deliverance, and only he and Rhino were left alive after the attack

Chapter 23

• Team Raptor landed on the top platform and fought a horde of soldiers

Chapter 24

• X and Rhino found a small boat and were able to start it up and head back to the metal islands. He also found out Rhino secretly wanted to kill El Pulpo too, and would help X on his mission

Chapter 25

• Katrina and the Zion fought hard and destroyed as many Casadores boats until she decided to ram the Zion into the remaining fleet 
• Team Raptor fought as deliverance helped, but was ultimately shot down. Michael went down to help Leila and the rest on the ship

Chapter 26

• Rhino and X managed to finally kill El Pulpo, and the rest of the Cazadores army surrendered
• The war ended, and X was seen as the new king of the casadores, and with Katrina gone, the new leader

Epilogue

• They renamed the metal islands to the Vanguard Islands and undertook a new mission to rescue any survivors still left in hiding
• The Deliverance was salvaged and renamed Discovery

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Closing thoughts:

Another great book in the series. I love how the living legend of X as “The Immortal” only continues and grows with each subsequent book. I thoroughly enjoy the series, but similar to how John Wick seems to be unstoppable, I can’t help but think X is just a recipient of heavy plot armor.

Regardless, highly recommend this book, and I’m excited to read the next book in the series.

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Nutshell:

The Hell Divers prepare to fight El Pulpo and the Cazador army to take the metal islands as the last hope for humanity.

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Similar books:

• Hell Divers 4 by Nicholas Sansbury Smith
• Hell Divers 3 by Nicholas Sansbury Smith
• Hell Divers 2 by Nicholas Sansbury Smith
• Hell Divers by Nicholas Sansbury Smith
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed by Sean Williams
• Armada by Ernest Cline
• Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
• Dune by Frank Herbert

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Rating:

4/5

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