Discharged from the army after a debilitating brain injury, Asher Benson is a hard case. He lives in a run down efficiency apartment on skidrow, his only income coming from his disability payments. He suffers from PTSD, survivor's guilt, and more. Worse, somehow the injury has changed him. Unless he exercises the most extreme mental discipline - which is exhausting - or drinks himself numb, he can slip past the barriers in people's minds. He can read minds.

Much Miriam Black, the ability to read minds is much less of a gift than it first sounds. Without being able to keep walls up, he is constantly getting flooded with other people's experiences. He really doesn't want to know what the neighbor upstairs is thinking at two in the morning. Walking down the street, he has a hard time just making it from point A to point B.

Of course, there are those that appreciate powers his. Asher comes to the attention of a shadowy government organization after stopping a bank robbery. A terrorist is threatening to use psychic powers to cause havoc on the streets of US cities. They need Asher to find, and stop, this guy. Or is there something more subtle going on?

Four stars out of five. This book was a lot of fun and better than I had expected. It is not in the least deep, but it is loads of fun - an action packed romp.2015 fantasy-urban12 s Michael SlavinAuthor 8 books262

This book made me laugh very often. When you can hear everyone's thoughts, I didn't realize how it gives an author a great opportunity to make everyone the straight man. I laughed out loud more than a few times in this action thriller.

Ash the hero has returned from Afganistan as a combat vet in bad shape mentally. He can hear everyone and tries to drown it out with alcohol.

He gets some meaning in his life by getting drawn into trying to stop an ex telepathic government operative who wants revenge on everyone, lots of people die.

Nonstop action.....This was a very good book.

Strongly recommend.

Review by Mike Slavin author of award-winning Kill Crime (action-packed thriller on Amazon to buy or KU) action crime-thriller fiction ...more11 s Cheryl2,038 69

Entertaining & fast paced. Omg! I loved the character Nami - hilarious.5 s Timbrr171 1 follower

This was......not a good book.
Mostly from a subjective standpoint. For instance, if you those slasher flicks with female characters with big boobs and no bras, running from a killer as their friends are picked off in gory ways...you might enjoy this book.

But if you're not a fan of one of the 2 female characters in a book being introduced as a pair of boobs (almost literally, I'm not even exaggerating here) then that's strike one. And it gets literally no better from there for her. She's borderline a bimbo throughout the whole book. The other female character, by the way? A thirty year old foul mouthed woman who everybody thinks looks a child. It's played for laughs, of course, but personally I think there's enough (again, almost literal) infantilizing of women, especially women of color, in media.
Not to mention that the characters are just....dumb. I specifically recall a scene where the main character (the titular Ash) is being interrogated (or something) by an agent, and, despite the agent speaking in plain terms that anybody with half a brain would be able to follow, Ash is confused by the "code" the agent is speaking in.

There's also that the book takes place over the course of two days, when it would've been served much better to have been stretched out over longer. As it is, you have the main character being beat to shit and in fights constantly, only /just/ running out of energy at the very end of the book. A truly herculean effort for someone who's a barely in shape alcoholic.
I mean, in general, the book reads a big power fantasy. And I understand that. Though this particular one is hyper masculine in a way that grosses me out. There's a way to make a power fantasy that's at least veiled enough to be a fun, engaging, deep story. This book does not do that.

Having said all that, I /did/ read all the way to the end, mostly out of a morbid curiosity. But yeah, it never really got better. The ending wasn't even satisfying. And not even in a sequel hook kind of way. It was just bleh. The plot is a loosely tied together string of events. Which, again, felt super rushed because it happened over the course of 2 days.
The "magic system" that I'm so fond of talking about felt fairly inconsistent. Granted, it's not /that/ crazy that Ash wouldn't have a very good grip on his powers or know the extent of his abilities. But to go from "This character has telepathy but he can't shut it off so he has to drink to drown it all out" to "This character not only has literally no issues but can also use his telepathy to control others, even multiple people at once" is such a point of whiplash my neck is still sore.
Also at the end Ash gains precognition? Or something? That helps him save the day? Super convenient, and also with zero grounds anywhere else in the book (considering that agent from earlier shot down multiple psychic abilities).

So yeah, a pretty gross, mediocre book. I stuck with it for my own morbid curiosity and because I'm a sucker for magic systems, but this was ultimately very unsatisfying. I don't expect to read the rest of the series.4 s The BehrgAuthor 13 books147

A "hero" who despises people and lives a hermit- life as a vagrant suddenly decides to get involved in a bank robbery, saving the day.

A "heroine" who is described by her "big breasts" and little else, who is saved by said hero, is somehow intensely attracted to our him despite the fact he looks and smells (and lives) a homeless man.

A "villain" who kills because he is bad, intent on destroying America.

Dialogue where every other line is an off-handed quip or action movie one-liner.

Sigh ... bored yet?

Speaking solely as a reader, I had a very difficult time finishing this novel. I realize it has a ton of great and admit there are those who might enjoy reading about a one-dimensional woman defined by her "large tracts of land." I was a little offended, however, that that was the ONLY attribute our leading lady could be defined by.

The thing is, Jason Brant is a good writer. His prose was smooth and polished and you can tell he has talent. But this just read one of those hurried B-movie scripts from a guy who's trying to write a tent-pole movie while copying everything he's ever seen in a movie to get there. Just wasn't my cup of tea.

A hurried 2 1/2 stars.5 s Mrs.J.C.Mooney194

It Started out OK....

It started out ok, I had high hopes for a good read.....those hopes were soon dashed. It turned out to be the biggest load of twaddle I've read in a long time.3 s Mary191

For five years Asher Benson has lived alone, in squalor and almost perpetually drunk in order to shut out the voices in his head from his brain injury induced telepathy. On the way home from a beer run, he decides to walk into a bank he knows is being robbed so he can help. That one decision is the first step in a series of events that have him kidnapped, arrested, attacked, shot at and generally running for his life not only from the feds and the police, but from a psychotic telepath who is able to control the minds of those around him.

This book is an expansion on one of Brant’s novellas and it is wonderfully done. As always Brant’s writing is filled with well placed humor. The pacing is perfect, making it a quick, action-packed read. The changes/additions really help to further develop Ash's character and give more depth to the story. I think the prologue is an especially good addition. Ash's struggle to do the right thing and to help people while still trying to manage his affliction is very well done. I love his reactions and smart a** comments and how sometimes they add the slightest hint of vulnerability to him. The dynamic between he the other characters is great, especially his “bromance” style relationship with Drew. I can’t wait to see where Brant takes the series from here.

*I received a free copy of this book from the author as a beta reader2 s Jamie147 30

Okay, well first of all after recently reading Devoured and Consumed: the first two books in The Hunger by Jason Brant I was very much looking forward to Ash. I've only read four of Jason Bran'ts books (One of them co-authored with another author) but they were more than enough for him to become one of my new favorite authors and earned him his very own folder on my Kindle which pretty much means I will be buying every single book he has out or will one day put out. His books are just that good and Ash...Ash was something else entirely. It is in a league of it's own Aka in JamieSpeak: it was Freaking Amazing!!!

While serving his country, Ash who is the main hero of the tale was wounded and while recovering at the hospital he started hearing voices in his head only he wasn't going crazy he initially thought he was but was actually hearing other people's thoughts. Think Professor X of the X-Men only it's not quite as cool as you would think. Imagine being able to constantly hear what everyone was thinking around you. Just think about some of the things that runs through your mind at times, all of your most private thoughts, all of the bad things about other people not to mention all of the insane and crazy things that happen to go through your mind each and every day, Just imagine what it would be to be privy to all of that. Do you really want to know that your coworkers hate you or that they think you're ugly? What about the people who think you're sexy? That wouldn't be much better honestly. I can only imagine what it would be and I doubt it would be very pleasant especially if you couldn't tune them out or shut it off at will.

Fast forward a few years and Ash is pretty much living a bum. He found that alcohol can help dampen the echoes (that's what he calls hearing other people's thoughts) that constantly bombard him. The more exhausted he is the harder time he has shutting out other people's thoughts. When he first wakes up it's not so bad but as the day progresses he has to drink in order to literally stay sane. I don't know if I'd consider him an alcoholic at least not now, maybe back when he first started hearing the thoughts of others but an old army buddy named Drew (who also happens to be the only person who knows of his ability) has been helping him. He's been getting him back into the real world, helping him to exercise and stay in shape which seems to help hone his ability.

Fortunately for us Ash is a good person. He doesn't use his powers to harm others, to make himself rich. He doesn't intruding on other peoples private thoughts so he pretty much lives a bum. What little money he has from his Service Disability he spends on rent and beer. So on one very ordinary morning our extraordinary hero heads out to buy some beer and on his way home he happens to be passing by a bank that is being robbed. He knows he should just keep on going, to just not worry about it but that's just not the person Ash is. He was born to help others. He enlisted in the military to help make a difference so using his unique abilities he strolls right into danger with nothing more than a case of beer in his hands and a snarky attitude and ends up setting off a chain of events that will have far reaching consequences for our hero, his best friend and the most hilarious and unly group of ragtag heroes ever to grace the pages of a book. The rest is just one pure adrenaline ride of pure awesomeness.

Once again Jason Brant shows that he can not only write some of the best action scenes ever but also how well he can walk that fine line between action and character depth/character development. The pacing is perfect and the characters (both good and bad) are the heart and soul of this book and Ash is at their center. All of the characters were rich and had their own distinct personalities and the dialogue between Ash and his friends had me cracking up throughout the whole book, especially between him and Drew who is his best and probably only friend. Then there's Sammy who is just an innocent bystander (and a really hot one at that) who gets sucked into the middle of everything along with Nami whom I'm not even going to say anything about other than every single scene with her in it was just too much fun. You'll just have to read for yourself but she's just larger than life and had me laughing so hard I thought I'd broken something. Jason Brant has a wicked sense of humor and his characters really shine because of it.

There's just so many things to love about this book. The storyline was excellent with plenty of action, humor, witty dialogue and characters you will be thinking about long after you've finished reading the book. This is not only the best book by Jason Brant that I've read but one of the best books I've read period. The man has a real knack for telling a great story. I literally could not put my kindle down. I'd been having a bit of a reading slump because I've had so much going on but this book officially ended that slump. I loved this book and cannot wait to read more about Ash. The ending leaves it off in such an excellent place for a sequel and I am eagerly looking forward to the day that I get to continue my adventures with Ash along with all his friends. I really hope Nami and Sammy will be in the sequels. They were just too much fun and I would love to know more about both characters.

I cannot recommend this book enough. If you love any type of paranormal, action/adventure or thrillers then this book will be right up your alley. Even if that's not your normal cup of tea then I'd still urge you to give Ash a try. It's just written in such a unique voice that I think this tale will pretty much appeal to everyone It's just that good! Stories this are why I read. I say it every single time I find a great book but it's the truth. I love the escape. I love identifying with characters on an emotional level and I love the way a good book makes me feel. Ash deserves at least 10 stars for doing all of that but unfortunately I can only give it 5 because that's all that's allowed.

http://jamiesbookblog.com/ash-jason-b...2013 action-adventure paranormal-paranormal-romance ...more1 Matthew112 15

Throughly entertaining book that I got to read for free…thanks, Amazon! And, of course, thanks to the author who I assume had some say in that. Basically, this tale is an action-adventure story along the lines of Gerard Butler's Angel Has Fallen (or one of its predecessors) but with a superhero or supernatural twist--the lead character, Asher Benson, an honorably discharged soldier with PTSD--has telepathy due to a head injury sustained in battle. This protagonist ends up getting conscripted into working for the government (or is it??) to help in the fight against a domestic terrorist with even more powerful telepathy than Asher's. This is sort of a comic book story but with a lead that's quite realistic despite his paranormal ability--all he can do is read minds. He isn't gifted Superman with imperviousness to injury or any of that which makes him very relatable. This is a fun story which I more than enjoyed enough to read the next book in this series.1 Adri2661,402 28

Hlavny hrdina Ash je velmi sympaticky chlapik. Byvaly vojak, ktory pocas zasahu prisiel o celu jednotku a utrpel zranenie hlavy. Vdaka tomu ziskal nove schopnosti-dokaze citat myslienky inych.
No Ash namiesto toho, aby to vyuzil vo vlastny prospech, zije ako bezdomovec, utapa svoje schopnosti v alkohole a snazi sa prezit dalsi den.

Ked sa jedneho dna ASh zapletie do potycky v banke, prezradi svoje schopnosti a uz je iba otazka casu, kedy si ho vsimnu CIA ci FBI.

Bolo to fajn, on je sympatak, so svojim kamosom sa stale natahuju a ich humor mi sadol. Urcite si precitam aj dalsi diel.i-need-the-next-book mystery thriller1 Lexi Swanson67 15

So- its not a great book as in "it changes your life". Its a great book as in- it's a tornado in a trailer park
Autor del comentario:
=================================