Anthony J. Melchiorri

I enjoyed reading the first four books in the Tide series by Anthony J. Melchiorri. Domenic (ex CIA) and his team of Hunters are a top-secret covert unit that discovers a laboratory on an oil derrick in the middle of the ocean where a genetic weapon is engineered and accidentally unleashed. A simple scratch turns the victim into a demonic weapon - a fighting machine protected by bony scaled armor who feasts on their victims and are hard to kill. Unfortunately, in the days to follow, the virus spreads worldwide and humans everywhere begin fighting for their lives.

During these first four books in the eight book series, the Hunters encounter various missions and find themselves in seemingly unwinnable situations - killing hundreds, no thousands, I mean tens of thousands of these "skulls" while seeking survivors and trying to rescue Dom's family. During each of these missions, the team runs into evolved monsters - goliaths which are as big as homes and put the "Hulk" to shame, and spitters who spray hydrochloric acid at their victims; each is harder to kill than the regular, everyday run of the mill skull.

Team members die, some are injured by the skulls and destined to soon turn. Fortunately, Dom's ship is equipped with a full medical lab and a group of experts, who are searching for a cure. It doesn't take them long to develop a treatment to prevent humans from turning if treated quickly. However, only a small amount of doses exist with methods to mass produce the antidote.

The team soon encounters a group of humans (bikers) who captured Dom's children and a team member in Washington DC and hold them hostage for weapons and food. Of course, Dom doesn't negotiate with terrorists and the battle begins.

In book four, the military captures Dom's ship and holds everyone captive. It is difficult to understand why the General is doing this until readers learn that a high ranking member of the CIA is calling the shots. They are blaming Dom and his former boss for engineering and launching the pandemic. Dom's group fights back to retake his ship but doesn't want to injure any of the American soldiers since they are only following orders and not responsible for their actions.

I need to take a break from the series and come back to it later. Most of the action taking place is a running battle - very descriptive and full of killing skulls a thousand different ways. I do plan to return in the near future to see how Dom and his team continue the fight and who eventually survives until the end.… (mere)