4.5 out of 5 stars

You may have never heard of Joe Russell but that should not prevent you from checking this book out.  He’s been a fan of the genre for years and lives in the area that this book takes place.  Given that information, the surroundings that are in the book felt super realistic and were probably all real or based on real areas.  And I can tell that he’s been a fan of the genre for some time because this book definitely draws from a lot of different books that I’ve read and enjoyed.

The biggest comparison I could make is Opus Odessey by Boyd Craven.  It reminded me a little of One Man’s Opus (minus the dog) for the first 40% or so (explaining the people and how/why they were preparing but no real “threat” or apocalyptic event has happened).  But the second half reminded me a lot of Odyssey. It blends in aspects of a really good kidnapping thriller with the preparedness mindset of a prepper book.  Russell was able to blend these genres seamlessly and wrote a book that could be enjoyed by Prepper/Post-Apocalyptic and Thriller readers alike.

The main characters filled the spectrum of typical-PA stereotypes with some slight differences.  There was still a lot of unknown.  Most of the preppers weren’t full-time preppers (most people aren’t) and most of them were just preparing for anything.  I also like that even being fully prepared for any situation doesn’t mean that you will have everything you want/need when SHTF. He showed that aspect too when one character was mad that he didn’t bring NV-goggles (he’d left them in the truck).

I knew I wanted to read this story when another PA author suggested the book.  I picked the Kindle edition up the day it was released to help Russell’s numbers.  But I held out hope that it would be turned into an audioboook (and I really hoped that Pierce would narrate it).  My hopes came true and I’m glad that I held out.  Pierce just added that little extra to an already good story.

I am intrigued to see where Russell goes in the next book since a lot of stuff was mentioned and hinted at for more to the story… but I’m not sure how it’ll go for the characters and how things will work out.

I recieved a free copy of this book – it has not affected my review in any way. If you enjoyed my review, please vote for it!