Pretty good BUT…..

I won’t put any spoilers in here so it’s safe to read this. This is a decent series, but it will cost pretty close to $100.00 to read (listen) to it all. If you are familiar with this genre, then it may or may not be worth it to you. The core story is good and for the most part the author does a good job getting you invested in the characters. I would say the biggest issue seems to be a lack of familiarity with EMP’s, nukes and in particular “Military” mindsets. A little research would have gone a long way to making the story more realistic. I am former Military and Law Enforcement, neither I nor anyone I have known in the service (my family is nearly all Military as well), think like this. The main character engages in a tremendous amount of circular thinking, and it seems that the authors main go to words are “But, However, Or, on the other hand”, etc. That actually gets really annoying and has made me stop listening for short periods of time. I am too invested in the series now at book 13 to just drop it. I won’t nitpick the story but there are some glaring weaknesses and cliche encounters. It does get to the point where you know when something is going to happen, and it is usually unconnected from reality. What I mean by that is events sometimes feel like “filler” to get to the next part of the story. Much like the main characters constant second guessing or as we called it in the service “paralysis by analysis “. A lot of coincidental timing that forces you to suspend your logical understanding of a sequence of events. Overall, though, if you are new to this type of story it isn’t a bad read. I saw a couple of comments from other readers regarding the women in the story, I agree with them, I would like to see authors give better representations of women in these types of stories. They aren’t all “barbies”, and they aren’t all “Sarah Conners”, but it seems like in all these stories you get one or the other. That doesn’t work with my experiences in real life. I know many women that are as comfortable painting their nails as they are doing tactical training, and I know many men that are also with the former but not the latter. As for the “bad guys” not every threat out there is a poorly educated snuff dipping rube or a Gang member. In a SHTF scenario will survivors need to deal with that type? I am certain of it. They are predictable. The real threat will be from similarly armed and trained groups that lack any moral code to override their desire for survival, the truth is that some people just find it easier to take other people’s things. I saw that every day for years as an LEO. In a SHTF scenario, that can have deadly consequences for the victims. Finally, I know we read these to escape reality, at least I do, but for a lot of people they read them as a form of mental prepping, authors should keep it real. They don’t need to get too graphic but sometimes a gruesome description or some serious language makes sense. Hope this helps.