Compelling Story and Characters but…….

It starts out really well, the characters are compelling and likeable. You have to suspend your disbelief a lot! I don’t believe the world would descend into chaos after 24 hours. There is a considerable amount of violence, most seems unnecessary but, it moves the plot along. Then in the last quarter of the book the author kind of ’checks out’, the writing becomes unimaginative and stilted.
The title in included with membership so, it’s a decent way to pass the time.

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Umm - It was “Included”

As others have said a story set in England with an American narrator? Who OK’d that? I don’t know the author but for
An 8 year old they have “meet the standards” for keeping the story going.

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1 person found this helpful

Fair "Free" Download

In this second book of the 'Surviving The EMP' series, Ryan Casey continues to weave the plotlines of his five focus characters - painting a picture of dedication to finding/helping loved ones in the face of a remarkably pessimistic prediction of societal collapse within hours of modern civilization losing power.
Casey isn't ever going to win any writing awards - but his vocabulary/prose is acceptable, his characters are largely relatable, and his description skills are creditable. Unfortunately, he also emphasizes the aforementioned "empathetic vs. sociopathic" philosophical inconsistencies among the citizenry and provides a noticeably scattershot encounter-based plot that has the feel of a freewheeling creative-writing nightclass assignment. 'After The Fall' aspires to "Social Commentary" but ends up disappointingly amateurish.

Reader Gabriel Vaughan turns in a decidedly "professional" performance - but once again brings attention to how inappropriate it is to read a story loaded with UK colloquiallisms ("torch" instead of "flashlight"; "A&E" instead of "ER"; etc) with an American accent. Tantor Audio's casting choice for this project is baffling.

As an included option (part of the 'Plus' initiative), this 5/10-star entry in the series was a reasonable distraction for a couple of quiet afternoons - but save your Credit for something else should they ask for one.

[NOTE: Casey is an uncommonly courageous author: killing off central characters in a way that builds tension.. it feels like these individuals are in genuine jeopardy when the rape gangs show up]

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okay, but storyline hard to believe

Good knowledge, sounds accurate as what would happen if a massive EMP would hit earth. How fast shtf would happen... But some characters stories are very far fetch... I read other reviews saying the same and I disregarded it. But they were not wrong. Enjoyable, but found myself rolling my eyes a couple times.

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Developing story

I really like seeing the different perspectives in real time between all the characters. For the most part you know they will all get together at somepoint but finding out how is the best part.

My few complaints are the narrator having a NA accent compared to British accent and the authors obsession with “lumps”.

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Totally unrealistic portrayal of survivors.

I have no idea what story the other reviewers were listening to that gave it 5 stars, but it wasn't this one. Totally unrealistic portrayal of the characters. On just day two, people are killing each other for food, and claiming they are starving. Are you freaking kidding me?
It has an overly dramatic storyline, unrealistic scenarios, pathetic characters.. and way too PREACHY to be tolerable.

Book one was slightly better, but still had utterly ridiculous elements put in for dramatic effect that made no sense at all.

I couldn't listen to the last 4 hours, I had such a headache from my eyes rolling back in my head I was getting dizzy.

Don't waste your money, unless you're from England, and have no concept of how to act in a crisis, or how people will act. No idea how to survive or how to deal with difficult situations, without the dark hero suddenly knifing a teenager to death over a bag of groceries, and during just the second day of the crisis.

oh, and if you have no concept of what firearms are, and that someone isn't going to approach a guy who is carrying a rifle ... with balled up fists to drive him from the neighbors property. That would be called a dead man in reality.

I wasted my money, and now it's too late to return it.

The choice is yours, but, there's far better survival books out there dealing with a CME or EMP event, that you might actually learn from.

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