Surviving the Fall Box Set

bad set up.

the story is missing a lot of elements like segways and poor character background, however the narrator is great as always. a lot of character development needs to be expanded. overall the book series seems rushed.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

This could have been great, but it is not.

I wanted to like this post-apocalyptic series, but it is just not a finished work. I mean it proceeds like something that was written in haste and without any actual experience or research. I made it as far as Rick leaving the company of the Military, then I had to quit. I found that the story just made me mad because I wanted to rewrite nearly every single part of it. Not to mention the abysmal telling by Chris Abernathy, more on that at the end of this review.

The two main characters, Rick and his wife (don’t remember her name because the 3 kids just call her mom), conveniently have just enough experience and knowledge to get by on their own, but their common sense, something one desperately needs to survive in a post- apocalyptic world, is nearly completely missing. If you can listen to the part about going into town for the first time and find it even remotely believable, then you must not know any mom’s or not have kids of your own. It is stupid to put it bluntly.

The story plays out like a video game, the characters have to solve one problem at a time and conveniently find what they need. How Rick manages to traverse across several states and only run into a handful of people is laughable. Are we to believe that 99% of all people just stayed at home, walked single file to a shelter or died? Please.

The parts that really got to me was Rick’s interaction with the Military. There is no part of it that is believable. I was a lower enlisted that spent 90% of my time working at the Brigade and Corps level. I interacted with every rank from 1 Star General down. Officers and enlisted alike don’t act or talk the way they are written in this story. Not only is it infuriating, it is disrespectful.

The entirety of what I listened to, 7 hours and 41 minutes, leads me to believe that Mike Kraus got the itch to write this after watching a bunch of movies and doing a little research online. Good writers write what they know. Writing about topics outside your wheelhouse is risky at best and outright tragic in cases like this.

If I never hear the “name” kiddo again, it will be too soon. How am I to believe that a mom would have only 1 pet name for all of her children. Kiddo is a name you would hear coming from a long lost uncle or acquaintance. So irritating.

Chris Abernathy reads this story like he is getting paid by the minute. He…..is…..so…..frustratingly…..slow. I listened to this at 1.3 the normal speed just to keep from pulling my hair out. And the gravely voice he chose for Rick, the computer nerd, is confusing. Only hard living or screaming will give you a “gargling asphalt” voice.

I wish I could have those hours back.

13 of 17 people found this review helpful

Did not like this book-set...

Way too much swearing. Even the grandmother was using strong words. Story content was good.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

author has very little knowledge of subject

the author knows little of nothing about any of the locations or technology used in his book. The entire population of every city seems to have magically disappeared from every city the hero passes through, except the bad guys. it was difficult to make me continue due to the unlikelyhood or every step along the way.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

This author should stick to writing children’s books.

If you are going to write about something you should understand your subject matter. Stick to stories that don’t involve prepping, firearms, fighting,gangs, hiking..... just go write vampire romance.

7 of 10 people found this review helpful

HYPOCRITES

What is it with this genre? It's the same premise every time: the husband is stranded far away from his family when SHTF and he must get back to them - because after all, they prepped and so they're better than you. I got to chapter 18 before the wife out and out murdered a guy with her laser and strobe light rifle - because he stood next to her barn with a pea shooter (in his pocket) asking for food. She then rationalized it to herself and to her kid that she HAD to kill that guy, even though all he said was that he was hungry. He was doing exactly what her husband was doing five states away - going around trying to scrounge to stay alive. How ironic that if the husband would have encountered someone just like his own wife - he'd have been shot on sight. But "as Christians," they were blessed because they prepped - and darn it, they deserve to kill hungry people. The thought of sharing food with the hungry man never occurred to the wife - just putting five bullets in his chest. Even stupid novels like this matter because they reinforce the profound hypocrisy and fraudulent righteousness that religious people practice but don't seem to recognize.

17 of 29 people found this review helpful

Diane, stop smiling at everyone all the time

Yes, we know you love your kids, but your face must hurt by now. Also, it makes a character super flat when they only have one reaction to someone else.
As the books got further and further into the story, I began to notice more and more repetition of words in the same sentence or paragraph. This is sloppy writing and is usually fixed in the second draft. This quick turnaround episodic type of writing had no second draft, just the first with all the spelling errors taken care of.
Everyone spoke the same, and not just because the narrator was not a five star narrator. The author was writing the movie he was watching inside his head and it was a B rated movie.
If the saying "show don't tell" was a book, this would be it, a 100 times over.
All the characters annoyed me. I found myself "rolling my eyes" all the time. I wanted to "interject myself into the conversation" with the author and tell him he wasn't writing real people, just strange cardboard props. "A high rate of speed", "descend upon them(upon?)", and so many more phrases that are repeated by all the characters, all of them, and also said in the narrative. Ugh.
Every bad guy was out of some nineties movie. Who were they before? Did they become a**holes with the freedom of the apocalypse, or where they always a**holes who were just waiting for the chance to rape, enslave, and murder? None of them were emotionally intelligent, they all had anger issues, they were all stupider than the "good guys".
The good guys also had great luck. Super, amazing good luck.
Jane, oh Jane. Did you have a purpose in this story? Were your helpful ideas really all that valuable to Rick the Wise Leader? Or were you just alive to show how normal people are so stupid? To ask Rick questions like you are an uncertain teenager? "Um guys, do you see what I see?" "What?" "Is it just me or is the sky blue?" Rick leans forward as he releases the gas a bit. "You're right Jane, it is blue. Good job on catching that." What would I do without this no-backstory Jane who has no skills, probably didn't have a job worth anything because it's not mentioned, can't contribute except to boost my ego and to be annoyingly youthful and ignorant. What would I do? Probably do everything the same if she wasn't present. Nothing would change if she had never been born. Nothing. Poor Jane.
Okay, so one last thing: how old is everyone? We know the kids ages and I assume Rick and Diane are in their thirties, but everyone else? Jane I assume is fourteen, the doctor scientist guy is either 45 or 65. 35 to 80 is my guess for Tina, Jason, and Sarah.
Oh wait, not the last thing. WHERE IS EVERYONE? WHERE DID THEY ALL GO? THERE ARE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN THE USA AND YOU'VE BEEN CROSSING THE ENTIRE COULTRY SO IT'S NOT LIKE THEY ARE JUST CHILLING IS RED CROSS CAMPS CONVENIENTLY IN ALL THAT STATES YOU DIDN'T PASS THROUGH. WHERE ARE THEY?
I think that's the real story. Obviously, there's been an alien invasion where 327 million people are now slaves being probed. The aliens clearly didn't want to abduct the biggest a**holes so that's why they are left on earth. Looking at you Diane and Rick.

Good for the price value, but buyer beware.

The whole series hints at prepper lit and espionage lore mixed with military quirks, but ends up more like a light Y.A. tale instead. It’s entertaining enough to keep you hooked, but it’s not heavy on facts or common sense, relying too much on Americana wishful thinking. Overall it’s alright, yet the ending chapter is abrupt and feels rushed to tie loose ends, but acceptable since it fits the rest of the story. Get it, if only for the price value.

Started off strong...

But half way thru I was having to force myself to finishing. The narrator would have been a lot better if he hadn’t given the main character such a weird voice...it was super annoying. The story was very predictable and had me rolling my eyes a lot. The author’s voice updates at the end of each book were so unnecessary ...it was like he was trying to either apologize for writing the book or trying really hard to convenience us to go on to the next. I ended up skipping most of the husbands story and just listening to the wife’s story...hers was so much more enjoyable.

I kept waiting on the hook, but never got it.

I liked the idea of average people trying to survive, but they weren't. I loved the idea behind the tech àpacolypse. the narrator is an acquired taste.