After

The Shock, Book 1

By: Scott Nicholson

Narrated by: Kevin Clay

A massive solar storm erases the world's technological infrastructure and kills billions. While the remaining humans are struggling to adapt and survive, they notice that some among them have...changed. Rachel Wheeler finds herself alone in the city where violent survivors, known as zapheads, roam the streets, killing and destroying. Her only hope is to reach the mountains where her grandfather, a legendary survivalist, established a compound in preparation for doomsday.

Other survivors are fleeing the city, but zapheads aren't the only danger. Rogue bands of military soldiers want to impose their own order in the crumbling ruins of civilization. When Rachel discovers a 10-year-old boy, she vows to care for him even at the risk of her own life. And the zapheads are evolving, developing communal skills even as they lay waste to the society they will eventually replace.

©2013 Scott Nicholson (P)2015 Scott Nicholson

I was a little lost at first...

I was unsure of what was going on at first... I couldn't figure out if this was a Zombie story, Or an EMP story, or what it was.. I was wondering if I skipped a few chapters at first, so I even checked. things did get explained further in.
The book did pick up speed, but seemed to slow back down a bit in the middle, leading us all the way to a cliff hanger at the end.
this is not your typical zombie book.
I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Can't wait to listen to the next one

I love this kind of book it has all the different characters and stays with each one long enough that you get to know who they are. I love the narrator he did a great job no annoying voices that happens when they try to do to many voices, that did not happen here. I can not wait to start the second one. This book was given to me for free for my unbiased opinion.

The Earth has turned upside down - what do you do!

Where does After rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I have read/listened to a number of Zombi/Post Apocalypse books lately. This rates along with the upper tier of books of this genre.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I like the old survivalist in the mountains. Interesting character. Live and let live. Good common sense, in an environment of whacked out crazy people.

What does Kevin Clay bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Kevin Clay was interesting to listen to for several reasons. His delivery was professional, and captured the accents and characters, pretty much true to form. On another level you begin to feel like you are living story, vs. listening to a book narration. Nice job!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, it had a good flow. There are a series of characters seen in different chapters whose fates are intertwined. Some of the action or story line is predictable, with a number of surprises along the way. If I listened to the book on my way to work, I couldn't wait to pick up where I left off on my commute home.

Any additional comments?

Disclaimer: this book was gifted in exchange of an honest review. Writing a book and performing as a voice artist is a tough job. Both the writer and narrator lay it all out there for their audience to invest their time to make a judgement on this body of work. Frankly, for me, writing a review is easy. Did I like the story? Did the narrator bring the characters to life? Did I learn anything new from this book? Would I recommend someone else read this book? Yes, to all. This is another book in the zombie apocalypse genre. The characters are true to form. The story flows. The author keeps the story cohesive, while progressing the story line. Yes, I could relate to some of these characters. I recommend this book to anyone who likes the zombie/survivalist type stories. I will re-listen to "After The Shock" again, chilling out on the beach, sitting on my porch with an ice cold drink, and on my daily work commutes. I give it five stars, because I liked it, and Kevin Clay did a nice narration. Waiting for the companion books to come out!

Average CME Story with Minor Twist...

What can I say I really wanted to like this story. A CME wiping out people along with the electronics was an interesting premise for the story. But then the Zap Heads, the other humans who were not dead but effected by the CME were zombie like and attacked the non effected humans. The characters and story just got to be hard to like for me. If you are going to destroy the world leave people that the reader or listener will at least care about enough who will survive.

The narration was done by Kevin Clay and he did a great job with the story he was given. I have not heard a performance of his before this but I was really impressed and greatly enjoyed this performance.

This review copy audiobook was provided by the author/narrator/publisher free of charge via Audiobook Boom.

Starts slow but finishes well

Starts pretty slow but by the end it's tied together nicely and has your attention