• The World Burns: A Post-Apocalyptic Story

  • By: Boyd Craven III
  • Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
  • Length: 1 hr and 56 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (294 ratings)

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The World Burns: A Post-Apocalyptic Story  By  cover art

The World Burns: A Post-Apocalyptic Story

By: Boyd Craven III
Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
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Publisher's summary

Tension grips the country as the nuclear talks with Iran start to go poorly. This is largely ignored by the populace, and the threat of war goes unheeded.

Blake has lived his life through hard work and his blog - Back Country J. He's an off-grid homesteader, blogger, and author. He has the life that preppers dream of, and he never knows it. As an on-again-off-again handyman, he learns how to fix everything in his life except loneliness, until he meets Sandra.

Sandra is an army veteran who has caught his attention, and she's also the preacher's daughter. Sparks fly the first time they meet, and the shy hermit asks her out on a date.

Follow the couple as they try to survive raiders, hunger, and human nature when the balloon goes up after an EMP is set off.

©2015 Boyd L Craven III (P)2015 Boyd L Craven III

What listeners say about The World Burns: A Post-Apocalyptic Story

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

NOT CHEAP, FRUGAL. Response to Jan

OFF GRID, LOG
Let me start with the narrator, which I only ever do, if he/she is real bad or real good. If you are going to write a prepper novel, an apocalypse novel and you want your audible version to be popular, than hire Kevin Pierce. Kevin's voice seems to add a certain amount of credibility to a story. As long as you don't have a whole bunch of characters, as his character voices are numbered. Kevin is the number one narrator for this genre and I love his voice. Kevin turns this book from four stars to five.

TRUSTING THE GOVERNMENT TO UNSTOPPER THE GENIE IN THE BOTTLE
The main character is more a McGyver than a prepper, which makes him even more important when the shit hits the fan. If you did not prepare for an EMP (I KNOW WHAT A EMP IS), this book can help you better than any other. He shows how to take things you already have and make them work in any situation. What I like about this book, is that the main character is not a Mr. Know It All. He is a very likable character, who is not always saying I Told You So, or putting down non-preppers.

Response to Jan's Rant
Jan wrote almost two years ago about the paid reviewers, which is a subject I have ranted about. It is even worse now. These individuals are now appearing at the top of the reviewer categories. Partially because everything they write is positive. When you write a negative review, those who liked the book get upset at you and your review. Some of them have even taken their hate toward me a step farther than the one review. They seek out my other reviews and without even reading them, dink me. They also work together to bolster each other. That is why it is important to follow someone with your tastes. This is not a plea for followers as my taste have a tendency to be more sophomoric and gory than others. Matter of fact I was going to follow Jan, but it turns out she hates books I like and loves some I don't like. So, while I am with her about reviewers, I am not going to follow her and she won't follow me, as our taste in books differ.

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54 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Prepper "Story" and my rant on phoney reviews...

So here we have the first part of a novel rather than a complete story. At time of this review there are no further stories available to complete this novel. The price if you don't use a credit isn't horrible... but there are currently 5 available on Kindle so that's at least $25 to get the full book.

I do very much like the plot, characters and information presented and would have ranked this higher if it had been a complete book. I just can't understand this current trend of marketing portions of SHTF books... lets get back to full books like "Alas Babylon," "One Second After," "Jakarta Pandemic," "5 Days at Memorial," "77 Days," "Equipping Modern Patriots," "The Road,'" "The Postman," "Cyberstorm," and even "Swan Song" or "Disaster Diaries..." I will probably buy the next one of this when it comes out... thus perpetuating the problem I so dislike.

While I am on my soapbox, could I point out that there is now a business online that sells positive reviews for books. For $150 an author can buy five, 5 star reviews no questions asked and even give suggestions of what to say. And they will give thumbs up to other positive reviews forcing the negative ones to the bottom. At first they were easy to spot because the reviewers had only done one review and one rating. Now they have been in business for a while it is hard to tell them apart. I would encourage Audible readers not to give a thumbs up to a review when it first encourages you into purchasing it... rather take the time to go back and thumbs up or down reviews according to your reading preferences and get the accurate reviews at the top. I have been taken in several times lately and it makes me mad when I see obviously phony 5 star reviews on books that I have read and know are awful. (I am not talking about this book). If we as readers let this slip by...reader reviews will be useless in the future.

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36 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

liked this because it was about the here & now

Taking a very small part of the world, author Boyd Craven III,   provides a unique view of an apocalypse as it is happening.  Blake is a prepper – an end of the world prepper who relies on his wit, bartering abilities and luck to make his home and small town life safe for him.  He blogs about his advances in building a prepper fortress relying on solar power and other methods of survival when the grid falls.

Sandra is an ex-military grease monkey and daughter of the local minister.  She’s also a secret reader of Back County J blogger.  When she meets up with Blake, the romance begins.  Not used to being around others for long periods of time, Blake struggles but falls hard for sweet Sandra.  Sandra falls even harder for him when she sees his preps and realizes Blake is none other than Back County J!  Just as they are ending their first date, the unthinkable happens – a massive EMP goes off rendering the area powerless, defenseless and our two sweethearts soon learn that life is going to be very difficult now that the power is out at the nearby prison thus releasing hardcore prisoners ….

Although Iran is mentioned and how the nuclear talks breakdown, they are only a side note.  I liked this book because it was about the here and now – it wasn’t about the big city chaos, the politics or military.  It is about the down to earth type people struggling against nature and humanity in their immediate area.  The struggle with morals and ethics is clear and emphasizes the situation makes them different.  This story is serious but light as well.  There were some duh moments during the romancing but they were fun and light.  Also, this story was not about blood and gore per se – yes there were some traps built that would do heavy damage but it was not focused on; neither was sex, in fact it was a nice change of pace.

The story line was strongly written and executed.  I could vividly “see” Blake, Sandra and the others as they came into the action.  Craven has a solid knowledge of human nature and the fears that drive us as a society.  He doesn’t hesitate to use that knowledge.

Kevin Pierce proved to be an excellent narrator.  Pierce spoke with confident tones with Sandra, a bit hesitant with Blake and so forth.  He portrayed each character vividly through his voice.  Smooth, his words tumbled forth effortlessly snagging attention and holding it.  He blended into the story like a shadow, you knew he was there but he became one with each character.

I enjoyed this book in many different ways - it was fresh, solid and as I said before - it had more down to earth characters.

There were no issues with production.  The audio was fluid.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Par for the Course

If this book were written 10 years ago then it might be fresh and thought provoking. However, with a slew of authors (Boyd Craven III included) jumping on the bandwagon of dystopian TEOTWAWKI novels (or series) in the past few years, its becoming hard to tell them apart. It also seems as though narrator Kevin Pierce is fully entrenched in this genre, which further fuses these stories into one big cocktail of chaos.

This story doesn't bring anything new to the table except the ridiculous short length. At least you can get your apocalyptic fix without having to wade through several hours of character building narrative. The characters here are mostly cardboard cutouts of this genre with plot elements you've "heard" many times before. It's not necessarily bad, but it's not great fiction either. This is mostly an attempt to see how many books, or audiobooks, can be sold by this author with this series. If this first book is a teaser of what's to come then I'm doubtful I'll spend the time and credits to patiently wait for the author to churn out a never ending money hole saga. There are other series out there that are better, or at least just as good, if you believe 3 or 4 full length novels are enough to wrap up a post-apocalyptic series and move on.

Overall a good filler while you wait for the next novel in your favorite series to come out, but not really worth the 1 credit.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Story!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would, its short and a good story!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Blake and Sandra...they make a good team!

Which character – as performed by Kevin Pierce – was your favorite?

See Above! I hate it when you ask the same question 2 different ways!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No, but it is something that could totally happen!

Any additional comments?

** I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review **

This is a short post apocalyptic tale...that could definitely become a reality...but lets hope not....lol It is a short story of survival and some of the ugly truth about what could go down if this happens! I liked it..it flowed well, it was narrated well and I listened all in one sitting! I recommend!

Thank You Audiobookblast(dot)com

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great read about after the "bomb".

Where does The World Burns: A Post-Apocalyptic Story rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is a great book where it left me wanting to co plate it pretty quickly.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The World Burns: A Post-Apocalyptic Story?

The ending was the most memorable, needed to stay up late to complete it. Edge of my seat with what would happen next.

Have you listened to any of Kevin Pierce’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is the first book that I listen to from this author and narrator. I found it to be amazing!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

My only reaction was the ending, because now I need to know what happens next...

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great prepper story

I loved the story. It was short though. I hope the writer makes a follow-up to this book!

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
  • D
  • 06-26-15

Quick, fun, and surprising romantic apocalypse

Would you listen to The World Burns: A Post-Apocalyptic Story again? Why?

I very well might pick this one up again someday. It was such a short and enjoyable ride.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I found the narration of this story to be splendid. Kevin Pierce was very articulate, and he added just enough emphasis where needed. A lot of the problem with books like this is that many narrators go way over the top with voices and enunciation. Pierce kept it conversational, and I was able to sit back and enjoy him telling me a story.

Any additional comments?

The story itself wasn't too deep, but it's exactly what you'd expect and want with a 2 hour long post-apocalypse book. I was actually kind of surprised how well written it actually was. There is a major focus on the prepper lifestyle and homesteading. If you are into that sort of thing, you will really enjoy this one. I received this audiobook for free from Audiobookblast in exchange for an honest review.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

where are the rest of the series?

great book, but book 2-5 are not on audible? I would like to listen to the rest of them.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The World Burns

A survivalist blogger learns his preperations aren't in vain.I enjoyed this short book.Kevin Pierce is the best narrator that this kind of story can get!I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.”

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2 people found this helpful