Arks of America

By: D. A. Carey

Narrated by: Michael Driggs

Length: 13 hrs

Publisher's summary

With the country slowly descending into chaos, a visionary leader takes action. Dave Cavanaugh, a silver-haired outdoorsman, mountain hiker, and billionaire, dubbed the “Richard Branson of the Rockies”, sets in motion a plan to construct walled, gated communities across the country to preserve art, science, medicine, and religion - designed to be islands of calm in a sea of chaos. Much like Noah built an ark before the great flood, Dave intends to build a series of land-based arks before the country completely drowns in chaos. Arks of America.

Vince Cavanaugh, Dave’s nephew, a gruff ex-Special Forces soldier, is urged to take an active role in the project. Liz Pendleton, a beautiful auburn-haired actress from Kentucky now living in Hollywood, is one of the initial investors in the program. With alternating periods of violence and peace becoming the norm, eventually the periods of chaos get longer and don’t subside.

Where will the violence strike next? Who will be caught up in it? Will Dave Cavanaugh’s grand plan be enough and in time?

©2018 D. A. Carey (P)2018 D. A. Carey

Liked this story!!

great story.... I liked that it parallels the things that are happening today in real life. I also liked that I can follow the characters journey on the map from my phone or computer. I am a bit of a prepper so I felt like I could relate to the concept of being prepared for anything and living in a place that is self sustaining. The only problem I had was that it seems the only people that could afford to invest would have a safe place during civil unrest or end times, the only people allowed in the charter towns would be the rich or family and friends of David, he mentions that he wants people from all walks of life to live there but doesn't explain how a hard working low income family could get the chance to live in the safety of this community. I know poor people aren't as interesting and the rich but maybe it will be explained in the next book? this is a good story and worth the credit. I would also recommend to a friend, because it does have good ideas on survival.

Is this real life??

This book was great. I've recommended it to many people. I enjoyed the concept of the Arks and can't wait to start book 2 to see what has happened. Sometimes while listening I didn't feel like I was listening to fiction anymore. It makes me want to leave the city and start planning for this very real and potential future.

Good book, thanks D A carey

overall the book was well written. The author gave life to the characters. Made you move to the edge of your seat, and brought a tear on some parts. Can't wait to purchase the next in their series.

Dam good read.

As usual the the book was so interestiing and easy to follow that you could not wait to get back to it when I had to stop from time to time.

Excellent, engaging, fast-past, and thought provoking

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It’s fast-paced, yet the author does an excellent job with character building. I feel like I know the main characters, and have a good idea of how they operate and would react in certain situations. I was drawn into the story from the start, and it held my attention throughout. It’s so engaging, I’m glad book 2 is available so I can jump right into it. This book is also thought provoking. The unique idea of the arks as a business venture and the topics brought up in the story made me think and have stayed with me.

Just as this is my first experience with reading a book from D. A. Carey, it’s also the first time I’ve listened to a book narrated by Michael Driggs. He’s a great narrator. I love his voice, the consistency of the voices of different characters, as well as his dialogue sounding natural and at a natural pace. Excellent performance!

What a fantastic book. Character were lovable.

This book has it all. Great character, believable scenario and lots of action. Michael Driggs voice was superb. I cant wait to listen to the next book in the series. D.A. Carey keep the great books rolling please!!!!

A different take on the SHTF genre

This book looks at where America is now along with where it appears to be headed. Using current events as a jumping off point, he describes an idea and then proceeds to make it happen. This is not your typical prepper story where someone makes a bug out location and prepares for the SHTF. He is looking much farther out and is planning for After and the kind of place we want to live in when we get there.
Without having a complete social breakdown, enough can still go wrong to provide a very interesting story to bring home the point of being prepared and planning for the future.
I really enjoyed this story and heartily agree with making plans for after as well as planning to get through the changes that will come inevitably. We need community to be Americans and through that community we will have the best chance for survival of a decent way of living both through and after the SHTF. To be honest, that same community would be a better choice for today as well.

An excellent read

Action is a little slow in the beginning but it feels more natural than the world going to pieces in 24 hours. Very little profanity if any at all. Not full of ugly sex imagery and faith is apparent throughout the book.
I think I've found my next favorite author.

This is the first shtf book that the world fell apart due to things we are experiencing this past year. Far more believable because of this fact. Scary.

Back to the future!

Very well told story that paints the picture of what can/will happen at some time in the future and reminds everyone to take a stand against evil. Great job!

History Repeats Itself!

I really enjoyed this book and found the story and narrator to be excellent. I hope the author has plans to make this book the first in a long series. Although I have around 400 audio books this is the first one I’ve written a review about and will attempt to share what I think will be points of importance to potential readers without being long winded or giving away spoilers.

Although I have many books from this genre with varying degrees of plausibility, as an Iraq war vet and history teacher I believe there is much about this book that rings true. The story brings up some key examples of how nations have a life cycle and the advantages that students of history have in their ability to foresee when periods of transition are approaching. In particular the author references the Roman withdrawal from Britain to make this point. If you enjoy historical fiction, the “Camulod Chronicles” by Jack Whyte does a great job of giving a detailed description of the process a group of Britains use to create a community similar to the “Arch” communities in this book.

I think the aspect I find most relevant for our time is the way the author develops the concept of communities that are capable of adapting aspects of self reliance that are practical, sustainable and even profitable regardless of whether or not there is a societal collapse. Other points the author makes that I feel are right on target are; the need for there to be multiple communities that can support each other and take advantage of economic benefits similar to those utilized by corporate franchises or cooperative organizations, the ability of individual communities to alter some aspects of governance to better meet specific needs while staying with in the overall framework adapted by all the communities and finally, the need to gain buy in from people across the political, socio-economic, and vocational spectrum.

Unfortunately for most of us our understanding of self sufficient communities are limited to either a glancing knowledge of groups like the Amish or communes which may be considered extremist or crack-pot groups. (Waco and Ruby Ridge come to mind). As a result, I think most individuals or groups are deterred for forming self reliant communities due to fear of being mislabeled or of attracting negative attention from agencies such as the ATF.

I found the author’s references to high level government leaders and agencies such as Homeland Security to be consistent in whole or part with views most Americans express today. Concerns about the potential obstacles these elements can bring to bear as well as those listed above may explain why we have not seen any large scale efforts to organize a network such as the one author discribes. However despite these concerns and many others, I think the scenario described by the author would most likely succeed. Who knows, maybe there is a similar network and I’m just out of the loop!:-)

That being said, if a benefactor such as the one in the book were to come forward with a such a plan I believe I would be very tempted to invest! Perhaps the popularity of this book will inspire an individual with a similar level prowess and means to step forward and make such a concept a reality.

I hope you enjoy the read and find the story as thought provoking as I did.