Breakdown: An EMP Survival Thriller

By: J. R. Tate

Narrated by: Scott Ellis

Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's Summary

 A situation of this magnitude had always been talked about - but could it ever really happen?

Jake Shepherd is piloting a flight to Seattle when out of the blue, his aircraft falls from the sky. The power-grid across the United States crashes, leaving all computerized machines crippled, sending the country into a disastrous tailspin.

Alice Shepherd is working the emergency room when hundreds of injured people pour in needing help. With no electricity, resources are limited - once the back up generators fail, the hospital will not be able to handle the influx of patients being brought in, guaranteeing that all hell will break loose.

Everyone is speculating and panicking. No one knows what really happened. The only thing everyone can agree on is their simple, convenient, technological world is gone. Everyone is left to fight - kill or be killed. Survive or die.

©2017 J. R. Tate (P)2017 Rusty Bucket Publishing

Could have been much better

I love books like this and this one starts off with a great idea. Its follows 3 characters: Jake, the father/husband to the other characters and is the pilot of a plane that crashes. Alice, the mother/wife and an ER nurse in Texas. And Sophie who is in Boston and daughter to Alice and Jake.

The character development could have really used some work. The story is great. The action scenes are good. But you don't get attached to anyone in the book. You don't learn much about them just that they are surviving this EMP attack, you get snippets here and there. I don't know if the other books elaborate on this but sadly I won't give them a try to see. This story has so much potential.

The story follows each character as they try to make it home and survive each of their unique situations. Again so much potential but if fell just a little short of being a great story. If the characters were developed more and more personality put into them it would have been fantastic.

Scott Ellis did a wonderful job reading this and I will listen to future works by him.

I requested and was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review with my honest opinion.

Not a fan sadly..

I really LOVE EMP stories, I think my audio library is more then 50 percent - emp kind of stories. and there are some really good ones out there on this site. Sadly, this is not one of them.
This story just seemed to unreal, and the characters I could not bond with at all. I don't know how to put it into words but there were so many uncharacteristic things that came from the characters.
Example 1, the main female character works in the emergency room. She just finds out her husbands plane crashes, instead of freaking out in trying to figure out what to do next or get in contact with him, she goes back to work. Hello? Who does that? The next thing you know she's running all over the emergency room talking about elevators and power going out, and it is cool as a cucumber and forgetting all about her husband. She is somehow the hero of the day in the emergency room.
Example 2 what was with the very long elevator talk? And coming from upper management of the hospital I know for a fact that generators were always checked on- always. And usually have 48 hours of life in them.
Example 3. the main character is running around looking for gas to put in the generator. She goes to a gas station and gets a gas can. Bennett decides to siphon gas out of a car to Fill the generators. 5 gallons of gas is not going to do any good for a hospital that runs on generators. Even worse she siphons gas from the gas tank of cars. Anybody that knows anything about cars knows that is impossible. There is a lever in the gas tank so siphoning gas isn't possible. Or most people would be running around stealing peoples gas. The only way to do this is to puncture a whole in the gas tank under the car.

and do not get me started on the plain crash and how that all played out.

sadly, I could not finish the book. That rarely happens with me.

The narrator. on the other hand, is the reason I think I got so far into the story and kept listening. I've heard him in other books and yes he was better, but I won't count this one against him and I would listen to him again.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Good Story, No Ending

Overall, I enjoyed this story. I love an apocalyptic story of any variety, and especially an EMP event because it doesn't require the kind of suspension of disbelief that say, a zombie story requires. It feels possible, it feels real.

That said, there were moments in this book that rang very false for me. I won't name them for spoilers! Other than that, the narration was fine save for a few small mistakes in sound effects.

My main issue with this book is that it has no ending. Like, literally no ending at all. Not a cliff hanger, it just stops. I can't put into words how much I hate when a book does this. If I enjoyed the first one, I'm going to read the second one, you don't have to try and force me to do it by neglecting to put an ending in the first book. I want to know what happens to the characters, though, so I may seek out the sequel if it ever shows up on Audible. But if you expect an ending to an 8 hour long book, this one isn't for you!

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

EMP Story

The EMP genre began with One Second After. That worked because the author read and understood the effects of an EMP. Mr. Tate in his book did not or decide not to for dramatic effect. Whatever his writing choice in how he crafted the event that then led or did not lead to plot and character development in this case. I know this was touted as being about average people dealing with an EMP but when the Charge Nurse wife does not break down at all when realizing her husband crashed and is most likely dead? I was done. I worked in EMS for 13 years and as a CNA for 7 years, I know nurse's well. They compartmentalize well about patients and many things. But the death of a beloved spouse? There would be a reaction and time to cry from even the most dedicated hardcore nurse. If you are a die-hard fan of the genre try it, at your own risk.

The narration by Scott Ellis is good but he sounded a bit stiff that is normally great performances. It could be the fact they added special effects. At one point there was some glitching in this as well. Not his fault.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Incomplete story

The best thing that can be said about this story is that it's trite and cliche. The most glaring deficiency is the lack of character development. Some of the crash survivors aren't even described at all, nor are they involved in any dialog. It also seems implausible that their injuries aren't more significant. Worst of all, this story is unfinished. It's impossible for me to evaluate an incomplete story.

Scott Ellis's performance is adequate except for the major production error where some special effects were added. He actually reads over himself.

NOTE: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Being naive won’t save you!

I have never wanted a main character to take a bullet as bad as I did for Alice and Sofie! The stupidity written in too these people are what’s wrong with society! It was a hard book to get in too, I really liked where it was going but the lack of realization with the characters made me wish it was over! I hate to be this critical, it would have been appropriate for this book to come out 5+ years ago before the post apocalyptic trend took off but this was a novice and poorly executed book, the lack of research in the subject matter was evident. If the author would have read the emp commission report it would have stopped a lot of the errors in the book. It was worth it for something to listen too but can’t say that I would recommend it. I was given this copy for an unbiased review by the author. It did not influence my opinion at all.

No follow up?

So you just get to know the characters and there's no next chapter? I'm dissapointed

nothing good just say about this book

terrible story told terribly, uninspired narration, first book in a long time I can't say anything good about. very disappointed waste of money

Excellent

The story and the narrator are excellent and I would recommend this book to everyone.

Couldn't break away!!!

Absolutely LOVED this book!!! Got hooked right away and could not stop listening!!! The narrator, Scott Ellis was OUTSTANDING and made it SO EASY for me to have a picture of all the characters and really feel the intensity of the book! I am very disappointed that there were so many questions left unanswered at the end. It says book 2 coming, but I am being told there are no current plans for book 2.

great book

great book but could had a better ending I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.