Breakdown: An EMP Survival Thriller

The EMP Terror Series, Book 1

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

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.

Great book

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

I was totally sucked into this book! So much so that I was surprised when it ended. I'm really looking forward to the next book in this series.

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.

Breakdown

This was like ;Apocolypse lite'.I liked it.The typical story,cars stop working,planes fall from the sky,but not the gore and total chaos of other similar books.Scot Ellis was a good narrator for this.“I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.”

I liked it!

I’ve read a lot of EMP/dystopian/end of the world fiction. This one portrays your basic everyday non-prepper characters, rather than packed and ready-to-go survivalists, which is a nice change. Not everyone is prepared for major disasters and it’s much more interesting to watch the characters learn how to survive. Like “on the job training!”

One unique storyline I haven’t read till now is a pilots experience of an EMP while midair. I also like some of the narration effects. While speaking to someone on the phone it sounds like the other person is actually on the phone. The echo in the elevator shaft. Etc.

The only critiques I have are of the narration rather than the storyline:
- Some of the “performed” script overlapped with the narration. (The part where they’re getting the maintenance guy out of the elevator.) It’s very distracting and interrupts the flow of the story.
- While not an aspect of the actual storyline, the narrator was a bit stiff. His voice is pleasant and has good tone and reading speed but it seems like it took him a chapter or two to really get comfortable with the story and characters. Once he settled in it was like watching a movie in your head which is the best sign of a good reading imo.

All things considered, this is a great addition to the EMP genre. Good balance of action and character growth. The story didn’t drag on or make me yawn. It was busy enough to keep me interested yet slow enough to really get to know the characters and their relationships. I highly recommend this novel and look forward to the next installment!

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

Boring, but not revolting

Stopped listening with 3 hours to go after realizing it was a chore to listen to.

Excellent

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

Against all odds, survival is possible.

Gripping tale of survival, love, pain and most of all...Hope.

I was freely given this title by the author for an unbiased review.
The narrator did a fine job with character development and storytelling. The author weaved a good beginning story. I look forward to the next book.

Ends too soon

I get frustrated with books and stories that leave you hanging and resumes in books not yet in print. This book has a well developed plot and sub plots.

an amazing thriller!!!

a good good good book full of horror and terror if you like horror books this one is for you
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."