Chaco

By: Peggy A. Wheeler

Narrated by: Chris Abell

Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

When everything you count on for your existence fails, could you survive?

Within days of a series of monster solar storms slamming into earth, electrical grids fail and everything in the northern hemisphere with a computer chip ceases functioning. Electricity won't be completely restored for at least a decade, and the result is that everything modern life depends on to function is gone. There is no way to pump gas or water. Cell towers are wiped out, along with satellites. Airplanes and most vehicles will not operate. Communication is practically impossible. People cannot access life-saving prescription drugs or food. Police, fire services, and the military are overwhelmed, and hospitals can't cope. There's no one to come to the rescue, and as mass panic ensues, people begin dying. Fear and violence escalate until society collapses.

An unlikely hero emerges.

Chaco is a well-educated freedom fighter on a death list in El Salvador. Having fled to the United States, he is in hiding by working for a wealthy couple as their handyman and gardener. Following the disaster, he reveals his true identity, and convinces his employers and their neighbors to follow him over brutal mountain passes to a self-sufficient commune nearly 800 miles away.

But only a few will survive.

©2017 Peggy A. Wheeler (P)2018 Peggy A. Wheeler

A solid apocalyptic story

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

This was an interesting book and I enjoyed the reading by Chris Abel. Things came to a head really quick, but it made for a fast paced story which was great. For what it was, I think it's a good book and worth a credit.

I could happen

I enjoyed this book. The premise is plausible and the main character , an educated gardner had many dimensions. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher

Awesome! Exciting, Encouraging, Fight to the end

This is an awesome listen. I really enjoyed the entire listen. I didn't want to stop listening when I had to. I absolutely enjoyed how there was no judgment about Chaco past. The way the neighbor was a jerk by the end he was the reason they made it safely. The saddest part was that the little girls lost everything but the adults kept going to there goal. It was great how the different events they had to overcome. I was very impressed how the relationships all came together at the end. I like how you can judge a person to find out it was all wrong. I like how the hate became admiration and they were friends in the end. The fact that trust was so intense at the end. I can't say enough good things about this audiobook.



This audiobook was an awesome listen and I would absolutely recommend it. The narrator was good as well. I was sucked into the story and waiting for the next thing to happen. It was just awesome. I certainly will be listening to this one again and again.

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

This book was decent..

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I'll be honest, this book had some issues.
-Sometimes it seemed a little racist towards Latinos.
-There were some random, useless, descriptive mentions of penises. dead and alive.
-Mr. & Mrs Pennymon. (sp)? ... almost a third of the book was him being a complete dick or racist and her yelling at him or them bickering. neither seemed to learn from their bickering and yelling and thus, yell to each other about the same stuff over and over.

There were a few other things, but, why beat it down right?

Overall, it was a decent representation of a theoretical situation in the event of a major & destructive solar flare event... with some plot holes.
The narrator had a lot of work to do and he seemed to do a good job of making everyone sounding different.

Gripping

I loved every minute of this book, the story is vivid, it pulled me in and I saw and experienced everything right along with the characters.

This dystopian book shows in horrifying clarity just how quickly society breaks down once disaster strikes. The character interactions show how much we assume about people and how out opinions of people are formed on very little information, and just how wrong those assumptions can turn out to be. The characters are complex and realistic.

I highly recommend this book!

The narration is excellent, I enjoyed the character voices and the accents were quite well done, the delivery worked well with the tones and emotions of the story.

I received a free copy of this book from the author and/or narrator and/or publisher and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.

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Interesting story

I enjoy post apocalyptic books and this one fitted the bill for me. The story was good with a plot that moved along nicely. There are various characters to either like or dislike and they seemed believable. Friendships are formed and enemies made.
The story starts just before a solar storm hits earth. An arc that could become a reality one day.

I thought the narrator did a good job with the audiobook and characters.
I would certainly recommend this book.

Unexpected protagonist navigates post-CME hell.

In El Salvador, Chaco's esteemed career in the sciences reflected his many educational achievements, but now in the U.S., he's just another Latino landscaper. The family employing Chaco are oblivious to his former life, and Chaco might have preferred it stay that way. But then the CME happened, sending a load of proverbial crap straight into the proverbial fan. Chaco becomes the de facto leader for his employers, their neighbors, and others found along their way out of town in search of safety. Chaco's true concern is the health and welfare of the woman he loves, who lives hundreds of miles away. The group will face untold dangers as they trek through what's left of a society without electricity and increasingly questionable morals. Chaco could leave these people behind and travel faster alone, but it just isn't like him to ignore someone in need, even if it means walking through Hell for months on end to save them.

I was initially drawn to this story by the description of the unconventional protagonist. Ultimately I found I enjoyed this post-CME survival adventure more so because Chaco didn't fit into the typical post-apocalyptic hero mold of hulking Caucasian prepper. My favorite character by far was Margo, along with her curious relationship to husband, Rocky (aka bonehead caveman). She was the true gem in this story that always made some sense, even when other characters behaved rather strangely (SPOILER! otherwise stoic Abigail in full-on meltdown mode -- ripping at her clothes and screaming uncontrollably).

Narrator Chris Abell performed well. He made an effort to differentiate between the voices of many different characters. A few mispronounciations, but nothing I couldn't infer from context.

Overall, very good!

I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook at no charge. This review is unbiased and the opinions expressed herein are 100% my own.

breaks all the rules

It was a great listen. The story continually throws you curves and keeps you guessing. You root for the unexpected heroes and boo the many bad guys.

Pleasantly Surprised

Would you consider the audio edition of Chaco to be better than the print version?

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

While I have only listed to the audiobook and not read the print version, I think this book is one that flows well between audio and print.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Chaco?

This story is unique in that the story follows Chaco, an undocumented immigrant with an interesting past as he tries to get his group to safety after an EMP.

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

I have listened to a few of Chris Abell's performances and found this one to be just as well done as the others.

Quite enjoyable

I received this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.



The story centres around Chaco, an El Salvadorian freedom fighter and professor turned gardner.  He studies the stars and what is happening with the sun. When sun flares wipe out technology, he along with the family he works for, their son and his family, and their next door neighbours decide to travel to a commune where their daughter lives. 



In somewhat typical fashion (in my opinion, anyway), the majority of people seem to want to loot, kill, and otherwise destroy civilization. I think I have yet to read a book about the this subject where people don't immediately go to the dark side and attempt to destroy due to the lack of leadership and civilization.  The group decides to travel to the commune in part due to the fact that men are breaking into houses around them and looting. 



The group ends up heading into the mountains to travel overland to the commune, so they don't encounter too many other people. There are tragedies along the way, and, of course, tension between the members of the group. 



I like the author's style of writing; she's very descriptive, and the story is easy to read/listen too and the narrator is quite good.