Escaping Conflict

Island Refuge EMP, Book 1

By: Grace Hamilton

Narrated by: Michael Mills

Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's Summary

No power, no electronics, no way out.

When the world descends into anarchy on an idyllic island, who will survive?

Tech-savvy Elna is determined to bring her family’s vineyard into the 21st century. Located on its own private island, Elna hopes her resourcefulness will finally earn her father’s respect and keep visitors flocking to their idyllic retreat.

But her ambitions are shattered when a catastrophic EMP attack descends on North America. With only a brief warning before the missile strikes, Elna and her father soon realize they are marooned on their island with a group of unusual guests.

With no power, electricity, and little chance of reaching the mainland, life in paradise quickly sours. Food and water is growing scarce; they have no access to medical supplies; and they have no idea what’s happening in the world outside of their island vineyard.

They must find a way to unify as a group - fast. But when an unexpected assailant threatens their lives, Elna’s father goes missing, and another guest is gravely injured, Elna's wits are put to the test.

A journey to the mainland won’t be easy, and even if they make it, there’s no way of knowing what dangers could lie in store for them. But staying on the island is becoming less viable with every passing day. In a world where law and reason have descended into post-apocalyptic anarchy, survival of the fittest reigns supreme....

Prepper survivalist author Grace Hamilton invites you to step into a post-apocalyptic, EMP-ravaged world filled with strong, resourceful characters, survivalist knowledge, and edge-of-your seat action.

©2020 Relay Publishing (P)2021 Relay Publishing

Way different perspective!

In all honesty, I would not have thought of what would it be like to be on an island when an EMP happens. Total twist and different perspective! There are so many different ways that can happens, so many variables! You can't say that this should have happened, because every choice that is made has a different outcome. That is why I love Grace's books- because she thinks it through as to what ONE way could happen. If you want another compelling, seem-so-real book, listen to Surviving the End The Complete Series by Grace. These books are so thoughtfully written that at times you wonder about your family and its safety.

Funny as it is, but my we got ourselves a generator (of course, that would be useless in an EMP! lol. But we are looking into solar energy with our outside lights. To save $$, but also if power goes out (we get wind storms that knock lights out), we have the generator, and the solar lights I can dismount from outside if I want and bring inside. So many possibilities.

Also, there is some swearing involved, but not to serious.

I hands-down recommend you read more of Grace's books. It always keeps you thinking of what you can do to prepare for anything!

Awesome Grace, awesome job!

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

Not Your Typical Post Apocalyptic Story

I’ve have developed a fondness for listening to post apocalyptic books, but they do tend to follow a certain type of story line. The hero or heroes of the book are always either military, ex-military, or preppers, or some combination of those things. Or kids. Kids that just manage to make it somehow. Anyway, that’s what I was expecting here, as well, and I was looking forward to it. But, I was thoroughly disappointed. There wasn’t a single ex-military, present day military, or prepper in the whole group. As a matter of fact, many of them were downright unlikeable. After the EMP struck, I found myself shaking my head in amazement at how stupid they all were. And how lazy. And how stupid (did I say that yet?). But, as the book moved along and I really started thinking about it, I realized, they were just people. People like me. People without a clue. I’m none of those things either. I’m not military of any kind. I’m not a prepper. I’m not a survivalist. For me, a post-apocalyptic America needs to remain only in books or I will be one of the first ones to die. This is a story of regular people. Real people. People just trying to figure things out as best they can. They make tons of bad decisions. Then they make more of them. But they start to learn. They learn how to stop being strangers to each other and how to start to working together as a team. And seeing the teamwork start to bud and take shape was really rewarding. I’m glad I finished the book instead of stopping part-way through because I thought I knew the storyline better than the author. I’m glad I put my so-called knowledge of how these books work aside and just let the writer tell her story. In the end, I was surprised to realize that the book had reached its ending and I wasn’t ready for it. I was all set to follow along with this group for much longer than I did. And I’m happy to know that there’s a book two out there waiting for me to come listen to it. At least, I hope it’s already out, because I need to know what happens next.

The narrator was pretty good. He had a few words he mispronounced that bothered me, and I wasn’t super thrilled with some of his voices, but he did a good job overall. I do hope he’s the narrator in the next book. I feel like his voices have set the tone for the characters now and I can’t imagine them being changed at this point. I received this book for free at my request from Audiobook Boom and have left this review voluntarily.

Treasure Island!

These days, North Korea is the bad guy of choice. It’s launching mass amounts of missiles to EMP the bejesus out of North America. Elna Pasqualee and her father, George own a bed and breakfast-style hotel in their vineyard on a small island off the California coast. Contrary to normal government actions, television and radio announcements give citizens only thirty minutes to prepare. Not sure how they determined that they were EMP missiles. Anyway, we’ll follow Elna, her father, and their guests as they deal with the resulting EMP and other people on the mainland. Elna is an intelligent young lady with a knack for fixing mechanical things, problem-solving, and an inventive mind. An uninvited guest appears on the island who causes fear and chaos for a time. The story progresses slowly but the characters are likable and the situations authentic, aside from the EMP warning. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Not for me

I love apocalyptic, EMP books and have listened to many of them. This one just isn't for me. I kept waiting for some action but it just wasn't forthcoming.

* I requested this book and am voluntarily leaving this review

Not very realistic

This story is filled with typical dystopian contrivances and illogical decisions. It's pretty incredulous. The characters are lackluster and unimpressive. Michael Mills narration is merely passable.

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

Not as described

I like EMP books but this was a bit of a miss for me. Nothing really exciting or memorable happened. The storyline wasn't that dramatic or interesting. There wasn't a lot of action or even conflict happening. It didn't help that the narration was very sing-song, like that of a children's audiobook rather than "post-apocalyptic anarchy, survival of the fittest reigns supreme". That said, the stated description of the book doesn't really match the reality of the story, it was very tame and diffident. It's a shame because the basic storyline of people being trapped on an island after an EMP strike was very promising.

I was given this book for free of my own choosing and have voluntarily left this review.