Surviving the Swamp

Survivalist Reality Show, Book 1

By: Grace Hamilton

Narrated by: Connie Shabshab

Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's Summary

Skin of Your Teeth Survival is a reality show made famous for pairing part-time survivalists with a real-life survival situation. Led by world-famous prepper and survivalist Wolf Henderson, season 10 promises to be different. This time, none of the contestants are survivalists - they’ve all been picked to fail. 

But when an EMP hits, the cast scatters, and Wolf is left to guide a group of misfits in a suddenly dark and dangerous world. Wolf knows this group will be some of the first casualties if he doesn't help, so he offers them safety at his island bug-out location and takes off with his ragtag team to move through the wild and unpredictable swampland of Florida.

The loner of the group Regan only joined the reality show to escape her past life. She knows she can’t survive on her own, but connecting with others has never been her strong point. She believes she has a better shot in one of the major cities on the coast than in the swamp, so she joins the team with every intent of striking out on her own once the opportunity arises. 

But with the world around them growing more dangerous every day, she has to figure out whether she’s better off with the group or alone in the post-EMP world. And whether Regan or Wolf realize it, the dangerous journey through swampland will soon become a literal fight for survival once they reach the chaos of "civilized" South Florida.

Warning: This novel contains scenes with violence and referenced sexual content.

©2019 Relay Publishing (P)2020 Relay Publishing

Exciting & Entertaining

Excellent start to a new series. Surviving the Swamp is a thrilling EMP post-apocalyptic series. A group of misfits with no survival experience is selected for the cast of season ten's "Skin of Your Teeth Survival' reality show. The purpose is only to have them fail miserably. Unfortunately, real disaster strikes in the form of an EMP. Now the novice survivalist, with the help of pro-prepper, must find a way to make it through the treacherous swamplands of Florida to safety.

Grace Hamilton once again captures us with her incredible creativity and stellar character development. The premise of the storyline is engaging, entertaining, and suspenseful. I enjoyed the interplay of the cast and the various personalities coming together in a post-emp world.

Excellent narration by Connie Shabshab. She emulated the characters' personalities, emotions, and intensity of the scenes, very nicely. The Surviving the Swamp is a fast-paced thriller with quality plot and characters. I strongly recommend this audiobook. I was given a free copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Annoying main character

The MC needs to be the first one killed off in this book. Her annoying anxiety issues on socializing make her utterly stupid. I wouldn’t waste time trying to keep reminding her she’s not as badass as she thinks. She spends most of the time I could read (returned) complaining how she doesn’t want to be part of the group. Write her out and maybe it’d be interesting.

Outstanding

Great book that fed in to my ‘naked and afraid’ and EMP fascination. Ok, so they weren’t naked but they were on a survivalist show. I want to meet Wolf, he sounds like my dream guy. Regan is a bit of an idiot at times, girl jump on that and get out of your damn head. She made some stupid decisions and didn’t even really learn from them. Maybe someone can get through to her, eventually. I did think it was strange that Wolf waited so long before rushing off to his daughter. I know he had faith she was safe but still. There are no guarantees in life.
Connie Shabshab did an amazing job narrating. I think this is the first time I’ve listed to a book by her.

I was voluntarily provided this review copy at no charge by the author, publisher and or narrator

Very Entertaining

People from a survivor show being filmed in a swamp trying to make it to safety. Different take and story from the others. Loved the characters. Reagan,just wanted to shake her at time. Great story and can't wait for the next one. The narrator did a great job. She kept it moving and breathed life into the characters. Great book for your library!

Decent Start

I love EMP books. I did enjoy listening to this one as it was different setting at start in the swamps and enjoyed the characters especially Wolf at first did not like Regan. Look forward to next one and recommend if you like EMP stories (very different than Hamilton other EMP). I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. Thank you

Unique Set-Up for Post-Apocalyptic Series

I love to read post-apocalyptic fiction. I was browsing a list of review copy audiobooks when I saw the description for 'Surviving the Swamp' and knew I had to give it a try. I requested and received a free copy and am posting this voluntary review.

This first installment of the 'Survivalist Reality Show' series sets up a situation I've not read before. Ordinary people, while competing on a survivalist game show in the Florida swamp, come to realize that the US has become victim to an EMP. The host of the program, Wolf, a survival expert, leads a group of the contestants out of the swamp and to his private island off the coast of Naples, FL. Along the way, dangers both animal and human are encountered.

The book centers on the character Regan, a self-professed loner, who believes that the sooner she can leave the group, the better off she'll be. What happens when she finds her opportunity to strike out on her own? Will she start believing in 'safety in numbers' or stubbornly remain alone? Throughout the book we see the dawning realization in Regan that she is not as street-smart as she thinks she is. The book has Regan showing the most character development of the group. Hopefully, we'll see the other group members get their chance to show readers how the apocalypse has changed them in subsequent books.

There is a fair amount of suspense and a smattering of action scenes for the thriller fan. For the survivalists there are well-researched survival tips that are written into scenes that are believable. And, there is a hint of romance for those that like that in their post-apoc story. On the whole, 'Surviving the Swamp'. is an enjoyable ride through post-EMP Florida.

Connie Shabshab does a great job with narration. In the beginning, my impression was that it was a little over-enunciated, but by the end I really enjoyed her character voices and the interpretation she gave to Hamilton's words.

Recommended.

Reality show in the wrong place at the wrong time

Naked and afraid without the nakedness in the Florida everglades at a time when the world goes to hell In a handbag as an emp takes out everything. The show contestants should be skillful enough to survive and thrive if they can out their competitive nature to the side and work together. Really cool take especially since I live in Florida. Enjoyed it and hope you will too. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator or publisher

Not bad, not great.

The storyline was pretty solid, there were a few twists, nothing amazing but enough so that it kept me listening though the end. I could've done with a different narrator though, she made every female character sound like a valley girl and pronounced the character named Wolf as Wuf which was annoying. However the biggest grievance I have with this book was the main character, it's obvious the author was trying to portray her as a strong and strong willed female lead that didn't need any help from anyone, but she totally failed. She comes across as whinny, stupid and weak, and her stubbornness is not endearing it's just idiotic!
Overall I'm not disappointed I listened to this book, but unless the main character dies suddenly I wouldn't listen too a sequel.
I was given this book for free in exchange for my unbiased review.

More realistic than many in this genre

The reality show lead in to this story is a novel idea, but it's just that -- a lead in. It doesn't play much of a part in the story except in the beginning. It is an innovative way to introduce some rather compelling characters, though.

The story loosely follows the stereotypical post-apocalyptic script, but the violence is not so extreme as is normally found in this genre. There are no gun fights, for instance, so it seems more realistic.

Connie Shabshab performs quite well, giving distinctive and appropriate voices to the characters.

The ending definitely sets up for a second book in the series, but fortunately, it does not end in a cliffhanger. I hope to have the opportunity to review the next book in the series.

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

LOVED it!

I loved every single thing about this book! The story line was interesting from beginning to end, and the characters were very personable, diverse, and easy to like. I actually enjoyed this book so much that I quickly got on amazon within moments of finishing Surviving the Swamp so I could get all of the authors books! I was pulled in so much by her writing style, the story, and the narration too that I also signed up for her website.
The book starts off with a group of contestants on a tv reality show staged in swampy areas of Florida. Their goals are to last the longest on the show by proving their ability to survive the harsh and dangerous conditions. As soon as you understand the circumstances of the show and get to know a little about the main character (very soon into the book) the real story begins and it’s a wild roller coaster all the way until the end. There is no way to predict what some of the shocks and surprises are. Even if you can figure out a few things that are coming up, you’ll be blown away by the details about it or whatever happens. A disastrous EMP hits, and instead of trying to survive the swamp, the characters are thrown into an even scarier scenario because they have to survive a whole new way of living. At least when they were on the show, the people in charge of it could intervene if anything became too dangerous. After the EMP though, anything was possible and there was not anything anyone could do to help protect them. The book takes you on a journey through the swamp and the city where each of the characters face horrendous life threatening challenges. If I tell you any more I would be giving away spoilers, so I’ll leave it at that. I HIGHLY recommend this book! You won’t be disappointed! I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request, and have voluntarily left this review. My review is also my honest opinion.

A reality show becomes real

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

Well read interesting story about survival and friendship