The Pulse Super Boxset

EMP Post-Apocalyptic Fiction

By: Alexandria Clarke, James Hunt

Narrated by: Tia Rider Sorensen, Romona Master, Mikela Drew

Length: 40 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

A riveting new post-apocalyptic EMP box set that keeps you guessing until the end!

EMP masterminds Alexandria Clarke, author of Blackout, and James Hunt, author of Static and Surviving the Collapse, come together in this super box set for the first time!

Blackout: A Tale of Survival in a Powerless World

After an EMP bomb detonates over the United States, frying the entire electrical grid, Georgie Fitz decides to take refuge at her estranged father’s cabin in the Rocky Mountains with her boyfriend and his family. When they arrive, Georgie discovers that a group of survivalists have already erected a camp there, and her father is nowhere to be found. As she adjusts to her new normal, she has trouble adhering to the survivalists’ rules. Can she fit in at the camp and find out what happened to her father?

Static: An EMP Thriller

The thin thread holding the civilized world together has been severed. Millions of citizens have been thrust into the unknown, breeding fear into the minds and souls of those seeking to survive. Wren Burton, an architect from Chicago, has been engulfed by the chaotic aftermath of an EMP blast. Her family is injured. The enemy is unknown. And help is nowhere to be found.

Surviving the Collapse

What happens when all means of transportation and communication suddenly vanish? What happens when you can’t call for help? What happens when the only person you can rely on is yourself? Captain Kate Hillman is about to discover those answers after an EMP sends New York City, and its nine million residents, back into the stone age.

©2018 DBS Publishing LLC (P)2018 DBS Publishing LLC

Watch Your Mouth!

Great stories, at least the first 1 1/2. I ended up turning it off because of the foul language. You would think authors with a simple thesaurus could come up with a vocabulary to consist of more than 4 letter words.
Performance was decent. Narrator always made the male characters sound agitated and whiny in an attempt to give them a man like voice. Got kind of annoying.

A+++ cliffhanger until the very last paragraph

the first two chapters of basically each of the three stories sucked. but it was always a helluva setup for the rest of the story.

This was a tough one

The first story: good story line, but the reader over annunciated everything so hard, you can’t tell a ‘d’ from a ‘t’. It was an effort to maintain focus when you feel like your ears are being assaulted by any hard consonant that she came across.
Second story: I have never wanted a hero from a story to die as much as I wanted this one to. Just your typical strong, independent woman who doesn’t need a man, until they’re dying all around her saving her from a stupid, overly emotional decision she made at the worst possible moment.
Third story: not quite as bad and definitely the best of the group. Still, just another poor story. There’s absolutely no research into anything by the author and it shows in the characters actions.

Sad going to return

Wow barely tolerable seam copied from other books I hope I can get my credit back !!!!

bll

Enjoyed each story. Characters were believable and, in some cases too real, i.e. Dennis. It shows what happens when your favorite strong character doesn't know when to keep their mouth shut. The narrator did an excellent job of switching characters. Voice was so soothing, I had to set my timer. I will definitely be listening to more of these authors' books.

Great stories that keep you drawn in

These were three great stories that kept you drawn in, played with your emotions and made you think... What would I do if an EMP went off?

Strong, Smart Females Who Don't Listen

Most of the narration was pretty good, except in the Surviving Collapse series. Reason: every male that was not a main character had a high, scratchy, whiny voice that became annoying.

Let me start by saying each story had multiple situations that were exciting, informative and well-written. Connecting each story is a strong female protagonist generally fighting against a strong but mentally disturbed male. Each female is in some very real way easy to flat out dislike, not because they are strong, but more because they are all clearly and openly disdainful of anyone who disagrees with them, especially if the one who disagrees in even a small way is male. Choosing to arrogantly barrel through situations, that had they taken a moment to listen to those male leads that were their counterparts, would not have directly "caused" some of their problematic scenarios. Everyone but the main female characters come off as cowardly except Rodney in "Surviving Collapse" which ended up being the best of the 3 series in my opinion. I read other reviews that express disgust but don't exactly detail why for the authors...hopefully my review will be more constructive. And for goodness sakes how about having an evil female as a villain. Two smart, capable females against each other could be dynamic!!

"Blackout" by Alexandria Clark
Georgie Fitz is a radio podcast host, engaged to a wealthy man whose family tends to look down on her. A lot of that distance is self created because she is ashamed of and secretive about her upbringing. Her father became agoraphobic after her mother was murdered. Clearly already something of a survivalist, he buys a cabin in the middle of nowhere then proceeds to teach his daughter everything he knows about how to survive. Though much is made of her dad Amos' mental health, you never learn anything about his background. Was he formerly in Special Forces of some kind and had specific knowledge of what was coming? Was he raised in a cultish-style Commune Community? I say "cultish" because that's the author's way of portraying him. In 3 books, nothing is learned that would explain "why" her dad became unhinged outside of her mother's death. In our regular culture people don't just "know" how to build a cabin, all the furniture and how to hunt,fish, trap and live off the grid without some kind of preparation, even if how they learn it is on the internet. At any rate, Georgie has to save her fiance from the top of a carnival ride (that part was very well written), his pregnant sister and totally out of touch parents over and over again. Eventually she writes off any responsibility for anyone she is supposed to care about. Reasons are clearly laid out, but it's definitely a pattern. You'll have to listen to the whole thing to realize the "blood is thicker than water" and you can "create your own family" themes.

"Static" by James Hunt
Wren Burton is brave, a mamabear for her children, intensely good at her job of architecture and as thoroughly an unlikeable character as any I've ever read about. Wren is getting ready to go through a divorce with a spineless, feckless husband that happens to be an EMT. The knowledge she could or should have gained from him about health never, ever comes into play. When the city comes under attack, she courageously gets her daughters from a wrecked vehicle to the hospital then out of the hospital under attack by terrorists. She's smart and resourceful. Even finds her son and gets him out of a dangerous situation. I really want to root for her. But I simply can't...why? Because she willfully goes without eating or drinking when she can, causing herself to be in a "brain fog" constantly, which often causes her more problems then not. Her inability to focus puts not only herself, but her family constantly in danger. She gives blood to her husband, to the point of unconsciousness, yet doesn't have the sense to drink fluids afterwards. At odd points she chooses to stop believing the evidence of what she has lived through. A smart person in a hospital or ambulance would grab antibiotics. Yet three obvious times, she refuses to do so, even knowing she herself has an infected wound. She doesn't ask questions when she should (Iris would have been a great resource) and she doesn't learn. It's as if, after leaving school, there was nothing else worth learning. She does "finally" learn how to use a gun, but again, in a totally unnecessary foodless brain-fog, can't recognize manipulation enough to simply gag the bad guy. Then the Community decides to pattern itself according to her "wants" without her living there. Nope, not believable at all!!

"Surviving Collapse" by James Hunt
Pilot Captain Kate Hillman starts off saving a plane full of passengers then takes control of matters after a Subway train crash. The young man that helps her eventually separates from her and sadly never shows up again. After getting home, she and her husband meet Rodney, who starts off selfish but becomes a leader. I loved Rodney. He "grew" in maturity, used his skills and preparation for "great" things yet remained respectful and humble. Rodney is the "PERFECT FLAWED YET WONDERFUL HERO". His "youth" makes him a great protagonist. I'd love to see James Hunt write a story for him, giving Rodney a real chance at loving and being loved, maybe even seeing Kate as a mother figure and Luke as a brother. That said, this story was about Kate's journey. Kate had a well defined background that provided all the necessary components for a great tale...the vicious ex that she had to fight, pulling herself up by her bootstraps, working hard towards goals, etc. But it's hard to "like" her. Why? Kate respects her own hard work, but not Rodney's. The time, preparation, money and safety he extends to her, she willfully extends to others time and time again without his permission or even any consideration. He quite truthfully, tells her he can provide for 6 people. She consistently brings 20+ people into his provisioning which the author then has to kill off. She makes absolutely ZERO attempts to add to his supplies even when she could have. At the college, she could have asked for seeds to plant. A few packets or a small survival vault envelope wouldn't have added significantly to the weight she carried and they could have been held in a pocket and forgotten about until she returned. She knew ZILCH about first aid. She refused to let Rodney train her with a gun, yet was the first to grab one, often willfully wasting ammunition. Oh and like Wren, she didn't eat or drink either, even avoiding food when feeling safe. She lied often and unnecessarily to her family, especially her college-aged son Luke. Her over "protectiveness" led to her son being waaaay more childlike then necessary. I really wish the author would watch the movie "Enough" with Jennifer Lopez. JLo's character had an abusive husband and a young daughter that she protected by teaching her what to do before crisis times came because she knew they were inevitable!! The best way for someone who has been victimized to no longer feel like a victim is to get some kind of training so they can contribute to their own protection, especially since Kate knew her son was under threat. A mother's job is to prepare their children to be capable, strong adults. When Hunt's books include this line of thought, they will be soooo much better.

Good Series of Stories

Like that the leads were all woman and the narrator did a good job with this book series.

Great collection of books

I very much enjoyed this collection of books. the stories were well thought out and engaging.

Great apocalypse read.

I am very into the apocalypse genre right now and this is one of the best I have read recently. Loved the complete set together in one download. I could not stop listening. The stories were well developed and intermingled to keep me interested until the very end. I wanted more.