The Trackers Series Box Set

The Trackers Series, Books 1-4

By: Nicholas Sansbury Smith

Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot

Length: 33 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

The entire four-book Trackers series in one bundle: over 30 hours of post-apocalyptic survival fiction and action.

No power. No rules. No help coming.

The end of the world is just the beginning of the hunt....

Five days ago, North Korea detonated three strategically placed nuclear warheads over the United States, triggering an electromagnetic pulse that crippled the country. A second attack destroyed the nerve center of America in a nuclear blast that flattened the nation's capital. As the government falls apart in the aftermath, the survivors must decide how far they will go to save the ones they love.

In this lawless new world where the most ruthless thrive while innocents suffer, a sheriff, a retired marine, a nurse, and a senator turned secretary of defense are faced with keeping their communities and families safe. One thing is certain - they won't be able to save everyone. Not with their humanity still intact.

The explosive Trackers series is a harrowing story of survival and a realistic depiction of what an EMP attack and the aftermath might look like from former Homeland Security disaster mitigation officer and New York Times best-selling author Nicholas Sansbury Smith. Packed full of action, survival tips, and a unique twist on the EMP genre, the Trackers series has thrilled hundreds of thousands of fans across the world.

©2017 Nicholas Sansbury Smith (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Well balanced story

I really liked how the story flowed. There was plenty of balance between really positive outcomes and more realistic horrific outcomes. The only thing that I didn’t like were some of the character voices were a little strange. In all, I enjoyed the overall story from the author of the series connected well. Well worth the audible credit.

Terrifyingly Surreal

- Josh here

As the proud owner of physical paperback copies of this series, along with the original individual audiobooks, I had to purchase the box set. Nick has a way with words that can only be described as magical. The terrifyingly believable reality that this series paints for the reader is beyond surreal. And I make that last comment after also having watched "The Day After" from the 80s. This was the first movie that came to mind when I first read book one so long ago.

The characters are very well written and the storyline flows in a very easy to follow manner. As I've said in my reviews of Nick's other works, he has a wonderful way of portraying what I have come to refer to as "the human condition". How does one behave in a style of life they are not accustomed to? When the rules that once gave society order, that kept things structured, are no longer, what will each member do to contribute to society or newly developed mob/gang rule? The Trackers series delves into each of these areas and takes you through what goes on in the minds of people left in the aftermath of something as horrifying as an EMP attack.

This is a fantastic listen and Bronson did a great job with the emotions invoked throughout the story. I recommend this series to anyone who is looking for a realistic post-apocalyptic series. 5/5

I thought this book was very informative I think i

again I think it's more something that could actually happen I see it actually happened because all they need to do is to cause chaos and Americans will fight Americans

forced myself to finish...

the storyline was okay but not really good. I think a different reader would help a lot. The voices used for Phoenix, Colton and Al were just weak and sounded more like sleazy predators than men. Sam's accent was pretty close to what it should be but I couldn't get past the others. I used my free credit but I would have returned it early on if I had paid for it.

Both disturbingly accurate & incredibly awesome!

This series is a compelling story that could be very much about the real-life events of today. You can’t just read one of these books.. Once you start you’re hooked. You HAVE to see what happened to your favorite hero or villain and there are plenty of both and some surprising ones too. From start to finish you are immersed in something so cripplingly real that it left me speechless on many occasions. (And that’s hard to do trust me).. Bronson Pinchot is a fantastic narrator. I’ve listened to him read books before and his vocal talents are superb. Trust me you don’t want to miss out on this series or this perfect reading.

Didn’t like at first but grew on me

I do a lot of books back to back. I like this bundle as it gives you a long time to listen to an action packed story. IMO it starts kinds of slowly and disorganized. But soon takes on the life struggle of America with no power. Skinheads, MS13 China, and North Koreans. Backstabbing double-crossing it’s all in here. The story is not great, but it kept my attention

Just A Perfect Series

Please skip down to book 4 for my full view of the series - hint, hint, I loved it.

Book One

Trackers is a book (and a series) set in a world where North Korea has taken down most of the United States with a “perfectly strategized” atomic bomb attack – high in the atmosphere – aka setting off an EMP. It is also a book about a serial killer. That makes this one of the most unique books I’ve read in… well either genre. That’s what, in my opinion, made this one such a great story.

It wasn’t just another EMP/Post-Apocalyptic book where everything seems to work out for the good guys and all the bad guys seem to just do things with no good reason. Smith was able to write a story that was both believable but downright terrifying. Either one of the two stories that are interwoven would have scared me, but the combination of the two is what really got to me.

The lead up to and the eventual attack by NK feels like it is torn right out of the headlines. Smith does a fantastic job writing Political Fiction without actually making it too political. I love that there were good and bad guys in the political part of the story – but we never hear or find out what side of the fence they sit on. We’re able to pick and choose what we want to believe and then color the story our way. It’s a gutsy move as an author, but I think it absolutely pays off.

The serial killer/Native American folklore part of Trackers is what really sets this book apart from others in this genre. Smith was able to make a believable serial killer and one who was able to torment and terrify the townspeople of Estes Park. Really talking much more about this part of the book would spoil it, so just know you’re in for a totally unique twist.

Raven is easily one of the most unique and interesting characters I’ve ever read. Smith does a great job including some Native American lore along with what people living on reservations would deal with (especially “half-blood’s” like Raven). He was a “troubled” kind of guy who had gotten in trouble with the police but ends up helping them out numerous times.

Okay, so the only reason that this book lost .5. And if you’re reading this on any of the major sites (Audible, Goodreads, Amazon, etc.) it will get the 5 it deserves. Bronson Pinchot’s narration rubbed me the wrong way a few times. It was just times where a sentence would start off like this AND THEN GO INTO SOMEONE YELLING LIKE THIS (all while kinda sounding like you’re passing a kidney stone – aka through gritted teeth). It’s hard to describe and I almost feel guilty for pointing it out. But, the overall narration and feel of this book were uneasy – and that was done on purpose. The world is almost ending and people are being attacked by a serial killer. It’s an uneasy book.

Overall, a great start to a series that I’m definitely interested to see how it continues. I’m really intrigued by where Smith will take us next!

Book Two

The main story of the second Trackers book involves the newly minted Secretary Of Defenses Charlize Montgomery’s son Ty being kidnapped and held for ransom by a neo-nazi group in their command base The Castle. If you read book one you know that Ty is in a wheelchair and that his mother was searching for help from the government (and from her brother Nathan).

The Hunted dives right into it putting us right back into the story, merely a day or so after the setting of the first book. Raven, Nathan, Colton, and the town of Estes Park are still recovering from the final murder of the serial killer who was tormenting them in book one.

Without spoiling too much, things have not gone well for the squad that was sent in for Ty and Charlize calls on her brother to help her find Ty. Nathan enlists the help of Raven and they set out to try and find the paramilitary group that has taken Ty.

As far as characters go, the General, aka the leader of the Sons of Liberty, aka a skinhead – might be one of the most hated characters I’ve ever read. That includes books about serial killers and other terrible people. Smith wrote him in such a way that just made me hate him on a visceral level. And Pinchot voiced him in a way that I respected. He was calm, collected, and never raised his voice. He premeditated everything he did and nothing got under his skin. But man was he just the worst!

The side-story involving the town of Estes Park (which took a slight back seat to the search for Ty) was also super interesting and I like the drama that Smith included around that. (I can’t really talk about what happened since they are major plot points that I would spoil).

Overall, a great second book that didn’t have the typical sophomore slump that a lot of series have. Smith was able to craft a world that was easily split into numerous stories – but still kept the characters the same. The cool part about characters like Raven is that they are so versatile (and their own arcs have them growing and changing) that they can be thrown into almost any situation and you not only want to know what happens but you’re rooting for them to get out of it alive. I feel for Raven almost the exact same way I feel for X in one of Smith’s other series’ Hell Divers.

I’m also happy to report, due to the death of a character in book one. The annoyance that I reported around Pinchot’s narration in book one is completely gone in The Hunted. There was one character once who felt like was going to slip into the same voice – but thankfully it was a one-time thing and came and went. His narration of book 2 felt much better and definitely redeemed some of my issues with the first book.

Book Three

When reading a longer series like this – it’s easy to see “oh I still have 10 hours left” and hope that things are going to be packaged up nice and neat by the end of the book. What you forget as a blogger is that these books came out after months if not years – making the reader “suffer” between them. The Storm was the first book that ended that way in my eyes. Now, I’m reading it almost two years after it was released and I will be starting book four any moment now, but it ended and I thought “holy crap, I need to know what happens next”. That doesn’t happen to me all the time and when it does, it’s a sign of a great book and an even better series.

I can see now why this book and especially this series have an average of 4.5 stars on audible. It’s just an incredibly well written and immensely well thought out. Smith is able to write characters that I care about and bad guys that I hate. He’s able to make me genuinely mad at him, and then redeem himself in a chapter (no spoiler, but good lord was I mad/sad for about 5 minutes).

You’d think that by book three I would see plot twists coming – but Smith got me again (even after earlier in the book giving the potential twist away). He’s able to write books that absolutely stun me in the best way possible and The Storm was no different.

The Storm has some of the most harrowing moments in the series so far and we’re also starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The US isn’t recovering yet, but we find out near the very end how things might finally pick up again. Smith did his research and I think that the way he’s taking the book for his characters and for the overall arc was a brilliant decision and one that would really happen.

Overall, another home run for Smith and another well-narrated Pinchot book! I can’t say much more about it since I’ll spoil all the things!

Book Four

Well then, that’s a series wrap. And boy was it ever a great series. Rarely does a book make me feel like “oh shit, that could very easily happen”. Trackers made me feel that way from beginning to end. The fourth and final book definitely made me feel that way – especially once things between countries started to overboil and (trying not to spoil) they were given permission to take care of some of the heat.

The Damned was one of those books that I started but just could not put down. Smith had me absolutely riveted to my seat and I could not wait to figure out where Raven and co were going to end up. I couldn’t have predicted pretty much any outcome since he had me guessing throughout.

There were some characters that I liked in this book (and in the others) that didn’t make it. That shouldn’t come as a surprise because apocalypses are messy – but it’s good to read a book where not everyone is safe and untouchable.

It’s also extremely refreshing to read a book (and series) where a non-white is the main character in it. Raven is an absolutely badass MC and I would love to have him watch my back any day. Watching his character transformation from book one to the finale of book four felt like watching a boy become a man – except on a grander scale.

It’s also refreshing to read a book where politics really isn’t forced on you – but Smith seemed to take what would most likely happen and applied it to the series. I won’t dive into why I believe this and I’m sure there are some other reviews that show you different – but no matter how close the US would be to empty – someone would jump in to help – even those we least expected.

I ended up making this review an almost review of the entire series – but you made it this far – the book was awesome and so was the series. It’s definitely up there with Hell Divers in my eyes as some of Smith’s best work.

There was a scene at/near the very end of this book that definitely started to tear me up. I love spending that much time with a book that it actually chokes you up when something happens.

Recycled dialogue

We get it. They’re racist nazis. We. Get. It.
These characters were so one dimensional that I accurately predicted the dialogue several times. What could have been a really interesting book about a terrorist attack turned into a drama that only barely touched on the catalyst. Everyone is out for revenge, no one can believe how much things have changed, and everyone is about to stab someone in the back. At least the box set was only one credit because I would have been pretty mad if I’d wasted more than a single credit on this.
The narrator was ok, I liked his voice but his portrayal of the bad guy who only speaks on a barely audible murmuring (unless he’s calling someone a bitch, in which case that’s always a teeth clenched growl, EVERY time) had me fast forwarding through that dialogue just to get the nails on a chalk board sensation off of me.

Raven and Creek

Great storyline, will keep you guessing with the twists and turns. Interesting melding of cultures.

Excellent story

I tend to stick with books I've already read, since I have a habit of zoning out and missing something important. I definitely did NOT have that problem with Trackers. In fact, I'm so mesmerized by Bronson Pinchot's narration that I keep catching myself stopping what I'm doing just so I can listen to him.
Having read the books previously, I certainly know what is happening and what to expect, but listening to it is a completely different experience and I love it. I've been very resistant to using audible in the past due to some poor narrations I heard many years ago, but I'm so happy I have given it another chance!
I keep catching myself reacting to something that I already knew was coming, but Bronson Pinchot's inflection gives everything a completely different life. I think the audible narration is totally worth it for Trackers and I'm looking forward to tracking down some more of Bronson Pinchot's narrations and Nicholas Sanbury Smith's work.