A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller (After the EMP Book 1)

Good start to a survival story. The story focuses on something that will happen sometime in the future, it's simply a matter of science. I like that it's not about political issues that may play out in nuclear attack or planned EMPs but rather a normal event of the sun. The story brings to light the nature of humans, both good and bad, in a crisis situation. People and family can band together or try to rip things apart all in the story of survival. A good read, thank you to the author.

This was a great book. The situations of the characters in their varying stages of acceptance of the event as well as the adversity they face was very strong and well paced. I don't have a problem with the fact that sometimes the character seemed to understand what was happening and sometimes to revert to a pre-event mindset as I think that would happen to a lot of people in a real situation. My only complaint is that book 2 is not available yet.

Of the three dozen or so post-apocalyptic writers I'm presently enjoying, Harley Tate has to rank among the TOP FIVE for sure!
Realistic situations, the narrative flows well, credible dialogue. . .I'm right there with the characters, thirsty and hungry and scared!
Keep it up, keep writing, PLEASE!

Decent book , well written, not a huge fan of the “ending” now I either have to commit to finish the series or just stop here. Would have given it 4 stars if it’d left off at a place with some kind of closure.

If you like characters that make the absolute worst decisions, unbelievable situations, and cliché writing, then you will love this book. I couldn't get half way through it. There are much better written books out there.

Excellent Book. With all the talk of EMP attacks from North Korea a giant Solar event is sometimes forgotten. But with as much talk that has been happening the past several years I am afraid that chaos will break out even faster than what this book describes and in this book chaos breaks out pretty quick. If this book teaches anybody anything that the need for a firearm and ammunition is critical. I am afraid the chances you can survive without one is very slim. The other thing is that you will not be able to survive on your own. You will have to join or create a clan of your own and choose the right people to trust and hopefully be able to find the people with the skills needed to survive. Final thoughts is depending on where you live investing in a ton of food may not be the wisest thing if it is not a place where you can stay long term.

This first book focuses on college students and the parents a situation that concerns me daily. With a child hours away and a wife that works at a Childrens Hopsoital located in the inner city plans need to be made and backups need to be made. The first book in this series in my estimation is a home run. But it speaks of one particular situation where there was a little time before the event happemed to prepare. Other situations will leave you zero warning and zero time and you will be left with what you have amd what you can put together. But this book does an excellent job of painting the picture that is very realistic and real.

I listened to this entire series on audiobook. It is at best OK. The characters are a bunch of whiny idiots. They spend there time making really stupid choices. The use of three narrators in the audiobooks was not good. Instead of using each narrator for certain characters each narrator is given chapters to read so you end up with three people portraying the same people. That is annoying. The writing seems to be geared to young adults. I'm not sure where the author is from but from her writing it doesn't appear to be California and Oregon where the books take place. In book 1 the father is on the California/Oregon border and can't see city lights. Well that could be because there are no cities on the border. It is pretty mountainous terrain. Then the stupid run from Sacramento to Chico is portrayed as a short trip. Not even close. It's a few hours away. In a time where gas is very limited it would be stupid to burn several tanks for that misadventure.

This is an OK post-apocalyptic book, very basic, very formalistic in its structure. You have the four college students away at school, the main character, the naive liberal daughter of the other main character, her mom; the big goofy boyfriend who doesn't seem to know anything except that he's perpetually hungry, the nerdy boyfriend of the other female, who just happens to be a kick ass hard charger who comes from an all in prepper family with the holy grail of a cabin in the mountains. Then you have the mom, who actually has a clue and is figuring things out pretty quickly, sort of. Given that this story is set in north central California and the main character is not even close to getting past her normalcy bias by the end of this first book, gives some idea how slow mowing this story is, and that will take another three books to sort out. So for anyone new to this genre this is a decent introduction, for everyone else go read D. Gideon, Frank Horton or Angery American, etc recent releases.

The beginning of a series is always good. The reader gets to know the characters, the settings, and most of all the plot. This book starts with Madison a college student in California on campus during Spring Break. Madison Sloane is majoring in agriculture and decides to stay on campus during Spring Break to further her research and to tend to the plants that she is researching and growing. Her best friend Peyton and her roommate: Brianna and her boyfriend Tucker are also on campus. When an EMP hits the earth it is a mad dash to get to safety. The little group encounters danger as they raced to get Madison home to her family. This is a thrilling book but all to real in today's interconnected society. A book the reader will not want to put down.

Have found this series to be quite engaging. Love seeing the characters develope and grow in a challenging new reality. At least the ones able and lucky enough to do so. Although some are not I felt the author treated them with respect as well.

A great example of what the changes in publishing have made available. I look forward to additional offerings from this author and others now able to share talents we likely would have missed out on prior to the options available today.

Kudos to this author and others breaking through during this transition!

(and writing review from a kindle is a bit of a challenge so forgive a less than ideal atempt! lol)

As an experienced reader of this genre, the naivety and stupidity portrayed by too many of the authors characters was simply unforgivable. Readers patience will be taxed beyond their limits suffering through the "do gooder" attitude and let's help out our fellow man at all costs mantra.
This is more like Christian Post Apocalyptica then true Post Apocalyptica. At least there is not too much foul language.

Overall, I loved the book. Very informative throughout. I enjoyed the characters over all. I think there could have been a little bit more character building, but they were likable and relatable. My only issue: SPOILER: If this were a real event, the majority of the action would not be taking place the first day of the event. I think it would be more realistic to make it closer to the third day. Also I would never have left supplies behind if they had managed to knock out the people in the store. Grab the cart and run at least. Otherwise, I enjoyed the book and went on to read the next one.

Enjoyed the story and didnt find lots of mistakes that it seems a lot of the kindle books have. I enjoyed the story line and was happy that they were all available on the Kindle Unlimited. So many are pulling you in or trying to by making the first or even the second for the Kindle Unlimited and then adding more books that you have to buy. Yes I know that is their choice but to me it just feels like a money grab. I do wish that it was just one book thou as if he comes up with more I probably wont be able to keep track and really finish the "book".

One of my main complaints with most post-apocalyptic books is they pretend to be the end of the world when they are really about the end of the United States as if the people who took out the US were just going to walk away. A few don't but the majority I've read do. This one solves the problem by making a solar event that hits the entire world so no evil North Koreans, Chinese, Russians, Iranians or radical Islamic bogeymen involved.

I really enjoyed this first book in the series and about to start the next installment. Written from the point of view of non preppers that are at least smart enough to take steps necessary to survive in a post apocalyptic world. I will give a review of each book as I finish it and a series review when I finish all the books. In the last year I have read over 100 post apocalyptic or dystopian novels and Harley Tate is on the way to being one of my favorite authors.

Very well written post-apocalyptic story, that I couldn't put down. The second chapter takes place right in the city where I live close to my house and that was exciting. I read this book in one sitting only stopping for potty and food breaks. I think the characters are very well thought out. It didn't have horrific violence on every page. I also read, Darkness Fall, which tells us the beginning story of Madison's father.

I highly recommend this book to you post apocalyptic fans.

A believable tale with a bump or two. Good character development with a strong bond of friendship. Their resourceful handling of problems as they arose was well thought out.

Four healthy young people eating well will generate more than a few bathroom breaks. There is no mention of how this was provided for. At a minimum it would take an entire case of their precious bottled water for a single flush. Perhaps it was solved in the next installment.

The characters ring true, the plot is tense and fast. Here, the reality of human nature is at once terrifying and authentic. Our modern society has been far too dependent on technology and possible events like this would certainly mean devastating changes and this book illustrates them quite well. Well done. I'm looking forward to book two.

If you've been thinking about the possibility of an EMP or a CME which is a coronal massive ejection,then you will want to read this book it is an excellent beginning to a series and a very real possibility in the near future. I hope you know we are only about 150 years away from The previous CME. That one was known as the Carrington Effect and it took out power to the only technology we had at the time which was the Telegraph system. It actually burned in shock operators that were working at the time. Don't delay read the book and then be a boy or girl scout and be prepared!

Whole series is gripping with continuos action and really well developed characters. It seems like what you would expect to happen if you allowed yourself to be realistic. I have read the whole series ( all seven books plus the free prequel) and the complete nuclear series in a weeks time. Awesome can” t wait for his next book.

I stopped reading when Peyton & Madison were in the sporting goods store, and the author started ridiculing, by proxy, gun laws. I want a well-written apocalypse book, not a thinly-disguised right-wing political treatise. If something like a CME ever happens in my lifetime, letting amateurs get their hands on guns is a mistake.

Darkness Begins: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller was an ok read for me. It wasn't my favorite Post-Apocalyptic read and it wasn't as thrilling as I thought it would be. I have not read this author before but I might read the rest of the books in this series.

The best part of this story is every character has their own individual reaction to the EMP and life as they know it disappearing. After putting aside that the story is pretty far fetched, I like seeing how diverse personality types react to the realization that it is the apocalypse.

I stopped reading when Peyton & Madison were in the sporting goods store, and the author started ridiculing, by proxy, gun laws. I want a well-written apocalypse book, not a thinly-disguised right-wing political treatise. If something like a CME ever happens in my lifetime, letting amateurs get their hands on guns is a mistake.

Darkness Begins: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller was an ok read for me. It wasn't my favorite Post-Apocalyptic read and it wasn't as thrilling as I thought it would be. I have not read this author before but I might read the rest of the books in this series.

The best part of this story is every character has their own individual reaction to the EMP and life as they know it disappearing. After putting aside that the story is pretty far fetched, I like seeing how diverse personality types react to the realization that it is the apocalypse.

Love dystopian fiction! DARKNESS BEGINS, though, posits a new "what if" since EMPs usually follow a high altitude nuclear explosion which immediately brings down everything electronic. Learned that the sun is able to damage the grid less suddenly, and without frying things that aren't actually connected to the grid. This scenario provides some completely different hair raising complications. Curious? Read the book and you'll be (impatiently) waiting for the next one! Each group of characters faces its' own set of trials as daughter, mother, father and their companions race against time and human nature to reunite and survive what promises to be a very long and dangerous period in their collective history. Fresh look at a popular theme!

Interesting story & believable characters. I think the publics ability to realize the situation unfolding is very close to the way most people would depend of the govt to bail them out. Those that are prepared seem to be expected to "share" with the unprepared & clueless. The author did a very good job writing this series & I will definitely be reading more in this series.

I loved this story and was really surprised at how these kids managed to make it home to Madisons house.....but I was really surprised at how strong Tracy turned out to be. These are the characters that draw you in and have you worrying about them.I can't wait to see what happens next and also the trials that Walter faces getting home.If you are looking for a good story then this is for you.

I love survival books and this series didn't disappoint. You will read them fast when you can't put them down and I breezed through all seven books in just two weeks reading part time. Can't wait for the next novel. Great series and a great writer.

Hi I enjoyed reading your book and have already recommend it to my friends. I've read many books like this and believe you have hit the nail on the head! Most people have no idea how bad things will get if something like this were to really happen. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best!
Thanks
Indyharleyguy

This is a fast paced Post- Apocalyptic Survival Thriller. It will keep you in suspense from the first chapter until the end. Great storyline. True to life characters. Great dialogue. Brilliant author.

A very nice post-CME story. Family-friendly, clean language, realist plotting.

My only complaint, and thus only four stars, is that this little story is SHORT. Very short. So short that if it isn't available via Kindle Unlimited, I couldn't recommend it.

Enjoy the story, but be cautious on the pricing.

All in all this book is pretty good. I appreciate the realism, both the CMS and the incredible level of denial people have in the face of a crisis. Still, the constant barrage of, "people are good" coming from Madison got a little tiring. Also, the book certainly leaves you wanting more. There were just enough dangerous situations to what your appetite for what's to come. I look forward to the next chapter for the Sloane's and friends.

Am loving this series already and have just completed book one! It's fast paced and doubly interesting for me as I used to live in the Sacramento/Davis area and got married just outside Truckee! Can't wait to see what happens next in book two!

This book will make you think many what-ifs. With our reliance on electricity, satellites, wireless, and internet, this book makes you wonder what would happen if those are suddenly no longer available. Would we be able to survive?

A post apocalyptic story, told from a female outlook, well written, believable and suspenseful. This is the first in a series, and at least one more of the series is available. I will be reading that in a few minutes!

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced review copy of this book. I liked the different way this author did the whole no electricity but cars worked. It was a good read and made me think of what I would do if this happened.

A delightful read. I agree , could use a bit more character development, maybe the v second Book? recommend this author whose style and prose is interesting and engaging. I'm looking forward to reading more.

Right up there with McClane Apocalypse (sorry, Mrs. Morris, gotta call 'em like I see 'em) and Going Home. Entertaining and illuminating and thought provoking. I cannot wait for the next installment.

Excellent but kind of a scary read. I think things would unfold and devolve pretty much the way it was written i finished the first installment in about an hour and half. Getting ready to dive into the next. I normally don't care much for kindle. But I don't want to wait for even 2 day shipping..