Torrent

The Alt Apocalypse #3

by Tom Abrahams

The Alt Apocalypse is the newest ground-breaking series from Tom Abrahams. It explores survival under the most extreme circumstances, but with a twist ( and no cliff-hangers ).This series, which can be read in any order, features the same core characters in each complete story. But every book dunks them into a new, alternate apocalypse; a nuclear holocaust, an earthquake, a flood, a wildfire, a hurricane, a plague, and even zombies.  Different heroes will emerge in each novel. Different characters will survive and perish. Your favorite character dies in one book? He or she will be back in the next. In the end you'll unwind the loose thread that connects every character and every stand-alone story.  In   TORRENT , Abrahams plunges his characters into an unforgiving flood.  College students on vacation, a family trapped an unable to swim, a journalist out of his depth, and a doctor prepared but overwhelmed all face the rising water.  And the beginnings of a conspiracy begin to surface, possibly connecting strangers and their roles in catastrophes they only vaguely recall. Some live. Some die. All struggle.

Genres: Post Apocalyptic, Dystopia, Apocalyptic, Audiobook, Fiction, Science Fiction

235 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 5, 2018

About the author

Tom Abrahams is an Emmy and Edward R. Murrow award winning television journalist and member of International Thriller Writers.

He is also a Kindle Unlimited All-Star, an Audible 5 Star Favorite, and author of more than forty novels.

He writes in several genres including dystopian, sci-fi techno-thriller, post-apocalyptic, and political thrillers.

The dramatic rights for his "A Dark World" trilogy are optioned for television and film.

He's married with two children and lives in Southeast Texas.

Reviews

[Elle Klass · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the idea for this series where each seperate book is a different apocalyptic scenario. In this story a massive flood puts the characters into a very wet situation. At times the outcome looks bleak then a character rises up and becomes a hero of sorts.In some situations the characters find the strength to overcome and survive. Its a fast paced story filled with suspense.

The writing has solid and reached into the human soul. What people really might be thinking or feeling. The descriptions were enough for me to envision the situations and feel like I was there yet they weren't so much they took away from the story. Well written, well narrated. The only thing that didn't grasp me was this happening in New Orleans. Maybe because that already happened and its an obvious mark. Its was a fantastic listen either way and I highley reccomend it for anyone who loves disasters, suspense and characters that will return in another scenario!

[Chessy The Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A storm has grown over the Gulf of Mexico and stalled out around New Orleans. Flooding is inevitable the longer the rains pour down. Even once spared high ground isn’t immune to the raging waters. The currents are merciless. People will be trapped, and some will die either from drowning or tragedy bestowed upon them from the relentless torrent.

Abrahams third novel in The Alt Apocalypse series, Torrent is his best work to date. The emotional rollercoaster invoked in this tale punches you in the gut and then gives you hope. The narrative is so realistic that you see the story in your mind’s eye as well as with your emotions. It sucks you in and won’t let you go until the end.

Abrahams experienced the devastation of Hurricane Harvey in 2017 that struck Houston. I’m positive that he drew the scenes from what he witnessed firsthand. This is a real tear-jerker.

The same characters in the first two novels are thrown together again to test their abilities for survival. Some will, and some won’t. The déjà vu the characters are experiencing is explored in more detail. Though each book is a standalone work we are just now discovering the thread that binds them all together.

I can’t wait for the next installment!

Most definitely 5 out of 5 stars.

[Liz Mandeville · Rating 4 out of 5]

When UCLA students go to New Orleans to attend a sporting event, they are among those people trapped in a torrential rain storm, serious flooding and tragic losses in Tom Abrahams apocalyptic story Torrent.

In Torrent, we meet the same characters that appear in all five of these apocalyptic scenarios, but as one progresses through these novels, the characters are experiencing deja vu, with visions that peep into the other possible apocalyptic stories.

We’re introduced to a mysterious multimillionaire who, in the first book, has stolen one of the more sympathetic characters wife, and apparently done something that has resulted in several seemingly unrelated characters experiencing headaches, visions and dreams that link them to themselves in the other scenarios.

These apocalyptic stories are written so that successful people, rich people, are not sympathetic characters. In every case, there’s a character named Ellen Chin, who is portrayed as a spoiled, rich bitch who treats everyone equally badly. In one story she is responsible for starting the fire that devastates Southern California when she falls asleep in a nail salon. She’s killed in more than one of the stories but you don’t care!

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the college student from Houston named Dub, and the guy who’s wife ran off with the billionaire, cleared out his bank account and left him struggling as a short order cook, Danny and his dog Maggie, are heroes.

There’s also a bunker under the Getty Museum that pops up in most of these stories, the Oasis, built to withstand an apocalypse and keep 100 survivalist club members alive for years. Its a destination in several of these books. One of the members, known as Doc, has come to a medical convention in New Orleans to give a speech.

He feels compelled to leave the safety of his high floor hotel room to go out and in the deluge to try to help first responders. He’s nearly drowned while trying to walk through flooded streets but eventually finds a crew of firefighters and does lend a hand. They drop him off at a hospital where he helps some other survivors but he feels compelled to leave and go back to the hotel.

Thinking about the book, Torrent, I’m stunned by how many of the characters are “compelled” to do irrational, life threatening things. The characters freeze when offered a helping hand, leap into flood water with no motivation and at one point, a character leaves his beloved girlfriend to drive through flooded streets to get his buddy and a strange woman who are in a dry minimart, fully stocked with food, water etc. Is this the author telling us that people often don’t act in their own interests? That people behave in ways that are life threatening? I guess they do. Just be prepared to be annoyed, perplexed and ultimately disappointed.

[Jeremy Manuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Alt Apocalypse is an enjoyable series of books that takes a cast of characters and places them in different disasters with different results. Some of the characters dies in certain books, while others do not, but it's never a guarantee that the same character dies, unless you're Ellen Chin who is a rather nasty character who has died in all three books so far.

As you may gather from a title like Torrent and the image of a hand coming out of water, the disaster here is flooding. A number of events intersect causing a number of people from LA to be in New Orleans. UCLA is in a basketball game there which students Dub, Keri, and Barker are attending, a news anchor, Lane Turner, has made the trip to cover the game, and a doctor, known as Doc, is also in New Orleans to give a talk.

This all makes the premise stretch the disbelief a little, but it winds up feeling rather believable. It also helps to have Keri's family be from New Orleans to give a bit more of a grounded feel. As grounded as a book about a rainfall within one night that was able to cover whole houses or at least come up to their roofs. The most rainfall in a 24 period of time is around six feet.

Now this series has a strong sci-fi element to it as well. We're just not exactly sure what it is, but the book does give us more hints than ever before. Danny, a character from the previous books, is in this book even though he is still in LA. The man that his ex wife had an affair with and left him for is trying to contact him about something his company has done that may be going horribly wrong. It seems likely that this is involved in the characters having strong senses of deja vu and feelings like they've lived through other disasters.

We aren't actually given any solid answers here about what is going on, but it is becoming a more prominent part of the narrative that has me interested. I'm very curious as to how Abrahams is going to explain what is going on in this series. I'm just hoping the explanation leaves me feeling satisfied and not just disappointed.

The Alt Apocalypse is a fun little disaster series with a sci-fi twist going on in the background. Is it the most amazing series in the world? No, it has its limitations and flaws. I have enjoyed the series quite a bit though and almost have to expect some flaws with an undertaking this unique.

[David Mcclung · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

I love the concept for this series of books. Different apocalyptic disasters with the same characters in each book. Different characters taking the spotlight trying to survive the current disaster. That's a new take on apocalyptic survival stories that is intriguing to me. Kevin Pierce does a great job with narration. The characters are interesting and sympathetic, if not a little underdeveloped. I kept wanting to know more about these people. Just about the time the story seems to pick up speed it was over and I was left wanting more and feeling that the story was incomplete. There's obviously something going on beyond the disasters that these characters in which these characters are involved whether willingly or unwillingly. Nothing is resolved and the story just ends abruptly.

This is book 3, so maybe I missed something in the first two books in the series. The description said these books could be read in any order, so I wasn't too concerned about starting with book three. I'm intrigued enough to read the others in the series, but I have way more questions than answers at this point. At the end of the day the story is okay, but could've been so much better. Unresolved and incomplete.

[RJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considering Abraham’s survival twist pitting the same group of people in different apocalyptic settings we now find our survivors facing a hurricane and flood waters in New Orleans, Louisiana. The flood waters were rising higher and faster than Katrina some twenty years ago. Listening to the description of the cold and heavy rain it reminded me of the time my wife and I were caught in a breaking storm in our fishing boat on a lake before we could reach the launch ramp. The rain was cold and so heavy that I could not see past the end of the boat. It felt as though I could not get enough air in my lungs. My wife started praying. I throttled back and hoped I was headed in the right direction. We wound up coming ashore in someone’s back yard and the owner graciously let us in to revive and get warm. Believe me, we were scared out on that water! In Torrent people from all walks of life in various situations struggled with the rising waters; some were not successful. Accounts were intense and thought provoking; some heart-warming, others heart-breaking. The description of people’s panic and fear was frightening and all too real. Kevin Pierce did an excellent job, as usual, bringing that panic to life. This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.

[Brian's Book Blog · Rating 5 out of 5]

See this and many more reviews on Brian's Book Blog

Torrent is a Book I Won’t Soon Forget

First and foremost I need to call out the cover art on this. I didn’t realize when I first started it just how much the imagery was going to ring true to the story – but the yield sign almost underwater, the one-story building up to its eaves and the 2-story building more than half flooded are all parts of the story. Along with the flotsam that comes along with a major flood. So, kudos to Hristo Kovatliev for this stellar artwork.

Second, I need to point out that I’ve been championing this series on my blog and in my interview with Paul Stokes (the audiobook reviewer) because it feels so original and incredibly unique. I thought that with the first two books. This third book has completely blown the other two out of the water (pardon my pun).

Torrent might be one of the best non-apocalyptic apocalypse books I’ve ever read (I say that because it appears to have only affected New Orleans and not the rest of the world). Abrahams was able to portray a city in panic both outwardly and quietly. There were people who were riding out the storm and surviving with no issue, others who weren’t going to make it, and then there were the heroes. The ones who run into the fire (in this case swim into the water) to selflessly save others. One of the lines that stood out to me was:

“Freaking A, man… You were amazing. I didn’t think you had that in you. No offense. But…freaking A, man.”
…”Anybody would have done it.”
“Not true,” said the field producer. “I didn’t do it.”
“Me neither,” said the photographer.”

Abrahams also threw in something that was new to me for any of his books (and makes me really want him to write a technothriller once he’s done with The Alt Apocalypse). I can’t go too deep into it, but the scene(s) with the tech guy had me scratching my head and making wild assumptions and guesses.

Abrahams was able to portray the water and its depth (both actual depth and the amount that’s hidden just below the surface) in such a way that when a character would underwater (almost drowning or trying to save someone) I wouldn’t even think about it, but I would be holding my breath until they surfaced. It was an exhausting book (in such a good way). He kept throwing the characters into the water and hoping for the best.

I can say this without any hyperbole. This will be a book that will be hard to forget. Seriously, it was my favorite in the series and I’m pretty sure it’s going to get better from here.

If you’ve been on the fence about this series so far (first off, what’s wrong with you) and secondly – get Torrent. You won’t regret it.

[Pam Shelton-Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was a lot of time that had elapsed from when I read "Ash" to when I read "Lit", so I didn't realize that the same characters were included until I read the author's foreword. Silly me. It adds even more to this novel concept. This book was very exciting but in a different way than "Lit". The feeling of such helplessness with the flood was palpable. This also raises the awareness of the deja vu that some of these characters are feeling, presumably an allusion to how they keep experiencing a different apocalypse. I've also been trying to look at the book covers which, until now, I had not really done because I read them as ebooks. This one was very well done.

[Chris Ainsworth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, contrary to the "can be listened to in any order!" declaration of the marketing material, this series is absolutely intended to be read in order, as each book dribbles out more of the connecting plot, and the characters reactions to elements of it, than the one before it. I'm not sure if I like where it's heading, but we'll see how things go.

This particular story didn't grab me, and pretty much all of the narrative sequences rode moments of coincidence and sheer luck way more than the previous books. On the bright side, it did compel me to finally start reading George R Stewart's Storm.

[Patrick S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third in the series makes a good mirror of the fire theme of the last one. However, placing the events in New Orleans rather than California seems like an all too easy location considering real world events. I have to say, I didn't find much too interesting - sad to say. I enjoy the series but there wasn't much here. However, there is a revelation that was interesting to the series that is talked about here so it will be interesting to see what happens with that thread. Final Grade - C-

[Deb Threadgill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished the third book in Tom Abraham’s Alt Apocalypse. This time it was flooding I New Orleans due to heavy rains not a hurricane but the pumps didn’t work and even areas that didn’t flood with Katrina, flooded this time. We see most of the same characters, but in very different circumstances than before. The authors telling of the flooding and rescues made you feel like you were there. There was a great death toll. I really love seeing the same characters but in different situations. I am looking forward to Book 4.

[Cherye Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Torrent

How strange this story about a hurricane, flooding and rain comes out when the above is happening now in the gulf.

Interesting concept. Same characters. Different situations. People go over and beyond, some die, many from different walks of life. Loving how the previous two books have come together and we are given a glance of what's happening. Who is behind the curtain?

Looking forward to reading Book Four.

[dennis barron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Torrent. Tom Abrahams

The year 2025, New Orleans. Torrential rains, flooding. The pumps built after Katrina that devastated New Orleans can't keep up. This gripping read centers around characters from a previous novel by Tom Abrahams. An additional character is Dr. Steven Konkoly. This is a story of survival, heroic behavior by total strangers to help another stranger. Also an added twist Deja vu. Enjoyed immensely.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good series

As promised, this continues with the same characters and some of the same locations as in the other books. There are some Easter eggs this time. If you read books by the DD12 authors, you will know what I mean. Quick, easy read.

There appears to be a new story thread with the characters and deja vu. It will be interesting to see how this develops.

A freak storm floods New Orleans worse and quicker than a hurricane. A lot of tense moments. Will everyone survive?

[Deedra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this third story in the Alt Apocolypse series.This time it was water.Some of it was hard to listen to knowing someone who actually survived Katrina in a harrowing way.Very well written. Kevin Pierce was again,the perfect narrator.I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.

[Red · Rating 5 out of 5]

The style of the series is so unique. Basically, it's the same story with basically the same people but totally different. This is the 3rd in the series. I've already downloaded the 4th. I'm beginning to feel like my eyes want to leave my body…they are demanding rest. They have been glued to the pages of this gripping series...binge reading.

[Shanna Tidwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

These stories are amazing. There is a bit more going on in this one that may tie all of the stories together and I find that so interesting. Hope the rest of the alt stories reveal more of this.
Tom Abrahams is an incredible story teller.
Kevin Pierce is my favorite male narrator.

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

[Red Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Without giving it away, I read an intro to the series that they are stand alone but it does seem like they are connected. I may be wrong, but I will see in the upcoming books.
This book is about flooding in Louisiana and follows the same main characters. Some of the side characters are still there but their interactions with the main characters change to fit the story line. Well done!

[Wade Lake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Torrent is a stand out novel. One of Tom Abraham's best books. Abrahams is a master craftsman with description--nothing flowery; just clear, accurate, descriptive writing. His penchant for description works perfectly here. The sensations and dangers presented by a flashflood are compelling. This book could have been a stand-alone. Worth reading as part of the Alt series or on it's own.

[Cindi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Series!

The author really thought up a gem of a series! Each book has the same characters but a different threat. The writing is brilliant and the stories engaging. I highly recommend these books to everyone!!!!

[Renee White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent read from a master storyteller!

Again, characters and scenes so real, that you can taste the water, feel the bone chilling cold, and desperation at every turn!

Good job!! Well done!!

[NormaCenva · Rating 4 out of 5]

So interesting, loving this series so far!

[TARA BALTIMORE · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting Concept That Keeps You Hooked

I've read these of these books now and was interested throughout. Now I can't wait to see what happens in Book 4

[Clare C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wasn’t ready for this to end...

Can hardly wait for the next book! It’s an interesting series and concept especially for the apocalypse fans, keep writing and I’ll keep reading.

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.

[Louise Child · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing

This book is the best in the series .Where's the next one ?? It poses lots of questions about what and why is any of this happening .

[Kelly Cross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

I loved this book. As with the previous books in this series, it was full of action and well written. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe I was expecting more, but, I felt like it could have been better. That said, it was still well written and pretty realistic. It could be that I was just tired the couple days I listened to it.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Great Book!!!

Tom Abrahams never disappoints me with his writing it always keeps me entertained and looking forward to his next book.

[Ebony Irby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, Tom Abrahams has hit a Home Run with this book! And as usual, I am Off to the next book in this series!