Edge of Collapse

Edge of Collapse #1

by Kyla Stone

In the dead of winter, an EMP attack destroys the U.S. power grid.
No electricity. No cars or phones. The country is plunged into instant chaos.

But for Hannah Sheridan, it's the best day of her life. For the last five years, she's been the captive of a sadistic psychopath--until the EMP releases the lock of her prison.

Battered but not broken, she emerges from her underground cell into a hostile winter wilderness with nothing but her determination to survive.

Reclusive ex-soldier Liam Coleman is headed nowhere fast. He believed he was prepared for any disaster, until the EMP took everything he'd ever cared about in a matter of seconds.

Two hundred frozen, perilous miles stand between them and their destination in rural Michigan. But the killing cold isn't the only threat, for Hannah's captor isn't about to let her go...

When the country goes dark, ordinary people find themselves facing the end of the world as they know it. With society collapsing before their eyes, they'll have to risk everything to protect their home and the people they love.

From USA Today Bestselling Author Kyla Stone comes the Edge of Collapse series, a gripping EMP apocalypse story featuring flawed, complex characters and high-octane action adventure. A survival thriller perfect for fans of Ryan Schow, Boyd Craven, and Jack Hunt.

*This is the first book in a series. Rated PG-13 for mild language and moderate violence*

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

318 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 31, 2020

Reviews

[Kinga · Rating 1 out of 5]

You might wonder how one can take a plot involving an EMP apocalypse, winter survival, a psycho sadist, and more and make it boring. But it is possible. All you need is truly terrible writing.

The characters here have each one characteristic, repeated ad nauseam, in lieu of a personality. There is no showing here, only telling. In fact, there is no space for showing, because all chapters are about 1.5 page long, so there is no time to set a scene, allow the reader to become immersed in the action, familiarise themselves with the characters. It's all just stiff descriptions, endless repetitions, and really cringe-worthy cliches (Hannah's heart was 'hammering', or alternatively 'jackhammering' every other page). She was gasping, breathing hard, and her pulse roared in her ears. All the time. So much, the reader (this reader) didn't care anymore, even if she got a heart attack from all this jackhammering.

Such a fantastic premise, such a poor execution.
I know I promised myself I would steer clear of self-published books but I just keep falling in their traps. Their covers now look very professional, too bad the writing inside doesn't match.

[Fred Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

☆☆☆☆☆

YOU THINK YOU'VE HAD THE CHRISTMAS FROM HELL, THIS BOOK WILL MAKE YOUR HOLIDAYS FEEL LIKE A BING CROSBY WHITE CHRISTMAS

Edge of Collapse: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller by Kyla Stone is a well written tell that takes place after the U.S. electrical grid has been taken out by an EMP on Christmas Eve 2025. The characters in this book are well defined, and you will be captivated from the first page routing for Hannah to escape and survive the abuse she's been put through for the past five years.

Hannah, who had everything on Christmas Eve 2019, and on Christmas day, she had lost everything, her freedom, her husband, her son to a evil, sadistic man who was a distance friend.

With the help of Liam and Hannah's newfound guardian angel, a huge Great Pyrenees dog she has named Ghost, they struggle to not only survive the bitter cold of Northeast Michigan in the dead of winter snowstorms, temperatures below freezing, and evil thugs out for themselves.

I enjoyed reading this first book in this series and plan to start the next book after I finish the prequel, "Chaos Rising," which goes into the story of Liam before he stumbles upon Hannah.

[Jennelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Introducing Hannah and Ghost:

Hannah is a new character in the series and Ghost becomes her dog. She rescues him from his imprisonment.Hannah herself has been kidnapped and held for five years. Her and eventually Liam with her trying to survive after the EMP attack.

Hannah's story ,along with Liam's story (in book 0.5) could be stand alone stories. Instead they are woven into this post EMP attack world of chaos and madness……I'm loving this series!

Trigger warnings: Torture, kidnapping, violence against women and animal cruelty.

[Julia Ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

EDGE OF COLLAPSE by Kyla Stone has an excellent premise and provides plenty of page-turning tension.

MY TEASE…

Fate has been viciously cruel to Hannah Sheridan.

For the last five years, a sadistic psychopath has held Hannah captive in a basement. Every weekend, he drives to his secluded cabin located deep within Michigan’s Manistee National Forest to see the woman he kidnapped.

In a twist of fate, the electronic bolt retracts on her basement door during an apocalyptic event that shuts down the grid. Hannah has a chance to escape, to run from her captor who isn’t at the cabin. A chance to run toward her former life.

But Hannah isn’t out of the woods. Not by a long shot. It’s a frigid winter. She’s in the middle of nowhere, her pregnancy is nearly full term, and a ferocious dog guards the cabin. Add to that, her captor is a skilled tracker who, no doubt, is determined to reach his property, his possession, in order to keep things exactly how he likes them…under his complete control.

Will Hannah have a turn of fate? Or has her destiny already been frozen in time?

THOUGHTS…

I really enjoyed the premise and tension of this book! A survival adventure story is right down my alley!

One factor in particular kept this from being a 5-star read.

EDGE OF COLLAPSE is the first of seven books, so I knew going into it that not all the story threads would be resolved. However, Book 1 ended with most threads left hanging. I get that this technique is meant to springboard me to the next book, but I prefer that each book I read, whether part of a series or not, has a 3-act structure with a satisfying dramatic arc. In other words, when I’m finished a book, I want to feel satisfied but wanting more (think THE HUNGER GAMES, the LINSENBIGLER series, or the ETHAN CHASE THRILLER series).

So, I was disappointed after finishing EDGE OF COLLAPSE.

However, the premise and tension kept me turning the pages, so I rated it with 3.5 stars and rounded up. If you’re looking for a series to stick with, I think this one has a really good, intriguing start!

QUICKFIRE RATINGS from 1 (ugh) to 5 (woo-hoo)…

Plot (the story): 3 (Only because it was incomplete)
Main character’s likability: 4
Development of supporting character(s): 3.5
Settings/Atmosphere: 5
Pacing (how fast did I turn the pages): 4.5
Believability (in the context of the story): 3.5
Satisfying ending: 2.5
Tension of the story: 4.5
Stirs the heart (friendship): 3 (Involving characters other than the captor)
Cover: EXCELLENT

OVERALL…

EDGE OF COLLAPSE strongly kicks off the series with an engaging, tension-filled read. Keep in mind, if you want answers to story threads in Book 1, you’ll have to move on to the next installment!

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know how sometimes you just want a solid, gripping end of the world scenario with characters you can root for and character you can hate?

Look no further. Kyla Stone is great a creating tense, fast-paced plots with likeable characters the reader will inevitably root for. Especially Hannah is a wonderful character, broken yet strong and willing to fight.

And then there’s the villain. I wanted to strangle him.

This is a quick read that I couldn’t put down, and I’m looking forward to the sequel. I enjoy Stone’s prose, and her pacing is on point.

A gripping post-apocalyptic read, recommended to all fans of the apocalypse.

[Donna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hannah, who has been imprisoned for five years by a psychotic man, escapes after an EMP wipes out electricity.

I'm obviously an outlier here. I read a bunch of apocalyptic books and I actively disliked this one. The characters are very superficial and I quickly realized that I could read one sentence per page and not miss anything that was going on. I am backing away - far away - from the sequels.

[Elaine and Tess the Springer. I won’t be on GR for a bit. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.

It is an excellent book, and when I started reading the pace was so fast that I just kept turning the pages. It is a good straightforward story and very easy to read.

[Tanu · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

If you like apocalyptic stories, if you love Criminal Minds and if you enjoyed the show "The last of Us" then this book is for you.

Edge of collapse is an EMP survival thriller. Everything that has to do with electricity or power has stopped working and the country is in utter chaos. This has resulted into serious car accidents, shortage of Gas, people fighting to keep their families safe and killing other people in the process.

But there's one person somewhere in the basement of an isolated cabin who got a little hope from this phenomenon. Hannah has been a captive for the last five years. She has endured all the horrors and torments caused by a psychopath. And now, after waiting paitiently for years she is able to run away from it all. It isn't as easy as it looks though. The psychopath is on her tail angrier than ever to finish what he started.

“COLD. The four basic principles to keeping warm.
C—Keep clothing clean.
O—Avoid overheating.
L—Wear clothes loose and in layers.
D—Keep clothing dry.”

Hannah is the strongest FMC i've ever read about😭 From the get go she knew what to do and how to survive through the harsh cold conditions. She was not afraid to help the dog - Ghost, even though there was a chance of getting hurt. I loved that we get to see her personality even when the odds were against her. She was not only able to run away, but also survived the initial days all by herself and her instincts🥹
I loved Ghost🐩. He also went through the abuse of his captor and that moment was beautiful when he and hannah finally warmed up to each other. He saves her through so many deadly situations. the way he stood upto Liam was both heartwarming and hilarious😂I hope he won't have to go through it all again😭

“Nature was what it was. It wasn’t cruel. It wasn’t filled with malice, not like humanity. It was
beautiful in its hardness.”

The surprise element in this book was the POVs. We get three of those. Hannah(the survivor), Pike(the psychopath) and Liam (ex- soldier) who finds Hannah in the woods.
Liam is the definition of a MAN. He is not a perfect person at all. But the way he handles people and knows when to be a good helpful man and when to start firing his ass off was real HOT!!🥵 We don't get his backstory in this one, but i'll be reading his book right after i post this review.

“Healthy fear keeps you alive. It’s that gut instinct we women tend to ignore. You listen to that, you keep breathin’. Fear warns you to pay attention. To get out. To stand your ground and fight. Fear’s the body’s warnin’ system. Without it, we’re the deer trapped in the middle of the road stunned by oncomin’ headlights. Roadkill every time.”
Cici and her motherly love toward hannah made me sad and what happened after had me crying ugly tears.😭
PIKE-- that godamned SOAB is the reason why it all started and his POVs gave me chills. He's horrible and i just can't wait to see him get killed (i'm envisioning the scene where Sansa gets her revenge on ramsay).

The story even though high stakes, was slow-moving in some places. But that really worked for me. Also, we don't get much of a character development or a lot of heart to heart. But considering this is a series and the situation in which they're trapped, it didn't bother me much. I hope we'll get that in the following books. I just had a great time reading this one and can't wait to read more of this world.

Some more quotes:

~ “Alone is a state of mind, nothin’ else. You remember that. So is fear.”

~ “That second kinda fear takes hold of you and don’t let go. It sinks its claws in and turns you into somethin’ you’re not. That fear destroys you from the inside out.”


⚠️TW: animal cruelty, rape, abuse, violence

[Tapasya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m so happy I came across this book.

A psycho kidnaps a woman and locks her up in his basement, in a hunting cabin somewhere in the woods. He does horrible things to her. He breaks the finger bones of one of her hand due to which the hand becomes numb. He is truly a deranged psycho. He only visits her for short periods and then goes back to his routine life. He has highly secured the cabin so she can never escape.

Five years later, she is still stuck in the basement now pregnant with his kid. Suddenly the power goes out and it affects the security system and the door of the basement opens.
And then starts the survival for her freedom. On the way she meets Liam, who helps her in escaping, the psycho on there trail.

This was a great read. It has everything I expect from a book – the darkness, the suspense, the emotional moments ..
It ends in a cliffhanger and I’m surely going to read the next book.

[Grendel 23 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Preppers Paradise: The Book

At first, I had hoped the writing in this book would be equal to its admittedly fairly interesting premise. I thought the story of what happens after a society-collapsing event occurs would be a more grounded “The Stand” set in present day. The premise of a technology-dependent humanity suddenly forced to deal with the harsh realities of circumstance seemed full of interesting questions to explore. I’d expected at least a little subtle commentary about our inherently wild and brutal natures once the veneer of convenience and community is stripped away. Not in this book though. Instead, the reader is bashed over the head by the repeated moral of the story: Doomsday preppers were right, and are our salvation.

There were a couple of useful facts that seemed pulled from a “How to Survive in the Woods” guide, like which tree branches make the best insulation and that Doritos can be used as firestarters. From the great attention to detail used when describing the assortment of featured shooting and stabbing weapons, it’s clear that gun enthusiasts and survivalists will love this book.

I just wish more time was spent developing realistic characters. Everyone is a broadly drawn caricature of an actual human being, which is surprising considering there’s literally three characters in the book aside from a couple other dead meat backgrounders.

There’s the main character, Hannah, a pregnant damsel escaping confinement by her sadistic jailer. Coincidentally, the armed-to-the-teeth villain is a former prison guard, whose most defining characteristic is smoking clove cigarettes. The hero, a former special forces person turned doomsday prepper, doesn’t smoke or torture people for his own enjoyment, but otherwise seems strikingly similar to the bad guy. I feel like the hero would also think of himself as a “careful and cunning wolf among dumb, dull sheep.” Speaking of which, sadly, the dog in this story has a more compelling arc than any of the leads.

If I’m forced to say something nice about this book, at least it’s a quick read. By the time the damsel escapes, finds her hero, and they stumble upon a town that sets the stage for the final act, almost 70% of the book is over. There’s a fight at the end, with no surprises about how that turns out.

[The Girl with the Sagittarius Tattoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not at all what I expected, in a good way. I was under the impression this would be a post-apocalyptic survival drama - and it is, but with fresh new elements incorporated. If the other books continue to hold my interest like this, I'll consider this Kindle Unlimited series a little-known gem.

The book opens with a young woman named Hannah in a dark 15x20 locked cell. The barred door has a slot on the floor through which a plate of food and bottle of water can be slid. There's a cot, a commode, a sink and a small window by the ceiling. She's in isolation, but sometimes she hears a dog barking in the distance. If you're wondering what she did to get herself imprisoned, it was being kidnapped by a psychopath five years before.

One freezing cold morning, the single light bulb in her ceiling blinks out, and even the background hum of electricity goes absent. Afraid to hope, she tests the electronic door to her cell. What Hannah can't know is that an electromagnetic pulse just destroyed the US power grid and all modern electronics with a chip: cars, phones, etc. When the door opens with just a push, she seizes her chance to escape the man who tortured her and nearly broke her spirit.

There is one additional reveal involving Hannah that I'll save for you. I thought this story was well written, actiony and intriguing, and I really look forward to continuing this series soon.

[Michael Slavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

533 Amazon reviews 88% 5 and 4 stars
1,200 Goodreads reviews Avg 4.3
So people liked this book.
It is an EMP post-apocalyptic thriller.

What I liked:
-It takes place in a snowy cold and remote location in upper Michigan.
-I liked the characters.
-I loved the action when the hero, ex-soldier Liam Coleman, enters the story.
-There are some interesting details, one I will never forget dealing with the heroine's, Avery Sheridan, hand.
-CiCi was also a great character.
-Loved the action in the small town that the bad guys descend on.
-I liked the dog.

What I didn't like:
-From 5% to about 25% it was a little slow for me. The whole story changed and picked up when the hero arrived.
-The ending SUCKED! I was expecting much more, some resolution to some story lies, I flipped to the next page-It's over. I am very surprised more people didn't ding it for that.
-She had no military experience, but in the acknowledgments, she says that she got some advice from someone, but it wasn't solid. It was wrong in many areas, but small stuff, and it may be I am just too ticky tacky. Like he double-tapped everything. That is a discussion in itself, but if you have limited ammo, you do not shoot two shots when one could do the job.
-I felt some of the decisions made were not logical. I feel when they left CiCi, knowing a serial killer was out there was a death sentence for her, I felt when the bad guy rode up in the middle of a bunch of "Mad Max types" and waved his badge, that was crazy. And a couple of other things, but just an opinion, they may have done it.

I recommend the book:
With all of my complaining, I still like the book.

[Carla Bulian · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book! This story has everything I like which is suspense, snow and unbearable characters .
It’s worth reading!

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. An apocalyptic story that not only stands alone, but involves a kidnapping of a young woman (Hannah) held captive for five years in a isolated cabin in the woods. Her tormentor, Pike, is demented and evil.

Enter into the picture a lone male, escaping from the apocalypse that shut down all power. He is post military and has internal and external scars. He is trying to get away from all the madness to his own isolated place in the woods. When he comes across Hannah...

No more to be said Other than I felt their fear and terror coming through the pages of the book. Oh my. I’ve got to read the rest in this series as well as Liam’s prestory.

This was very scary read as Hannah And Liam and dog run for the lives, not only being pursued by Pike, but being pursued by all the crazies who are out stealing food, gas, snowmobiles, medicine, etc as a result of the power grid shutdown.

[Paul (Life In The Slow Lane) · Rating 1 out of 5]

The old bait and switch trick.

This was a ripoff! There's a EMP which wipes out all communication and transport. Great! That's what piqued my interest - only the EMP hardly rates a mention. This is about Hannah, a poor woman kept prisoner in some bloke's basement of his country cabin.

That's not why I could only give this one star. That rating is because the author does a good job of ramping up the tension, right until the last chapter and then the book ends! Wait! What? Yep, no ending, and more dangling bits than an old folks nudist colony. You have to (buy) read six more instalments to find out what happens - possibly.

Not this little black duck. I'll not be reading any more from this author.

[Kurryreads (Kerry) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Review: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2X8QQbd/

Featured in:
Thrillers not surrounding a murder or missing persons case (part 3): https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2vt3Cub/

[Shayna · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 ⭐ Just finished this book. It was a pretty good apocalyptic book if you’re into that kind of thing. I’ll be ordering the second one in the series, the cliff hanger is crazyyyy 👀

[Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

ONE UNPREDICTABLE WHIRLWIND!!!
Mercurial! Kyla blew me away with this refreshingly impressive spin, presenting this harrowing storyline and horrific plot, kicking ass and taking names, bursting this bad boy wide open. Satisfaction is an understatement, it doesn't get any better than this. Anarchy, escapades and havoc run amuck, riding roughshod and fusing this baby together smoothly. Unveiling a foray of drama, intrigue, turmoil, abduction, torture, terrifying situations and mounting suspense, along with a boatload of danger, while dodging calamity, you have one mind-blowing adventure. Exhibiting thrilling scenario's, ramping up the exuberance and adrenaline with such intensity and precision, blowing this gem into a tailspin with a life altering, mind-blowing culmination. Struggling through the trials and tribulations, along with shocking twists, stunning corners and tricky lines, testing our characters in ways they could have never anticipated. The characters are authentic and original with qualities and traits that transforms into amazing personalities. The scenes are strikingly sharp with abundant details and descriptions, as to give you a full understanding and realism that flows smoothly. Remarkable job Kyla, thanks for sharing this little guy with us.

[Frosty61 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was engaged in this one from the start, but ended up feeling cheated and manipulated. The plot was unique (EMP paired with a woman escaping her psychopathic jailer) and there was a lot of action, but there's absolutely NO resolution at the end. What the heck? No way am I going to read the next book - I'm guessing the author leaves you hanging at the end of that one, too. Could there be a reason other than to sell more books? I doubt it.

Since I'm ranting, I'll add that there are too many passages about Hannah's distrust and angst - very repetitive and resulted in my skimming pages. Not to be nasty, but maybe there was a contractual word count the author had to meet.

Warning: there's torture and abuse - of animals and people. Not for the faint-hearted OR those who dislike being manipulated. ;-)

[Regina the Constant Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ -Kindle Book

End of Days Thriller. It wasn’t what I was expecting, but it was good.

Triggers: Torture, Kidnapping, and Animal Cruelty

[anabel ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ · Rating 3 out of 5]

been reading this every night for the past 2 months and i finally finished it good lord

[Fabi NEEDS Email Notifications · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was completely outside my comfort zone.  I picked it up thinking it was an apocalypse survival story.  It was not!

It is an unspeakably brutal, horrifying tale of a psychopath and his pregnant captive.

She was traveling with a strange man she distrusted, a killer hot on her heels. In the middle of a crisis the likes of which this country had never seen.

The apocalypse is the backdrop of the story but the plot is a deranged killer in pursuit of his escaped captive.  I thought a few of the plot twists were ultra convenient but they didn't stop me from being horrified by the story.

😖😱🥺

[Micaylah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably more like a 2.5 ⭐️

That was a horrible way to end a book... no resolution, it just stops, are you serious? Is that your way to get people to continue reading your series?...
There's like six more freaking books in this series. I don't want to read them if that's how the endings are going to be.

The writing was okay, but it was very repetitive... she kept using the word jackhammering, as the word for pounding. Example; "Her heart was jackhammering in her chest." She didn't use pounding at all and I don't think she used any other word either.
She used "The hair on the back of *character*'s neck stood up." a lot as well.
No other way to describe that they're feeling nervous or anything, just that. 😊
The book also constantly mentioned how Hannah (The MC) doesn't trust anyone, blah blah blah. We get it...

Hannah was the most useless main character I've ever seen. Yeah, yeah, she's pregnant, but she could still be logical, sensical, and bad butt, but nope, she was just constantly a damsel in distress.

The writing for the dog was awful, IMO. Why did the dog have so many expressions? And how did the dog give Liam a nasty look. HUH? IT'S A DOG.
Hannah and the dog bonded too quickly. I couldn't help but cringe with how protective the dog was over her when he barely knew her.

I hated how we get Pike's POV. I don't want to read the psychopath's crazy ideas and thoughts. Ew.

Hannah constantly counting stuff every time she got nervous and scared was annoying me. It was so repetitive! Same thing with everything darkening around the edge of her vision every time she was scared. Like... how many times do you have to mention it?

Also, barely anything happens in this book, making you have to continue the series if you want more story.

[MK ( MaKayla) · Rating 2 out of 5]

More disturbing than I anticipated. This was on my tbr , so picked it up without rereading the synopsis . 😶 Which turned out to be a mistake .

Trigger warning torture and rape ;

The protagonist was kidnapped , and for the last five years brutally tortured.
Needless to say I didn't realize the MC was raped , and is carrying her captors child . Not to mention the fact that he broke every bone in her body repeatedly. That alone was sickening , I almost quite after I read that torture bit . I decided to just skip the description and fast forward past those bits. Unfortunately we are also treated to the Kidnappers POV. I skipped most of that as well .

When refers to the baby she is carrying in disgust as " that parasite sucking all of my strength " and thinks " I can't wait to get this thing out of me " I had to stop . I was terrified that she was going to have the baby and then discard it in the snow like a piece of trash . I completely understand that it must be horrific to go through what she did ,but I was also terrified for the defenseless child . Any pro abortion comments below will be discarded.

[Tori Tecken · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of this is really gripping. It was darker than I was anticipating and the antagonist in this story is truly sadistic and disturbing. There were multiple times I wanted to put it down but I was hooked enough to want to see what happened at the end, if Hannah and Ghost and Liam were going to make it through.
Some strong content warnings with this one.

[RedRedtheycallmeRed · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this for my daughter, who's a fan of this author, and I decided to read it too. It's a short book, with short chapters, but it's also short on character development. I'm seeing five books in this series, and if they're all this short it should really be 2-3.

Hannah and Liam spend much of the book brooding. Understandable given their recent events, but it bordered on tedious at times. Both POV are featured, and there are also a few chapters from the POV of the guy who kidnapped Hannah.

When we get out of the characters heads and their circling thoughts, the story was improved. I'm always interested in how people would react to a cataclysmic event like this. Not much gets resolved in the end, but I was expecting a cliffhanger going in.

[Abigail · Rating 1 out of 5]

To my book club: I am so sorry I was the tie breaker for this.

It read like a y/n fan fiction. Written by a man. I am shocked a woman wrote it.

My eyes nearly rolled out of my head when specific anatomical parts were described for what I assume was meant to be dramatic purposes, and when I read the (paraphrased) line "Everything about her was small, fragile, delicate. I couldn't help but want to protect her." There's no world or character building. Everyone kept referring to past events, extremely vaguely, and then not explaining them any further. I assume that happens in the rest of the books in the series, but I'm not sticking around to find out.

[Hanne Page · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book started out well, I liked the idea where the collapse of civilization caused by a massive EMP could be a positive thing for someone, somewhere. But I didn't like the writing style (how many times can you write "her heart was jackhammering in her chest" before it's no longer credible unless she has a hart condition?), the characters were a bit too one dimensional and... the story ended almost mid-sentence after a mere 300 pages, with several sequels to come. Way to squeeze out as much as you can... 2 stars.

[Maria Fledgling Author Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a thriller! I find it hard to review any of this without spoiling the surprise. Suffice it to say that you should not read this before bed, If you are prone to nightmares or if you have anxiety. LoL!

Kayla Stone weaves you into a web of horror, post-apocalyptic landscapes and the worst and best of human behavior. I can't wait for the next book in the series.

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Do I have to?

2.5

A friend asked me what I was currently reading. I showed him this book and immediately followed it with, “It’s not good.” Because it’s just not.

It’s extremely repetitive. The first two chapters are basically Hanna saying the same shit in a different order. I struggled to keep going right from the start. And for a character who’s supposedly survival-wise, strong-willed, and smart… she sure is super weak and unbelievably stupid. For a survival story, you’d think the protagonist would have some common sense—but nope. Every decision she made had me rolling my eyes into another dimension.

At one point, Hanna literally acknowledges that everything in the house she’s being held in runs off a generator.

Hanna: Hmm, the generator is out. The power is off…
Hanna: But how is the power off? I don’t understand.

Girl. THINK.

This little self-talk about the power and the electric lock happens what feels like a dozen more times. And that’s only in the first quarter of the book.

I spent most of the time wondering how this character even made it past page one. If the world is collapsing, she might as well sit down and let it happen.

Sorry, Hanna, but I’m choosing not to continue your survival journey. You can figure it out on your own.