Going Home

In this instance, I take issue with the quality of the editing and manner of telling the story, not the story itself. In fact, the only redeeming quality of this book is the story. At $11.99 for the kindle version and published by a major publishing house (Plume – A Member of Penguin Group) one expects a good read with few errors and a decent degree of polish. I’m quite sorry to report that this book is deeply flawed in both style and function.

The story centers around Morgan Carter, a survivalist prepper on his way home when an EMP event takes out the power grid and kills most the vehicles. Morgan must walk through much of Florida to reach his home and survive the perils along the way to reach his wife and children.

Big Issue #1 – Lists of actions. I did this. Then I did this. After that, I did this other thing before I did something else. The details of making a cup of oatmeal should not take up an entire page. A simple, I heated water on the pack stove and made oatmeal would suffice. If you like lists of actions that detail such things, this is the book for you.

Then there is the backpack the main character claims weighs about 60 pounds, but by the end of the book, anyone who thinks a man could carry this portable survival store on his back also believes in the Incredible Hulk. I count 4 – yes that is four – different stoves kept in this pack. And each time Morgan lights a stove, we read the entire process. There is no situation where something from this pack doesn’t make life better or somehow worth the effort of carrying the extra weight, and along the way, Morgan adds even more stuff to the pack.

And, this pack is full of things the main character is proud to own I love this stove. It’s so great and so worth the extra weight in the pack. It cost more than the other stoves (and if it’s so great, why have the others?) but it was totally worth the extra money.

And this pot is better than the others. It’s so great, that’s why I keep it in the pack. It cost more, but it was worth the extra money – and on, Ad nauseam.

I will complain loudly about the author’s use of acronyms. Here’s a line from Page 13. “Part of my EDC was an ESEE4.” My gosh. Really. What’s an EDC and what’s an ESEE4? Do I really want to stop reading and scroll all the way to the glossary and look these up? Do I even care? There are more acronyms scattered through this book than Federal Government Agencies.

A few story holes that don’t make sense. After shooting a guy who tried to rob him, Morgan searches the (still screaming) thug and finds a roll of cash and four nickel bags of weed. He takes half the weed (useful for trading later) but leaves the cash because now it’s useless. At the next store, he pays with his own cash. Apparently, not so useless after all.

Last, there is an undercurrent of stereotype. “There was a little Indian guy behind the counter, dot not feather” and then later in another store (and noted that it’s just like millions of other independent convenience stores around the country) “There was an Indian couple behind the counter, and a strong smell of spices filled the air.”

I gave this two stars. The underlying story was not bad. A hero we want to succeed who helps other people when he can and sometimes suffers the consequences when they turn out to be not so good. We see the ugly in the human race when the worst among us are suddenly free to do as they please. The author wrote in first person. Not always a bad thing, but he needs to learn the art of first person storytelling from a perspective other than “I did this.”

I have no plan to read the next book in the series. Rather than compelling me to do so with this book, I am compelled to find another book.

I read a lot of post-apocalypse fiction. Most writers suck at it. Their scenarios are rather far fetched, their characters are cookie cutter preppers I could never relate to if we were face to face, and the decisions their characters make are so stupid as to put them in deeper jeopardy making their professed prepper status highly questionable and making me hope Darwin got it right so I’ll never have to deal with them.

A.A.’s characters are well developed, thinking people, even the bad guys. They behave in ways that are true to their back story. Yes, they make mistakes and sometimes those mistakes have unpleasant consequences.

As of today, there are maybe 10 or more books in the series. They enter my library as soon as they are released and that’s unusual for me because my experience is that when an author pens a series beyond a certain number of books, they seem to reach a point where they’re either phoning it in to continue milking the cash cow, or they get so tired of the characters and storyline that they begin to hate what they perceive as a rut. Neither pitfall traps this series.

The story arc is such that the plot could run on for another 10 books or more provided the author continues to keep events believable. The characters are not one-note survivalists. They continue to mature and evolve as events unfold.

The author isn’t afraid to kill off a key character or two and new characters are fleshed out just as well as the ones that survive through everything.

In spite of the seriousness of the subject, the author isn’t afraid of some comic relief and there are genuine belly laughs spread throughout the series.

So far, I’ve only been mildly disappointed with one book in the series and I believe that’s because Weatherman bowed to fan pressure and turned a book out before he should have. If you pick up this series, you’ll know which one I’m referring to and I’m sure he does too. When a writer is as social media connected to their fan base as he is, and that base is screaming for the next book, that’s hard to ignore but easy to forgive.

I hope one day to write this well and have my fans clamoring for the next book.

The worlds gone to pot and no zombies, Well this book had me griped from the first chapter, I normally read zombie style books, but I gave this a go and I’m now hooked. I cant wait to sse where these books go. Recomended to anyone who likes this style of story. So much detail and the characters just walk of the page. Thankyou.

Bought for a friend,who tells me its a great read & wants number 2,im sure there are 6 in all.

A little preachy but a good read, not too sure but the rest of the series will possibly be more entertaining.

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