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SHTF reading

Going Home by A. American was a decent, quick read. Didn't agree with everything the main character did, but it does have some good points.

Also, if you're into the Zombie/TEOTWAWKI genre mix, I highly recommend the As the World Dies series by Rihannon Frater. Some of her other works are pretty fun too.

Same genre, but viewed more from a military standpoint, I liked The Gathering Dead series by Stephen Knight.
 
I am stretching a bit here, as it's not true SHTF reading, but one of the best post-apocalyptic series out there is the 'Wool' series by Hugh Howley

http://www.amazon.com/Wool-Omnibus-Edition-Silo-ebook/dp/B0071XO8RA
http://www.amazon.com/Shift-Omnibus-Edition-Silo-ebook/dp/B00B6Z6HI2
Amazon.com: Dust (Silo Saga 3) eBook: Hugh Howey: Kindle Store

Story starts with a society that has been sheltered in an immense underground bunker as big as any modern day skyscraper, because the surface has been destroyed and is toxic to humans.

The first book 'Wool' is an omnibus collection of 5 serials as is the second book 'Shift' - the last book 'Dust' was published this summer. The second and third books, have flashbacks to what caused the silo to be built in the first place.

Terrific story telling - probably one of the best series I have come across in a while
 
A Distant Eden by Lloyd Hackitt.

Great short book. Tons of ideas for SHTF. It's a no nonsense approach book. I've read about 80% of what listed here so far, add this one to your list. Worth it.

A strange short book if your looking for a night or two of entertainment with a strange (but not bad) ending is First Activation by DA & MP Wearmouth. Not helpful from the prepper stance, but definitely entertaining.
 
I picked up The Breakers Series, 1-3, because who can resist three books for 99 cents?

http://www.amazon.com/The-Breakers-...sr=8-1&keywords=the+breakers+series+books+1-3

I really like the guy's writing style. Compared to most SHTF writers, this guy is John Steinbeck. He really has a way with words.

The books are pretty entertaining so far. Book 1 was a complete story. Book 2 is sort of the same story but with a different set of characters in different settings. They start out as sort of your standard SHTF/plague story, but turn into something else entirely.

For a buck, you can't go wrong. Considering the length of these books, this is the most words/dollar that you may ever see.
 
i quite enjoyed Adrian's Undead Diary. Not so much realistic SHTF fiction as it has zombies but it is very well written.
 
Loaning Kindle Books

If you own a Kindle or use a Kindle App I'd be happy to loan out the books listed below. Some are very good and some I didn't even bother to finish. The only catch is I can only loan the book out once and you can only keep it for 14 days. None of these are very long so it shouldn't be a problem.

If you are interested shoot me a PM. You will need to provide the email address associated with your Kindle. If there are multiple requests for one title I will give preference to Green Members.

  • Escaping Home: A Novel (The Survivalist Series) American, A.
  • Surviving Home (Going Home) American, A.
  • Going Home American, A.
  • Domestic Enemies: The Reconquista (The Enemies Trilogy) Bracken, Matthew
  • Enemies Foreign And Domestic (The Enemies Trilogy) Bracken, Matthew
  • The Survivalist (Frontier Justice) Bradley, Arthur
  • 77 Days in September Gorham, Ray
  • Apocalypse Law 3 Grit, John
  • The Long Road - A Post Apocalyptic Novel (The New World) Hopf, G. Michael
  • The End - A Post Apocalyptic Novel Hopf, G. Michael
  • The Jakarta Pandemic Konkoly, Steven
  • Dark Days Rough Roads Mark, Matthew D.
    [STRIKE=Loaned]
  • Holding Their Own V: The Alpha Chronicles Nobody, Joe[/STRIKE]
  • Holding Their Own IV: The Ascent Nobody, Joe
  • Apocalypse Drift Nobody, Joe
  • Holding Their Own III: Pedestals of Ash Nobody, Joe
  • Holding Their Own II: The Independents Nobody, Joe
  • Holding Their Own Nobody, Joe
  • Collapse (New America-Book One) Stephenson, Richard
  • The Survivor Chronicles: Book 1, The Upheaval Stevens, Erica
  • Eden's Hammer (Distant Eden) Tackitt, Lloyd
  • Adrian's War (A Distant Eden) Tackitt, Lloyd
  • A Distant Eden Tackitt, Lloyd
 
Last edited:
dbott63 said:
If you own a Kindle or use a Kindle App I'd be happy to loan out the books listed below. Some are very good and some I didn't even bother to finish. The only catch is I can only loan the book out once and you can only keep it for 14 days. None of these are very long so it shouldn't be a problem.

If you are interested shoot me a PM. You will need to provide the email address associated with your Kindle. If there are multiple requests for one title I will give preference to Green Members.

  • Escaping Home: A Novel (The Survivalist Series) American, A.
  • Surviving Home (Going Home) American, A.
  • Going Home American, A.
  • Domestic Enemies: The Reconquista (The Enemies Trilogy) Bracken, Matthew
  • Enemies Foreign And Domestic (The Enemies Trilogy) Bracken, Matthew
  • The Survivalist (Frontier Justice) Bradley, Arthur
  • 77 Days in September Gorham, Ray
  • Apocalypse Law 3 Grit, John
  • The Long Road - A Post Apocalyptic Novel (The New World) Hopf, G. Michael
  • The End - A Post Apocalyptic Novel Hopf, G. Michael
  • The Jakarta Pandemic Konkoly, Steven
  • Dark Days Rough Roads Mark, Matthew D.
  • Holding Their Own V: The Alpha Chronicles Nobody, Joe
  • Holding Their Own IV: The Ascent Nobody, Joe
  • Apocalypse Drift Nobody, Joe
  • Holding Their Own III: Pedestals of Ash Nobody, Joe
  • Holding Their Own II: The Independents Nobody, Joe
  • Holding Their Own Nobody, Joe
  • Collapse (New America-Book One) Stephenson, Richard
  • The Survivor Chronicles: Book 1, The Upheaval Stevens, Erica
  • Eden's Hammer (Distant Eden) Tackitt, Lloyd
  • Adrian's War (A Distant Eden) Tackitt, Lloyd
  • A Distant Eden Tackitt, Lloyd
Click to expand...

Man, we have almost the exact same library.
 
I am not sure how the kindle library thing works but I would love to borrow one. If you have a recommended one let me know.
 
dennism said:
I am not sure how the kindle library thing works but I would love to borrow one. If you have a recommended one let me know.
Click to expand...

dennism...if you have device that supports kindle all you would need to do is pick a book and send me your email associated with that Kindle App/Device. Portable Apple Devices (iPad/iPod/iPhone) and Android Devices, as well as Kindles themselves, should all be capable. The only book on this list that I didn't make it through is "The Survivor Chronicles: Book 1". I lost interest after a couple chapters (it may get better..I'll probably finish it eventually). The "Holding Their Own" series by Joe Nobody is pretty good if you haven't read those. I just loaned out the most recent book in the series but the first one is still available.
 
i thought "going home" was good because i felt i learned a few things from it. "surviving home" was just a story, imho, i didn't learn anything i didn't already know. i am up in the air about reading "escaping home".
 
lancecolonel said:
i thought "going home" was good because i felt i learned a few things from it. "surviving home" was just a story, imho, i didn't learn anything i didn't already know. i am up in the air about reading "escaping home".
Click to expand...

Yeah, to steal a poker term, I felt "pot committed" after reading the first two. I liked it from an entertainment value. I wouldn't say there is a whole heck of a lot to learn from Escaping Home but there a few things in there. For $5 I found it to be worth it. If you are interested and use a Kindle (or app) I'm happy to send it your way. I'm loaning them out first-come-first-served.
 
I am not 100% positive about this, but I think the lending feature may only work if the borrower has an actual Kindle. I tried lending to somebody once who had the Kindle app on their PC, and I don't believe they were ever able to read it.

Also, I've got Escaping Home ready to go as soon as I finish what I am reading. I may need to go back and read the second book to remember what is happening. It is really hard to keep all of these series books straight in my head.
 
mclina said:
Also, I've got Escaping Home ready to go as soon as I finish what I am reading. I may need to go back and read the second book to remember what is happening. It is really hard to keep all of these series books straight in my head.
Click to expand...

Surviving Home ended with them doing a recon of the work camp and they found Jess there.
 
mclina said:
I am not 100% positive about this, but I think the lending feature may only work if the borrower has an actual Kindle. I tried lending to somebody once who had the Kindle app on their PC, and I don't believe they were ever able to read it.

Also, I've got Escaping Home ready to go as soon as I finish what I am reading. I may need to go back and read the second book to remember what is happening. It is really hard to keep all of these series books straight in my head.
Click to expand...


Maybe they fixed that. I didn't even know I could loan them until recently. Per Amazon's site:

You can lend a Kindle book to another reader for up to 14 days. The borrower does not need to own a Kindle device and can read the book after downloading a free Kindle reading app.

Note: A book can only be loaned one time. Magazines and newspapers are currently not available for lending.
Click to expand...
 
I'd like to review the Jarkarta Pandemic...


I pretty much disliked the main character throughout the book. He's a iraq war vet with all kinds of preps, so he's ready for just about anything. he's pretty much a smug *******.

he has a pistol, a shotgun, and an AR-15. yet more than once he's disparaging of anybody else with a firearm. His neighbor across the street hunts, and he's portrayed as some gung-ho sniper wannabe. The main character wonders multiple times "just how many guns that guy has". Dude, he's armed and he's on your side....who cares?

When the flu really gets raging, the news reports a bunch of armed men try to close down a bridge to keep the sickness at bay....they're termed a bunch of "gun nuts" by this smarmy jerk...it's ok for him though, he's been trained.

At least he had a few moments before people started really dropping dead to crap on Fox news a couple of times in between bites of the vegetarian dish of the day. [rolleyes] Yep, he and his family are vegetarians...more reasons not to trust them.

The real crime is, the story wasn't too bad. i was just so distracted by this douche of a protagonist I couldn't focus on it... then it hit me. this guy is Gabriel Gomez to a T. That's why I despised him.
 
mg42doc said:
The real crime is, the story wasn't too bad. i was just so distracted by this douche of a protagonist I couldn't focus on it... then it hit me. this guy is Gabriel Gomez to a T. That's why I despised him.
Click to expand...

[smile] Gabriel Gomez is a douchebag, I can see how you made the connection. Touche sir!
 
mg42doc said:
I'd like to review the Jarkarta Pandemic...


I pretty much disliked the main character throughout the book. He's a iraq war vet with all kinds of preps, so he's ready for just about anything. he's pretty much a smug *******.

he has a pistol, a shotgun, and an AR-15. yet more than once he's disparaging of anybody else with a firearm. His neighbor across the street hunts, and he's portrayed as some gung-ho sniper wannabe. The main character wonders multiple times "just how many guns that guy has". Dude, he's armed and he's on your side....who cares?

When the flu really gets raging, the news reports a bunch of armed men try to close down a bridge to keep the sickness at bay....they're termed a bunch of "gun nuts" by this smarmy jerk...it's ok for him though, he's been trained.

At least he had a few moments before people started really dropping dead to crap on Fox news a couple of times in between bites of the vegetarian dish of the day. [rolleyes] Yep, he and his family are vegetarians...more reasons not to trust them.

The real crime is, the story wasn't too bad. i was just so distracted by this douche of a protagonist I couldn't focus on it... then it hit me. this guy is Gabriel Gomez to a T. That's why I despised him.
Click to expand...

Hahaha...good points. I still thought it was a good read. He was a bit high and mighty but I liked the scenario as a change of pace from the typical SHTF genre.
 
dbott63 said:
Hahaha...good points. I still thought it was a good read. He was a bit high and mighty but I liked the scenario as a change of pace from the typical SHTF genre.
Click to expand...

Good premise, and not a bad story on the whole. I would suggest reading it. Although being Rawlesesque in the level of preparation takes away from it a bit IMO.

Can someone point me to a story where the main character is pretty much unprepared? Most of the EMP stories I've read are like that...

maybe that's why zombie fiction (I call it "shiction") is so popular....because everybody's screwed and it makes for a better read (when not written at a 5th grade level)
 
mg42doc said:
I'd like to review the Jarkarta Pandemic...


I pretty much disliked the main character throughout the book. He's a iraq war vet with all kinds of preps, so he's ready for just about anything. he's pretty much a smug *******.

he has a pistol, a shotgun, and an AR-15. yet more than once he's disparaging of anybody else with a firearm. His neighbor across the street hunts, and he's portrayed as some gung-ho sniper wannabe. The main character wonders multiple times "just how many guns that guy has". Dude, he's armed and he's on your side....who cares?

When the flu really gets raging, the news reports a bunch of armed men try to close down a bridge to keep the sickness at bay....they're termed a bunch of "gun nuts" by this smarmy jerk...it's ok for him though, he's been trained.

At least he had a few moments before people started really dropping dead to crap on Fox news a couple of times in between bites of the vegetarian dish of the day. [rolleyes] Yep, he and his family are vegetarians...more reasons not to trust them.

The real crime is, the story wasn't too bad. i was just so distracted by this douche of a protagonist I couldn't focus on it... then it hit me. this guy is Gabriel Gomez to a T. That's why I despised him.
Click to expand...

I've read this a couple of times, and I sort of got the impression that the author gives him this attitude intentionally, so that he can be proven wrong later on. The 'gun nut' neighbor ends up being his best friend.

The level of preparation does seem excessive, much like as in Patriots.

I do like the book a lot. I also red the Black Flagged books by the same author. They are pretty entertaining, kind of like Vince Flynn's books.
 
i have read patriots and lights out, and am trying to get through craw fords second book, collision course, but its not nearly as good as lights out was. i couldn't put lights out down.

i need a suggestion, what should i read next? i have a few of them stacked up in the corner, a few of the holding their own books, all of rawle's other books, and the first 3 299 days series. i have browsed through most of these and just haven't gotten hooked like i was with lights out yet. i loved patriots when i first read it but i think since i have developed a bit more as a "prepper" it would bore me to read now. too preachy.

i haven't read one second after yet, i think my mother has it. I've heard that is one of the best.

anyways, give me some suggestions, should i give any of the books i have more of a try or get something else?
 
If you haven't read One Second After, then that is a great one. It's one of the better written of the bunch.

None of the Rawles books after Patriots is worth reading, IMHO. They are all rehashes of the same story. Collision Course by Crawford was really disappointing after waiting for so long for it.

I've read a mess of these things on Kindle, and they all kind of run together in your head. Ones that stand out are the Apocalypse Law series, the Holding Their Own series, and Matt Bracken's books. In fact, if you haven't read them, I would put the Bracken books at the top of the list.
 
Um...how about THE BIBLE!

youre-welcome-jc.jpg
 
There's a series from David Mauldin that starts with "The second layer of Hell" that's pretty good. It's pretty believable from a overall theme standpoint, even if some of the situations are a little far fetched. It continues with "Blood beyond the abyss", "A dark wind of Vengence", and "The passion killers"(I think that's the order, "Second layer of Hell is definitely first).
 

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