the book lacks vested interest in the characters

Thomas Monroe is just a regular everyday normal guy (in the words of Jon Lajoie). He works at a job where he doesn’t get enough credit and ends up being wrongfully terminated. Worst of all, his wife has passed away and he is left with a daughter who is just starting college. As his luck starts to spiral downward, he receives a very strange phone call from one of the veterans he has helped through his job. This man tells Thom of some impending doom and that he he needs to stock up on supplies and get his family to a safe destination. But whatever for? He doesn’t know until what seems like the entire country’s power grid is shut down. Thom must fight alongside new friends as he begins the journey across the state to find his daughter, but will survival come that easy?

There are a few things wrong with the book. First, there is a disclaimer at the beginning that this novel is different from all other post-apocalyptic fiction. It’s not… It involves the same types of characters from the wanna-be heroes to the resourceful preppers. Second, the book lacks vested interest in these characters. Not once did I find myself giving a lick what happened to anyone or their situations. Third, the book couldn’t capture my attention, whether it was the (hate to say it) childish way it was written or the lack of decent setting/environment descriptions. i just felt as though I had seen this all before (and I have) and the novel was just a sad rip-off of all of those stories, whether it be One Second After or another of your choosing.

As far as the audio goes, I thought Mitchell Lucas was fine but he seemed rather bored. There was little to no emotion thrown into the characters and the voices given to those characters was hardly distinguishable. I won’t be reading any further into this series.

Audiobook provided for review by the narrator via audiobookblast dot com.

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9 people found this helpful

Pretty OK Book

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This book was pretty ok. If the timeline had been spread out a little, it would have been more believable. I really don't think within 12 hours of all electricity, cars, internet, etc. going out, that the whole country will be raping, pillaging, murdering, etc. Yah, some places will loot, there were be gangs shooting at each other, but regular suburban folks and college kids will take a little longer before they're ready to gag, bound and rape the neighbors. Also, people don't get filthy in less then 24 hours. A couple of kids were locked in a class room with their teacher for less than 24 hours. By the time they were found, the children were filthy. How? Were they covered in cobwebs from playing around in the storage closet? And food doesn't reek in this amount of time either. In Fall temps climate, you can leave a chunk of raw meat out on the counter and it will not reek the following day. It may have a smell, but nothing to the extent that you're gagging. (I couldn't recall the time of year in the book, but no one complained about it being hot without air conditioners or too cold without heaters)

Another thing that really bugged me, and I'll try not to give spoilers. The change in a character's behavior/substance abuse had me doing a double take. I actually rewound to make sure this was the same person. You don't go from being a suit & tie exec one day to being a street junkie willing to do anything for a pill the next.....literally ANYTHING. That made absolutely no sense. Plus, if someone had done what he did (pretty bad thing at the end) I would not ask him to take care of my family. I'd made sure he died and was never around them again.

So to sum it up......if these things had occurred over a longer period of time, the book would have been worlds better and very believable as what could really happen to us if the electricity went out. And if the street junkie had been written as such.....like an exec with a horrible pill/drug/alcohol addiction from the very first, his actions could have been believable too.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com.

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4 people found this helpful

An enjoyable Post Apocalyptic read.

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I'm so glad I gave this a chance because I ended up really enjoying this. It's a really good Post Apocalyptic read and one I hope will become better as the series progresses.

This focuses on the aftermath of an EMP that happened without warning. We see what it's like to try to survive in a world gone mad. I always enjoy a Post Apocalyptic story like this because I find that this is something that could happen! It's scary to think about really!!

Plot wise this is relatively fast paced. The EMP happens within the first few paragraphs and what follows is, an often time, scary look at what it could be like. I thought the author did a great job of describing what happened and did his research when it comes to EMPs.

Character wise, while there are a few different POVs in the book, it isn't hard to follow who was talking. The book follows Thomas and his quest to collect his daughter. Along the way he meets a policeman (whos POV is part of the story) and his nurse wife, a homeless man who is ex military (who accompanies Thomas), and a few other people. Each of the characters have their own story which comes together to create the whole! I loved seeing the different POVs and thought that it added more to the overall feel of the book.

In all this was an enjoyable listen. I started it and couldn't take out my earplugs because I needed to see what would happen next. It's a fast paced and thrilling read and I am looking forward to more from these characters.

Mitchell Lucas did a great job with this. He gave subtle changes to his tone for each character which came across really well. He was easy to listen to and read well. I'm glad he didn't try to do a girls voice because often times when a male narrator does try, it comes across as weird!! Not so with Mitchell, he gave just enough of a change to know that it's a female that was talking at the time.

*This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com.*

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3 people found this helpful

Disappointing.

(WARNING – Spoilers ahead) I will preface this review with saying that I’m a fan of post-apocalypse fiction, and my career path has given me some insight into everything from firearms and defensive tactics to disaster response planning (including ICS) and even a bit of background in agriculture. I mention this here as I will be a bit critical in the review ahead.

I wanted to like this book, I really did. When I read the line in the summary asking, “Can an everyday, broken man survive the apocalypse?”, I was intrigued. I have read all the classics; Alas Babylon, Lucifer’s Hammer, On the Beach, as well as more recent novels like One Second After, Wool, and The Road. I like the idea of a protagonist that doesn’t happen to be well prepared for “teotwawki”, but struggles to find their way and look out for their family.

Thom, our main character finds himself in a word changed by an unexpected EMP attack on America. He is an exceedingly lucky guy, as he is soon befriended by a police officer (prepper) and his wife (nurse), and a very resourceful homeless guy (ex-military and armed of course). They instantly embrace him as if he was a long lost friend and adventures ensue.

There are some technical problems with story that were distracting such as a scene in a grain elevator and an escape from some handcuffs. Having worked in large grain elevators when I was young, I can tell you that grain doesn’t behave the way it was described in the story (but the dust IS explosive). Also, you’re not going to be able to use a tooth pick that you’ve carried around in your wallet for twenty years as a shim to escape from handcuffs.

I didn’t pay a credit for this book (thankfully). It was sent to me to review (This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com.) so I felt that I needed to finish it to give the author a fair shot at the review I was obligated to write. My apologies to the author, Jordon Quattlebaum, as I sense in his writing that he is a good person who enjoys this genre as much as I do, I just can’t give this book a positive review in good conscience.

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3 people found this helpful

Good start to the series

This is an urban fantasy of what happens after an EMP wipes out power. The main character is forced to travel to meet up with his daughter. It covers what good and bad people will do to survive. It reminds me of the walking dead only without zombies. It has a steady pace and the narrator brings all the characters to life. I may continue with the series in the future.

"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com."

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2 people found this helpful

Not a fan

I couldn't even finish listening to it. Unbelievable story and characters, boring and the narration was terrible.

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1 person found this helpful

Yes, this!

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com.

I found this book to be enjoyable, and secretly I wished fr this event to happen so I could live a simpler life, and mostly not have to go back to work.

The characters we follow had clear goals and motivations. Everything that happened was in service to those goals and I appreciated that. There were some unexpected things that happened even though the book ended where I thought it might. It was a great ride and I look forward to the next installment.

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1 person found this helpful

Book Breakdown

Breakdown: Season 1 by Jordon Quattlebaum is a new author for me. This book proves you SHOULD judge a book by its cover, because i liked the front picture and "gosh" i liked Breakdown. Jordon Quattlebaum proves that your first book can be a 4,7 out of 5 book. it is that good. Other then that i cant say negative things about it. Its fun, fast and i love what i hear!

Mitchell Lucas makes this book fantastic. 5 hrs and 5 mins goes on fast with this man. 5 hrs and 5 mins with fun, fast action that goes in to your ear like candy. Candy for your ears. It is nothing i can say negative about this.

"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com."

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1 person found this helpful

Finally a man I can believe in

The story was an EMP apocalypse (as opposed to zombies or nuclear war). It seemed like the details as far as what would survive an EMP and what would not, were correct. The author also showed the effects on different populations The two main characters are a middle aged widower and his daughter, a first year college student. The disaster is shown primarily through their eyes and a few other characters.

I liked the main character. I liked the fact that he was not an ex-seal alpha male type. He was an ordinary joe trying to survive long enough to find his daughter and keep her safe. I wasn’t as wild about the daughter. Granted she had lost her mother recently but she seemed too mature and forward thinking for a first year college student. She is the one who realizes the food fight in the cafeteria is destroying food they will need in days to come. And then she stands up to all the other students and puts a stop to it. She is definitely more mature than I was at that age. So she was not as believable a character as her father was.

I liked Mr. Lucas’s voice. It was different than other narrators in a way that is hard to quantify. Probably the best I can express the difference is he sounded like a regular guy, which the main character is, so good job narrator! I really appreciated that he did not do a falsetto for the female voices. By subtle changes in tone, accents and speech patterns Mr. Lucas did a very good job of representing each character, no matter what gender or age. The accents he did were also very believable.

The production values were good for the most part. When the narrator raises his voice, for example when the serviceman calls the main character to warn him that something is going to happen, the sound quality is not as good. I know it is very hard to create raised voices and still keep that audio and the regular level audio on a good level. Other than raised voices, I thought the production values were good.

My attention was not absolutely riveted. I enjoyed the book but it did not keep me awake wanting to continue listening to it. I would still recommend Breakdown Season 1 to any disaster or post apocalypse fans. It looks like Season 1 is just the start of what may be a much longer series. I would suggest that Mr. Lucas be retained as the narrator because he really gave the main character a believable voice.

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1 person found this helpful

Breakdown season 1

I LOVED this book and can't wait for 'season 2'!Mitchell Lucas does a wonderful job with a myriad of character voices.He brings everyone to life.A bad day for Tom turns in to a REALLY bad day when after he hits a deer,his car is hit by another car and then the world turns upside down.This is an apocolyptic book with a twist.Tom has no idea how to survive in this world.He meets a lot of good people but also some bad.It's quite an adventure.This audiobook was provided to me at no cost for a fair and honest review

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