Blind Force

Renewal #10

by J.F. Perkins

In the final installment of the Renewal story, Bill Carter's community faces the long odds of a fight against the massed Dragon army. The time has come to find out whether years of careful preparation can survive against the blind force of an unforeseen enemy. In Bill's past, the chapter of immediate survival closes on a changing family as new bonds form and new plans are made for the future.

Genres: Post Apocalyptic, Apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Dystopia

68 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 22, 2011

About the author

I was born two years before we landed on the moon, somewhere in the middle of Long Island. I was too young to remember much, except for the park ritual of spinning three times on a stump, the bee that flew down my throat, and getting my fingernails smashed off in a car door. Ok, that's not fair. I also remember when the mean kid across the street was run over by the mailman.

I currently live in Olympia, Washington with my fantastic wife, Sharon, five dogs (Hunter, Hope, Elke, Jay, and Luna - Queen of the Lunaverse), and two cats (Donner - loves everyone, Jenny - rarely leaves the bedroom closet). Whew! That was a mouthful. I'm a digital artist by trade, woodworker by hobby, gardener by spousal association, and dog trainer by hard necessity.

Reviews

[Dollie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the conclusion of the story. Bill tells Terry more of his family history from his childhood. In their current time, the Teeny Town people are bracing for a big fight from Gary and Wally, but Bill thinks he can outsmart them. He has the right people working for him and there are other people from the surrounding community who pitch in to help. It does come to a showdown between the two groups in which a lot of people die, but at the end there is cause for celebration. I have really liked this story, and because it was written a chapter at a time and serialized, I could read it at my leisure, between reading other books, so I feel like I’ve known these characters a long time and I really liked Bill, Aggie, Terry and Sally, as well as some of the other characters. Thank you, Lisa Noell, for recommending this story to me.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

To start off, this is not a full-length book but the second of a ten-part series of short stories: it will take you less than an hour to read this one as well as for each of the ten other stories. If you haven't read the first book of the series (Renewal without any of the numbers after it), you need to read that one first then progress in numerical order through #10.

This Book 10 is the conclusion (maybe) of the series - the author has a teaser there might be a spinoff or something of that nature. He drives the continuing conflict home with this one and, consistent with the other books leaves you wanting a little more. In my case, I'd like for the trials and tribulations of "my" little community to continue!

Similar to the other books in the series, the author sets you into a futuristic (and believable) outlook of America several decades after a nuclear destruction of organized society, with frequent flashbacks / narrations of what happened immediately after to the surviving families. I could actually visualize the various scenes and situations, and found myself wondering "what if" or "what would I do" while reading not only this one, but the other stories in the series. The author does a good job of wetting your tastebuds and wanting a little more at the conclusion of the story - hence, let's go purchase the next book of the series. Overall, the series is very good and I highly recommend it.

I will point out I did read all ten of the stories of the series one right after the other as the series is good: while good, it was a little annoying to having just strapped myself in to read for a while then finding the various stories ended and I had to go buy another.

[james greig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reader beware

Once you start these book they are very hard to put down. Thank you for a good read. Got any more?..".

[Felicia A Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great world-building and awesome dual storyline in this post-apocalyptic/renewal & rebuilding type of book.

It's about 35 years after the "Breakdown" (nuclear missiles worldwide, all hell broke loose, etc., etc., etc.). Since the nukes headed for the US were detonated in space, there is little bomb damage or fallout (not really believable, but it's not a big plot hole). The struggling survivors have slapdash governments and plans and such, but life pretty much sucks. A good group has an amazing town and life, but they keep hidden for obvious reasons. The protagonist stumbles onto it, and the backstory is great.

Big major problem is that this is probably only novella length, which is personally very annoying, and in order to make it great, probably 3 or 4 of the novellas in the continuing series need to be combined into one book each, and could make a great sequel or trilogy, depending on how far the author intends to take the series.

I sat for the last two days and read the remaining consecutive books in this outstanding series. LOVED the series, but hate the novellas. They need to be combined into one fantastic book.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very sad for this book/series to come to an end. This SHTF or TEOTWAWKI (the end of the world as we know it) took a different approach to EMP/big bomb story telling by having the story start some 37 years after, and having the main character hear the story from a person who was there when it happened. This gives you the perspective from the boy who has never known it different and the eleven year old boy who left his Xbox at home for a short vacation to find out he would never see it again.
I gave all 10 books five stars with the exception of #9. For some reason the author chose to remind us of previous events, which I can understand for those readers who were waiting between publications. But made it irritating for me who got to read all ten straight through.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great series! I finally finished this series and it was fantastic! I really liked the story and the way we see what has happened in a few years after the Breakdown and a background for one of the major characters. It really helps us see what drove Bill Carter to be the leader that he is. I felt like the backstory was cut a little short and would love to read more about that, though. Great story and look forward to more from this author.

[Kimmie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent series. You will love the characters like they are your own family. I am sad it is over and I hope the author goes through with his plan to expand on the characters and make it one BIG novel.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great PA series. I can't wait to read the sequel 'Decay' shuck will be released as a novel. I recommend this series to all fans of PA fiction.

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series. I can't wait for the next book to come out!

[David Galloway · Rating 3 out of 5]

All of my comments on the Renewal series can be found in the first installment of the story.