Hell on Ice

by Edward M. Wolfe

A young mother, Tori, is on her way home to her house in Denver when a nuclear detonation occurs in the city of Denver. Tori acts quickly and resolves to do whatever it takes to provide shelter for herself and her 3-year-old daughter, Elizabeth until such time that some form of order can be re-instated.

Not far from where Tori and Liz settle, two bikers wake up to a brand new mid-day. The mushroom cloud on the horizon tells them that it's going to be a GREAT day.

Can Tori and Liz win a battle against nothing more sinister than the winter weather?

Can anyone survive an encounter with Carl and Trey?

(Note: This book should be read by adults only. Some content may be disturbing to some readers.)

Genres: Survival, Humor

45 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 3, 2013

About the author

Author of a variety of science fiction sub-genres.

ACX audiobook producer/narrator.

Reviews

[DJ Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

!!!WaRnInG!!!: The author advises that this story have a Viewer Discretion is Advised label due to violence, explicit language, adult content, and rape.

Hell on Ice (In The End, #2) by Edward M. Wolfe

Life doesn’t just get put on hold for a nuclear explosion. That would be too easy.

Tori, a single mom living in Colorado, could use some easy in her life. Her sister is breathing down her neck about moving closer to Kansas, she can’t remember the last time she saw her outlaw brother, and now her little girl is drawing pictures of the mushroom cloud they witnessed on their way home! Life is the farthest thing from easy that Tori can imagine.

Trey woke up to the end of the world. He isn’t a cold and hardened criminal, like his buddy Carl that had been looking out for him, he has a family. A family he has to assume is particles of dust in the mushroom cloud that covers Denver now. He knows he has to find a way to stay strong if he was going to survive, but is the world that’s left worth living for?

Jim and Terry begin work to make the lodge safe from intruders, extend the rations they currently have, and remove the bodies rotting on the doorsteps. In their spare moments they try to lift Angela’s spirits, but Terry is horrible at keeping up morale. If they’re going to make it through this they are going to need each other, but one has to wonder if they can stand each other for that long!



Heartfelt thanks to Edward M. Wolfe whom graciously sent me his eBooks First Strike (In The End, #1) and Hell on Ice (In The End, #2) as a gift. I own a Kindle (eReader), but I hate it. I just like the feeling of a real book in my hands. I always try to thank authors who send me their books via Kindle, but I honestly never read them. Edward M. Wolfe’s In The End series is the first eBook I have successfully read on my Kindle. That alone should be a testament to how good it is!

Excerpt:
“...”Most folks don’t have but a few days to a week’s worth of food in their houses at any given time. When they run out, they’ll have to forage. Only the fools will forage in town. The smart ones will look on the outskirts.…”

Even if grocery stores were accessible in a disaster they would only have a few days’ supply of food on hand based on their average customer traffic. Remember also that a large portion of that food will be perishable.

Learning skills, such as; growing food, hunting, self-defense, and food preservation is wise to do in advance of a catastrophe. In the midst of a crisis is not the time for trial and error.

Terry has BIG ideas, but he can’t do everything by himself. Even worse, if tragedy was to befall Terry where would it leave Jim and Angela? Jim is a survivalist by instinct, but that can only get them so far.

Excerpt:
“…”I understand why we had to raid, but I’m not going to be a hoarder and a shut-in too.””

Some people get it, and some people don’t. It feels foreign to us as civilized human beings not to share and treat other’s as we would want to be treated. Unfortunately, when it comes to survival, you MUST be anything but civil. You may feel guilty, but it’s better than feeling hungry!

Excerpt:
“Her mind flashed on images of mushroom clouds she’d seen in school films – testing on Bikini Island; bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Other than that, she’d only seen them in movies.”

I can only imagine what all the characters from the stories experienced when they watched that mushroom cloud. I’ve never seen anything like that, on that scale, in real life. Just really bad classroom movies, and mostly in black and white. Knowing what I know now, at least I know covering my head under a school desk won’t protect me and my loved ones from anything!

I think for people who grew up in a post 80’s era nuclear war seems like an impossibility. There are too many more likely scenarios for an man-made-apocalypse, such as; EMP, super bugs, New World Order, global warming, zombies, …the list could go on forever!

If the mushroom cloud is the end, the end of everything they know, how will Tori explain to her daughter what happened? She can’t exactly cue up a film about it.

Excerpt:
“”We ain’t got any money – ‘less you been holdin’ out.”
“Money? Hell. Who needs money? Don’t you know what that big ol’ cloud means? Everything’s diff’rent now. We don’t need money. We take what we want. Ain’t no fucking cops to stop us.””

As appealing as that may be to some, what good would it do? Electronics won’t work, fancy clothes and shoes are no longer practical, and even gold may not carry any weight being that most metals would absorb radiation and be toxic. Free doesn’t seem so cool when you put it into context.

For Carl and Trey weapons, beer, and trouble are the currency they crave. It’s all fun and games until Carl’s personality starts to change. Trey might not be much, but he knows he’s better than Carl, even if they are the last two men on earth!

I know the author worried about Carl’s harsh approach to freedom, and his own graphic descriptions about Carl’s behavior, but there was nothing there too offensive or pornographic. Really, it’s about the equivalent to what they show on Network TV these days until you get to the end, and the end is a really good shocker!

Excerpt:
“He too liked the freedom of being able to drive as fast as he wanted and not worry about having a suspended license or no insurance, but he also wanted to be alive to enjoy this new freedom.”

I just added this line because I wanted to point out how creepy it was that my friend got pulled over as I was reading this for driving on a suspended license and he needed someone to pick up his car before they towed it to impound. I don’t believe in coincidences, but that’s pretty close!

Excerpt:
“If they were lucky, they’d find guns. They needed guns now, and the fact that they were felons and couldn’t own guns no longer mattered. Carl smiled just thinking about the new order of things.”

In some states felonies, white collar felonies, do not affect your ability to own a firearm. Now I doubt that applied to Carl or Trey even if they took the time to find out if that loop-hole existed in their area. If I were them I would’ve hit up empty places before I tried an occupied residence, just so I had a side arm at the ready. It seemed chancy the way they preceded, but then again Carl doesn’t strike me as the brightest crayon in the box!

Excerpt:
“She felt so fortunate to have just the bare necessities that she almost considered herself selfish over her greedy desire for warmth in addition to what she had.”

Survival isn’t selfish, survival isn’t greedy. Survival is survival. Spend time being grateful for the things you have now, so you will know what is really important if you lose everything.

Excerpt:
“”Sure. I hate people in general, but you guys are cool with me.””

I think the author, Edward M. Wolfe, has a great opportunity to put together a gripping novel here. This story could easily be extended, loose ends tied together, and characters layered with greater detail thus ending with a definite Best Seller ! I liked the story flow better in this second installment of the story, Hell on Ice (In The End, #2). The characters were more colorful, the plot intense, and the settings well imagined. It is, however; missing the solid storyline that pulled the reader into the first installment, First Strike (In The End, #1).

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND giving this story a read!





Review provided by DJ Harris (aka DJ6ual):

[Mercy Cortez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Update - 09th June 2013

Mr Wolfe decided to make some alteration to the storyline which in effect filters my review a little.

So first of all - 4.5 stars this time around.

Tori she still bored me but now she has a purpose, and now that I know that I understand why I was reading about her through most of this book.

The main character in this for me is Trey. He is unexpected and I love the potential storyline for him and victim Monica. I may even shift my shipping love from Jim and Angela to this new complicated affair if all goes as I want it to in book three. Carl makes a big impact and after the edits to this story he becomes a bigger threat.

The scaring scene I was all for has now been slightly edited and made less graphic which although at first disappointment me because why change something just because it is a bit taboo as I read more I realised that it was f or the good of the story and the good of what I can only assume will be a great part three.

Anyway, the revisions are better but I'm exceptionally glad I got to see the original.






Original review - 03 June 2013

Four slightly disturbing and oh wow stars

Okay. So we have been with Jim and the gang but like Love Actually, or New Years Eve the movies we are introduced to interlinking characters.

Tori - the scared mother who just wants to keep her kid safe. To mothers out there this is touching; Tori is very sweet with her daughter however... I'm not a mother and frankly I didn't care about her or her needy daughter...

BUT

Carl and Trey... OMG... Carl is a psychopath, he is limited educationally and is disturbed leader of the two. Carl is vicious and takes matters into his own hands seeing the new apocalyptic world as a new start to make his place rightfully his. The scene here gets rather graphic and the disclaimer is certainly apt. Those who may have read captive in the dark or possibly comfort food may be familiar with a scene like this however if you haven't this could be a scaring scene.

Jim and his lady... I was shipping these two, hard core, but you don't see much of the old gang in this one which is a shame.

I really liked the whole idea of these different characters all in this setting and I love the premise.

Just wanted more of my Jim (love him) and less of Tori (boring woman because I don't have kids).

Need the next one now, Mr Wolfe before I fan girl all over you.

Also u promised a standalone soon... Need!

[J. Michel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished reading First Strike, and I immediately picked up Hell on Ice because I just had to know what happened to the characters. I loved this story even more than the first, which I didn't think was possible. New characters are introduced into the "In The End" series, some evil some good. The author does an amazing job of making the reader feel compassion for the perceived "bad guy."

The characters are what make this story so special because you feel like you're right there with them, living through this post-apocalyptic disaster. It's the little things that make a book great. Edward Wolfe does an outstanding job of tugging at the reader's heart at just the right moment. The description of a look that one character gives to another, or one small sentence can make you feel such deep joy/sadness/hope.

After reading Hell on Ice, I wanted more. I'm anxiously awaiting the release of the next book in the series. I wholeheartedly recommend this book, and I promise you won't be disappointed!