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Apocalyptic Empire: The Hatchery Compound
For Vintago Hawkins, it was just another month. That was until the virus outbreak started. In an attempt to protect his family, he decides to flee north to a place he visited as a child, a fish hatchery. Through his journey he encounters other survivors, an ex-Navy Seal, the remnants of a military company, and other groups of survivors. Vintago will have to decide who gets to stay, and who has to go, because not everyone can be part of a fledgling empire.
What makes Apocalyptic Empire different from most books in the genre is that Vintago Hawkins is not merely a survivor, he aspires to be a leader. He wants to someday forge his own civilization, and he is willing to do whatever it takes to make that goal come true. He faces infected people, looters, raiders, and enemy groups of survivors. Through it all he has a group of people to support him, advise him, and make sure that he is making wise decisions. In the end, the Hatchery Compound is his creation, and he has to make the hard choices in order to protect its residents.
"Every empire has a beginning, this one is a fish hatchery."
Note: This is an alternate cover for ISBN 1484136322/9781484136324.
What makes Apocalyptic Empire different from most books in the genre is that Vintago Hawkins is not merely a survivor, he aspires to be a leader. He wants to someday forge his own civilization, and he is willing to do whatever it takes to make that goal come true. He faces infected people, looters, raiders, and enemy groups of survivors. Through it all he has a group of people to support him, advise him, and make sure that he is making wise decisions. In the end, the Hatchery Compound is his creation, and he has to make the hard choices in order to protect its residents.
"Every empire has a beginning, this one is a fish hatchery."
Note: This is an alternate cover for ISBN 1484136322/9781484136324.
318 pages, Paperback
First published April 12, 2013
4 people are currently reading
523 people want to read
About the author
Chris Blake
2 books21 followersI live with my wife and two-year-old son out in the middle of the desert on the eastern outskirts of the Phoenix metropolitan area, much like the main character in my Apocalyptic Empire series. I travel about 46 miles or so every day into Scottsdale for my day job, to give you an idea how far out we are. I lent a lot of personality to my characters based on my real life family, so some people in my novel are largely factual. If they get killed off down the road, they will probably be pissed!
I was the Vice President of Operations for a local IT company that I owned a share of for over three years. Before that I was an IT tech running around in the field. This is what gave me most of my IT guy traits and where I pull a lot of my technical knowledge from.
Recently, I was the Chief Operations Officer for a home performance and HVAC company. That company helped make homes more efficient so that they lowered utility bills and helped the environment. It was a really cool company that is still trying to start a trend in the industry and help more people become more eco-friendly.
Currently, I am running daily operations for a sanitary supply company. We sell cleaning supplies, toilet paper, paper towels, and all kinds of funny everyday stuff.
My past writing experience has been largely off the grid. I have written one other novel which I plan on publishing at some point in the future. It was based off the premise of a futuristic world in which we are fighting for resources on a frozen tundra covered Earth.
My first published series Apocalyptic Empire is about one man's struggles to survive with his family in a post apocalyptic world. I was inspired to write the series due to my fascination with the apocalypse genre. I really enjoy a good zombie book or survivor book. I wrote my series to pay homage to the great books out there in the genre. While my series is not entirely a "zombie book," due to the focus of the series being on rebuilding civilization, there are definitely elements of a "zombiepocalypse."
As far as hobbies and interests go, I like to be outdoors whenever I can get away from home. I like camping, fishing, and shooting guns. I own quite a few firearms and I have a natural tendency to be very proficient with just about any kind of gun I pick up. I always joke and say that my combat training came from the Battlefield and Call of Duty franchises.
If you have yet to take a look at my novels Apocalyptic Empire: The Hatchery Compound and Apocalyptic Empire: Eradication, please take a look.
I appreciate all feedback I receive as it really helps me refine my writing. I like to respond to all feedback I receive and create discussions with my readers. If you would like to have a discussion about one topic or another, please leave me a message on my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/apocalyptice... or visit my website at www.apocalypticempireseries.com.
I was the Vice President of Operations for a local IT company that I owned a share of for over three years. Before that I was an IT tech running around in the field. This is what gave me most of my IT guy traits and where I pull a lot of my technical knowledge from.
Recently, I was the Chief Operations Officer for a home performance and HVAC company. That company helped make homes more efficient so that they lowered utility bills and helped the environment. It was a really cool company that is still trying to start a trend in the industry and help more people become more eco-friendly.
Currently, I am running daily operations for a sanitary supply company. We sell cleaning supplies, toilet paper, paper towels, and all kinds of funny everyday stuff.
My past writing experience has been largely off the grid. I have written one other novel which I plan on publishing at some point in the future. It was based off the premise of a futuristic world in which we are fighting for resources on a frozen tundra covered Earth.
My first published series Apocalyptic Empire is about one man's struggles to survive with his family in a post apocalyptic world. I was inspired to write the series due to my fascination with the apocalypse genre. I really enjoy a good zombie book or survivor book. I wrote my series to pay homage to the great books out there in the genre. While my series is not entirely a "zombie book," due to the focus of the series being on rebuilding civilization, there are definitely elements of a "zombiepocalypse."
As far as hobbies and interests go, I like to be outdoors whenever I can get away from home. I like camping, fishing, and shooting guns. I own quite a few firearms and I have a natural tendency to be very proficient with just about any kind of gun I pick up. I always joke and say that my combat training came from the Battlefield and Call of Duty franchises.
If you have yet to take a look at my novels Apocalyptic Empire: The Hatchery Compound and Apocalyptic Empire: Eradication, please take a look.
I appreciate all feedback I receive as it really helps me refine my writing. I like to respond to all feedback I receive and create discussions with my readers. If you would like to have a discussion about one topic or another, please leave me a message on my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/apocalyptice... or visit my website at www.apocalypticempireseries.com.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
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June 11, 2013Obviously my review will be biased, since I wrote the book, so instead I would like to explain some things that people often talk about and also give a synopsis of what the story is about.
The story is about a man named Vintago Hawkins who hears about a virus outbreak on the news, and decides to prepare for the worst case scenario. After a turn of events, he ends up being right, and has to evacuate his family to a safe location hidden away in the woods in northern Arizona. Along the way he collects new groups of survivors and new enemies. In the end, the book is all about surviving, but not only surviving, as it is also about the formation of a new civilization.
Now on to some problems:
My main character Vintago Hawkins is based largely off myself, and his family members are also largely modeled after my family members. I made the main character 24, because I am 24, and I gave him skill sets similar to myself. One of the hardest things for people to believe is that an IT guy can also be an outdoorsman and an excellent shooter. I guess that is something that I do that fits outside the mold. I have been shooting for quite a while now, and tend to be naturally gifted with just about anything I pick up.
Another problem people have with my main character is the fact that he is in a leadership role. I bring up two points to this problem. One being that if people were looking for a safe haven, a place to settle their families, and one man had the key to that safety, wouldn't you do whatever it took to be part of that group? Even if you didn't like the man, or what he stood for. Secondly, and more importantly, in the real world, I tend to be in leadership positions. I have been the Vice President of Operations for two companies now and I have a natural inclination to take charge and get things done. So naturally, I passed that onto my character as well.
The last thing I would bring up would be my writing style. This one, I have no justification or explanation for, and simply chalk it up to being a new writer, and exploring my writing style. I am about halfway through with book two, and I think personally it has changed quite a bit, so going forward I hope that it is better.
The story is about a man named Vintago Hawkins who hears about a virus outbreak on the news, and decides to prepare for the worst case scenario. After a turn of events, he ends up being right, and has to evacuate his family to a safe location hidden away in the woods in northern Arizona. Along the way he collects new groups of survivors and new enemies. In the end, the book is all about surviving, but not only surviving, as it is also about the formation of a new civilization.
Now on to some problems:
My main character Vintago Hawkins is based largely off myself, and his family members are also largely modeled after my family members. I made the main character 24, because I am 24, and I gave him skill sets similar to myself. One of the hardest things for people to believe is that an IT guy can also be an outdoorsman and an excellent shooter. I guess that is something that I do that fits outside the mold. I have been shooting for quite a while now, and tend to be naturally gifted with just about anything I pick up.
Another problem people have with my main character is the fact that he is in a leadership role. I bring up two points to this problem. One being that if people were looking for a safe haven, a place to settle their families, and one man had the key to that safety, wouldn't you do whatever it took to be part of that group? Even if you didn't like the man, or what he stood for. Secondly, and more importantly, in the real world, I tend to be in leadership positions. I have been the Vice President of Operations for two companies now and I have a natural inclination to take charge and get things done. So naturally, I passed that onto my character as well.
The last thing I would bring up would be my writing style. This one, I have no justification or explanation for, and simply chalk it up to being a new writer, and exploring my writing style. I am about halfway through with book two, and I think personally it has changed quite a bit, so going forward I hope that it is better.
June 13, 2013
Chris Blake stands out as an another brilliant up and coming author who is able to blend elements of multiple traditional genres into a throughly enjoyable adventure. The APOCALYPTIC EMPIRE: The Hatchery Compound contains elements of a zombie adventure but focuses more on the challenges of rebuilding civilization.
The protagonist, Vintago Hawkins combines the appeal of youth (age 24) with the cyber-age skills (an IT guy) with a set of traditional warrior skills (guns and outdoorsman-type interest) along with some innate leadership skills to be the hero of this adventure.
As a senior officer in the Air Force, I saw first hand how military experts can be as lost as anyone when the action deviates from the expected script. The most glaring example is when the 9/11 sucker punch hit us by surprise. We had a few hours of chaos which was eventually overcome by clear direction from national leadership.
Being plunged into Chris Blake's outbreak scenario is a fictional demonstration of how even the grooming of a retired Army senior officer can be insufficient for the most extreme situations. Vintago becomes the leader by default. The study of history teaches us how adversity allows for natural leadership skills to emerge. Cream floats to the top, and so does Vintago Hawkins as he becomes the commander of a group of desperate survivors.
Presented in third person and present tense, the book is well-edited and enjoyable to read. His characterizations are well-done. Young adults will be drawn to the hero, Vin (Vintago) as not only is he young, he's smart and able to adapt to demanding situations well enough to capture the respect of combat-veteran characters in the story. Vin shatters the nerd stereotype, while he's an IT specialist, he's a man's man at heart, comfortable and at home with weapons and survival gear.
Well worth the read. I'm expecting this series to be very good.
The protagonist, Vintago Hawkins combines the appeal of youth (age 24) with the cyber-age skills (an IT guy) with a set of traditional warrior skills (guns and outdoorsman-type interest) along with some innate leadership skills to be the hero of this adventure.
As a senior officer in the Air Force, I saw first hand how military experts can be as lost as anyone when the action deviates from the expected script. The most glaring example is when the 9/11 sucker punch hit us by surprise. We had a few hours of chaos which was eventually overcome by clear direction from national leadership.
Being plunged into Chris Blake's outbreak scenario is a fictional demonstration of how even the grooming of a retired Army senior officer can be insufficient for the most extreme situations. Vintago becomes the leader by default. The study of history teaches us how adversity allows for natural leadership skills to emerge. Cream floats to the top, and so does Vintago Hawkins as he becomes the commander of a group of desperate survivors.
Presented in third person and present tense, the book is well-edited and enjoyable to read. His characterizations are well-done. Young adults will be drawn to the hero, Vin (Vintago) as not only is he young, he's smart and able to adapt to demanding situations well enough to capture the respect of combat-veteran characters in the story. Vin shatters the nerd stereotype, while he's an IT specialist, he's a man's man at heart, comfortable and at home with weapons and survival gear.
Well worth the read. I'm expecting this series to be very good.
July 7, 2013
The beginning of a promising series.
Apocalyptic Empire blurs the line between good vs. bad and wrong vs. right. This book is ripe with moral and ethical gray area. It makes you ponder the question...What would you do in order to survive and protect your family? Would you willing to pay any cost to insure that you survive the end of the world?
This book is filled with characters and story lines that you will become invested in for books to come.
Apocalyptic Empire blurs the line between good vs. bad and wrong vs. right. This book is ripe with moral and ethical gray area. It makes you ponder the question...What would you do in order to survive and protect your family? Would you willing to pay any cost to insure that you survive the end of the world?
This book is filled with characters and story lines that you will become invested in for books to come.
October 7, 2013
It's rare when I can't make it past page 5 but this is cringeworthy to the extreme. I couldn't finish it.
October 21, 2013
When I first started reading the book, I noticed that the author wrote in the present tense, and continued writing in the present tense through-out the book. This is the first time I’ve read a book written in such a manner. It took me a little while to get used to it.
The book is fast paced. There are certain pages where things get pretty graphic but by and large it’s clean. It’s about an everyday man with an everyday job who finds the unlikely role of leadership thrust upon him by fate in the unlikeliest of circumstances.
He transforms from a man with modest ambitions to that of one who wants to build an empire. In the process several changes take place in his physiology most of which he detests and would otherwise never have entertained, had everything been peaceful.
This is a classic case where the protagonist thinks he is Superman whereas everyone around him thinks he is Batman. Do I need to say more? An entertaining read.
The book is fast paced. There are certain pages where things get pretty graphic but by and large it’s clean. It’s about an everyday man with an everyday job who finds the unlikely role of leadership thrust upon him by fate in the unlikeliest of circumstances.
He transforms from a man with modest ambitions to that of one who wants to build an empire. In the process several changes take place in his physiology most of which he detests and would otherwise never have entertained, had everything been peaceful.
This is a classic case where the protagonist thinks he is Superman whereas everyone around him thinks he is Batman. Do I need to say more? An entertaining read.
September 13, 2016
Very engaging despite it's flaws. I did have some trouble liking the protagonist. He seemed like a good guy at the start. I can see the zombie apocalypse changing a guy but this was extreme. I'm pretty tired of these average guys who suddenly have the skills to run a nation, shoot like a pro, and convince everyone to join his cause. The editing really needs some help; but what do you expect for 99cents.
April 16, 2013
I thought the writing style and editing left something to be desired and this book was more graphic than I typically read. However, to give the author credit, perhaps he wanted to play on the dark side of human nature. I also found the actions and capabilities of the protagonist to be unrealistic.
June 17, 2013
Not sure about the writing style but like the story x
August 10, 2014
This book was a great read!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews