Those Who Survive: A Post-Apocalyptic Disaster Thriller

by Jack Hunt

A family fights for survival after a targeted attack causes a global cataclysm.Long-haul truck driver Jackson Reid was used to being separated from family, but his big rig always brought him home. Then, the worst happened while collecting his daughter from out west.During celebrations for the Fourth of July holiday, an attack on the country cracks the earth wide around the edge of the Pacific Ocean, decimating the nation’s electrical grid, killing millions, and bringing vehicles to a standstill.Who will you be with when everything falls apart?As earthquakes are triggered, fault lines split, buildings crumble, and monstrous tsunamis rush inland — Jax, his daughter Zoe, and a group of civilians with vastly separate lives collide in the Northwest in an interweaving story of survival, loss, and redemption.Meanwhile, Natalie Reid is at the Gatlinburg Midnight Parade, charged with caring for teens from a group home; when the earth shakes, the sky lights up in a brilliant light, and planes fall from the sky.Where will you go as society collapses?As the danger intensifies, services fail, food and water become scarce, and what’s left of society rapidly descends into chaos, the Reid family must make deadly choices to stay alive and see each other again.From International Bestselling Author Jack Hunt comes a page-turning, on-the-edge-of-your-seat disaster thriller series about an ordinary family trying to stay alive.

Genres: Apocalyptic

338 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 28, 2023

About the author

Jack Hunt is the international bestselling author of over seventy thriller novels. He's been ranked #1 in the Amazon charts in multiple thriller, mystery, crime, and science fiction genres. He's also been named a Kindle Unlimited All-Star. He's married with two children. Jack lives on the East coast of North America.

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Reviews

[Fred Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

ANOTHER GOOD BOOK BY JACK HUNT

Those Who Survive: A Post-Apocalyptic Disaster Thriller (Ring of Fire Book 1) by Jack Hunt is a well told, interesting, and action-packed thriller that will keep you captivated throughout.

An EMP and missile attack on the U.S. by the Russians leave the country in the dark. Planes full from the sky, most vehicles lose power becoming death traps until they come to a stop, The Ring of Fire sets off earthquakes and tsunamis devastate both the west and east coasts flooding the coasts of the U.S. and fires spread throughout the devastating area, leaving death and destruction everywhere.

With all the destruction around every corner the worst of our society comes crawling out of the shadows to add to the chaos attacking those who are unable to defend themselves, stealing supplies and food, setting homes and neighborhoods to blazing infernos all the while the majority of the population is just trying to figure out what's happening and try to stay safe.

In Tennessee, we have Natalie, who is a supervisor for a foster youth center in Tennessee, taking care of four teens who have come from abusive families. She and a newbie Dante take it upon themselves to protect and preserve some form of normality to the teens while Natalie's husband (Jackson) and daughter Zoe is across the country in Oregon trying to save their lives and the life of Bryce, an old acquaintance of Natalie's and make their way back to Tennessee.

This is a great start to what hopefully will be another great series by Jack Hunt. I, too, hope you will find yourself enjoying this book also.

[Cally Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overwritten

The writing style of this book is not for me. Way overwritten. I also felt there were too many characters, which made it hard to really connect with any of them. I won’t be continuing with the series.

[robyn dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good story…

….with interesting characters — including some really nasty bad guys. I will say that it was a little tough keeping the “west coast groups” all separate in my head, but in the end it didn’t matter who killed who, because the bad guys were mostly dead.
It did end rather abruptly after a mysterious person saved the life of oneof the main characters. There’s a second volume. I’m going to read it…
Sincerely,

[DarcyJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

First one I've read from Jack...

...Not too bad. In these types of stories it's always sad to see how quickly things fall to chaos, but you KNOW that's how quickly it would go! Not sure how I feel about the underlying gov't conspiracy part, but mostly liked the two story lines. I'm a PNW girl, so I'm always drawn more to that area, but the TN side was good too. Will read more for sure.

[Pam Shelton-Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was generally disappointed for the last book I read in 2023. There is no reason based on science that would have a missile attack on the United States cause a tsunami on the west coast, then nearly every vault in the US have a major eruption and THEN volcanoes erupt. Rather preposterous. I had a hard time really engaging with the characters. Jackson and Zoe were rather bland and Bryce was supposed to be brooding but was hard to like. Natalie had the most potential, but who takes a troubled team out for a free day just a few days after that same team had a very violent episode in the group home? With all of the catastrophe going on, most of the actual danger was just from criminal thugs in Oregon and criminal thugs in Tennessee.

[Cynthia A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chaos when the USA is attacked by Russia

I remember the cold war in the 50’s having to practice hiding under our desks. We lived in fear that America would be attacked. My father built a storm shelter.
After reading this book I don’t believe we were prepared. From west coast to east coast planes were falling out of the sky. All power was down, earthquakes, and fires everywhere.
Once again Jack Hunt you have outdone yourself. Excellent story and looking forward to the next book.

[Priscilla murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jack Hunt books

You know when you read s.book by this author is will capture and carry your interest along.His storylines are always fast and believable while his characters are likeable with human shortcomings. Keep writing Mr Hunt

[Jacqueline S. Hemminger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much unnecessary killing and brutality

[Elaine and Tess the Springer. I won’t be on GR for a bit. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.

A fabulous book, easy to read and a right page-turner. There is enough action going on to make the reading of it compelling. A brilliant read.

[Shannon Seafish Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

No desire to read further in this series. It is just "meh" at best.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

**There's the Jack Hunt I know and love!**

I've stated in reviews passed how Jack Hunt has effectively become one of my go-to authors for dramatic apocalyptic mayhem, particularly after my exposure to his After it Turns Dark (AITD) series. However, since then, I've been on somewhat shaky ground with some of his other works I've read, from great premises being far too short to potentially great premises being poorly developed. I guess not even Jack Hunt can be consistently perfect.

Fortunately, this first entry of my latest Jack Hunt acquisition was a SOLID return to form (for me, personally). It does what I remember Jack doing SO well in AITD: an intriguing and believable premise, likable characters, careful crafting, and chock-full of proper drama, angst, violence, and shockers that fit the world created. Best yet, it got me to care. I'm already growing attached to folks, which is often a scary thing because what's to stop Jack from killing 'em off?

Now sure, there's some bits of predictability going on here. It's one of the few complaints I had as I read through this thing. I didn't find it too difficult at ALL to guess which direction certain plot points were gonna go. Sometimes, it was ridiculously obvious that something was being set up way ahead of time for me to see later. But alas, as minorly annoying as that can be, I can't deny that it's to be expected for the genre. When you've read as many as I have, originality becomes less evident.

All in all, I was super pleased with this first entry and I'm pumped to keep on going. If you're curious about my commentary/highlights, click here.

[Nathan Layne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad, but a little cliched.

Pretty typical post-apocalypse novel. You have the damsel in distress, the young strong woman who happens to have some kinda survival/combat/specialty skill, the strong angsty warrior type who’s made mistakes but is trying to do right, the crazy prepped who was right/mostly right all along, nukes, and the evil organization after a member of the main group.

Haven’t read the next two, but if tropes hold up, we’ll lose 1-2 of the main group to heroic sacrifices towards the end of book 2 or start of book 3 and then the remaining group will somehow play a pivotal role in ending whatever larger conflict is brewing.

Will update my predictions as reviews as I finish the next two books.

[Caroline 'relaxing with my rescue dogs' · Rating 4 out of 5]

So this one you have to take your imagination a bit further than normal but I still enjoyed it I would definitely want to listen to more in this series to see where it goes. It is a bit more violent than the other books I have listened to by this author but not so much as to make it difficult. Once I did get into the flow I worked out who was who, but I struggled with the concept of the house it just didn't make sense to me with all the issues going on re fathers etc that they would have gone out to 4th of July festival etc and then where were the background checks etc. So I took a star of for that.

[Matt Egan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Jack Hunt wild ride!

Those Who Survive is the 1st book in the Ring Of Fire series, and contains all the well orchestrated mayhem readers should expect from anything Hunt writes. The writing is 1st rate, so, despite everything that occurs, you still have a good idea of what is going on, though surprises happen. The characters are dynamic and multifaceted and flawed, the dialogue is realistic for the scenario presented and believable. The descriptions of the damage caused by the attack paint a vivid mental image. 5/5 stars! Recommended for any fans of relentless, apocalyptic thrillers!

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

I love the storyline,a little rushed at times,could use a bit more character development and it felt rushe
d at times. I like the characters,but want to know more. I am a reader and I find this genre so frustrating because it was a great stopping point for a section of a book but they always feel like they were divided up..I have a rule..I would t pick up a book under 300 pages,prefer 350-400 and on audible they must be at least 6 hours but will always choose a 9-10 hour book that interest me over a shorter book

[Marygrace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd give it 10 stars if I could

Wow what a,story I am hooked I read it in one sitting love all the characters well almost all of them the story is great and I couldn't stop turning the pages to see what would happen next and my curiosity is up to see who helped Natalie at the end I'm so excited to read the next book in the series for those of you who read the reviews to see if you want to start this series DO IT YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED

[suzanne huxhold · Rating 2 out of 5]

The double negatives alone are bad enough...

And this author should really be careful not to use 12th grade words with his 9th grade brain. "Wendy and her cahoots..." Im tv assuming he meant "cohorts". The plotline is ambitious, but too complicated for his skill level. He should stick to grocery lists and Mother's Day cards. He even inadvertently (presumably) mixes up his character names several times! Edit, Dude!

[Melinda Crumblin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book really irritated me. I like the concept, but the execution was disappointing. The main characters you are presumably supposed to root for, were not very well developed and the men tended to blend into one another for me. The bad guys got way too much story time and were just utterly awful. Too many murders, too many awful, selfish stupid characters.
Too much QAnon type conspiracy speeches for my liking too. Won’t return for the rest of the series.

[Alma Squillante · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Great Read

This book is what I imagine to be a realistic depiction of a post-apocalyptic event. Most none if us will be ready and predators will be ready to pounce. We will have to rely on those that did see it coming.
Great characters. Exciting scenarios. I would read this book every time I had a free minute!

[Lola M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Action Packed Human Survival

Loved the authors use of starting two or three storey venues with characters and venues, then bringing them all together. Vengence plays a bigger part in the action than the EMP impact and peoples ways of surviving, but the action was brisk enough to keep me reading and looking forward to book two.

[Jihad Ackerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great start to a series

Like any good series the characters are arguably as important as the plot line. As we were introduced to the plot the skillful building of the protagonists and antagonists kept the action coming and drew you further in. The clever, weaving of recent history into the plot line, made it more believable. I’m looking forward to the next installation.

[Jan Martindale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Russian attack on several fronts sets off EMPs, Tsunamis, Earthquakes

A father & daughter fight for their lives on the West coast, as the wife & mother fights for hers’ & the teens she guards & cares for, fights for her own life. Father & mother, separated by the continent, are both severely wounded, barely living, as America descends into chaos

[Nancy Summers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Good Book

I’m not very good at writing reviews. However, I highly recommend this book. While it doesn’t spend lots of time telling about the apocalyptic results in detail, it tells a great story about the people who are affected by the events. Emphasizing the effect of lack of food, lack of water, and the lawlessness that abounds tells us about TEOTWAWKI.

[Christopher Manning · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story, but Jack has some strong political views that he made sure to work into this book. Turning the Proud Boys into a murderous gang who bragged about the J6 invasion was ridiculous and unnecessary. He could have accomplished this story using a generic gang, or if he needed specificity, there are plenty of actual murderous gangs from which to choose.

[Rosie Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exactly what I was looking for

I was keen to read an apocalypse story and have never read Jack Hunt before. The minute I picked this one up I was instantly absorbed in the story. I love how compelling it is and the characters are very believable. Very happy I chose this!

[Kathy Jonas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

As you read this book, the images of the characters and settings are very real. I can't wait to read the next book of the series. And follow the hardships of their adventures.

[Tom OConnor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 1

Well researched story, liked the way Mr. Hunt introduced the characters. Having never been in a national disaster this seems like this is the way it would be. The evil trying to take over the weaker people using fear as a weapon n.

[Jack Skeleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining

Fairly dynamic characters, not too formulaic a story, interesting take on the EMP, good for a starter into post apocalyptic literature. Good enough to warrant reading the next book.

[David M Cunningham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Storyline

Similarities to other post apocalyptic writings but still a lot of new twists. I recommend this book as an interesting tale and if you’ve never been exposed to post apocalyptic adventures this is a good start! Looking forward to reading more by this author.

[Maryann Sasso · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, but....

Book 1 in the postapocalyptic Disaster was 90% human interaction and barely 10% disaster. I read a lot of disaster books, so I didn't expect that. The human drama was interesting enough to entertain and tempt me to read Book 2.