After an EMP plunged the world into chaos, Deb found herself joining a group of hardworking survivors. At first, she’s grateful not to be alone. But her hopes and dreams soon become a nightmare, when she’s left in charge of a group of runaways, fleeing from Mike, the brutal man who kept them captive.
Mike is determined to reclaim Carol and her baby, and to wreak vengeance on Deb for taking his family away from him.
Meanwhile, Carol’s newfound freedom has come with a dark price… Staying off drugs was easy when she didn’t have access. Now, she finds herself torn between her desire to be a good mother, and the addictive cravings that still haunt her.
When Deb learns that her ex-husband Colton and Carol’s children are nearby, she’s determined to reunite with them, in the hopes that there will be safety in numbers.
But with Mike hot on their tail, safety may be one more fleeting dream…
Grace Hamilton is the prepper pen-name for a bad-ass, survivalist momma-bear of four kids, and wife to a wonderful husband. After being stuck in a mountain cabin for six days following a flash flood, she decided she never wanted to feel so powerless or have to send her kids to bed hungry again. Now she lives the prepper lifestyle and knows that if SHTF or TEOTWAWKI happens, she’ll be ready to help protect and provide for her family.
Combine this survivalist mentality with a vivid imagination (as well as a slightly unhealthy day dreaming habit) and you get a prepper fiction author. Grace spends her days thinking about the worst possible survival situations that a person could be thrown into, then throwing her characters into these nightmares while trying to figure out "What SHOULD you do in this situation?"
It’s her wish that through her characters, you will get to experience what life will be like and essentially learn from their mistakes and experiences.
The Apocalypse has come & gone. Now, people are trying to find their way to safe communities where they can work in exchange for the necessities.
A small group of four has come to Fairfield looking for Carol’s sons, hoping they have outrun the slaver they escaped from.
Will they be able to integrate into Fairfield safely? Will Carol find her grown sons? Does the slaver find them?
Mʸ Tᴴᴼᵁᴳᴴᵀs Although not as intense as some of the earlier stories in the series, there was still that on-edge, scary feeling of a post-apocalyptic life. That is exactly what it is about; folks finding a safe, well-run town amongst the danger found at every turn.
As we all know, post-apocalyptic times cause much evil to rise up. In this story, it is the slaver and his lackeys that have gorged themselves with power. Their greed brings an intense vibe to the story.
Evolving Anarchy is written in the third person point of view, referencing who each chapter is about by using the characters’ names as the chapter titles.
If you are a fan of apocalyptic scenarios, check out this series and Grace Hamilton's books in general. She’s a gem for this genre.
💕Thank you to the author for providing this ebook through Booksprout for me to read and review.
With this book we were back in familiar ground and you really have had to read the first four books to fully appreciate this book as it draws the strands together. I can understand why Deb and her team acted the way that they did but I also feel for the original group as well. The ending, oh my goodness, perfect. This was a one session read for me as I just wanted to know how it was going to be resolved. I really like the way this author writes this genre it is inclusive and brings you into the story without it being over the top - it is a very 'clean' version of the genre.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Updated = recently listened to the audio version of this and it was brilliant and took me right into the universe
Once again, the cover fits well with the rest of the series and could easily be a scene captured from within the book.
In this book the characters from the last book, Deb, Carol, Bobbi and Jonah are on their way to try to find Carols sons who they have been told are living in the area Carol used to live with them before the EMP. Carol has changed a lot from the addict who could only think about drugs, who left her sons to fend for themselves whilst she went in search of her next fix. Now Carol is pregnant and has been clean for quite some time and desperately wants to put things right with her sons and hopefully make it up to them in this new world they are all surviving in. However, Carol isn’t stupid she knows that there is the chance her boys, now grown young men will want nothing to do with her at all, still, it’s a chance she wants to take. When Deb, Carol, Bobbi & Jonah see the market place set up they are surprised by how many people are milling about but are soon sought out and told they need to register at the school for food rations etc. The group are naturally reluctant to do this as it would leave a paper trail as to where they are if/when slaver Mike catches up to them. The group do discuss telling the settlement leaders/security about Mike but after the way they speak to Carol as if she is still an addict the group come to the conclusion, that they need to keep quiet or face the probability that they will be thrown out before they can find Carol’s sons.
Meanwhile Mike is driving what is left of his group hard in an effort to find Carol. Though it is the baby she his carrying that he really wants. Marie is getting closer to Mike and he admires the way she handles his men and keeps them in line for him. IT becomes apparent that Marie has romantic feeling towards Mike too. Its not long before Mike has everything planned out in his head, he needs to get Carol back, get the baby, discard Carol and play happy families with Marie at his side.
With no food ration books, Deb, Carol, Bobbi, and Jonah have to be creative with what they have to barter for what they need to survive. Though Bobbi cannot resist bartering for what is considered a luxury when she sees a little hat and bootees, she immediately begins hatching a plan to barter work etc in exchange for them so she can give them to Carol as a gift for the baby. I felt sorry for Carol returning to her old home only to find it partially burnt out. It was heart breaking the way she held onto the photographs of her boys when they were younger. I did wonder if she was going to lapse into her old addict ways when she found her old stash of pills in her old house, but I kind of understood why she didn’t tell the others about the pills. I guess she was testing herself and then when she uses them to trade on the black market, it turns out she was right to keep hold of them.
Bobbi sees Scarlet and Zack at the market, instantly recognising Zack, and cannot resist approaching him. Sadly, she isn’t the only one who instantly recognises Zack when he sees him and its not long until Mike has Zack held hostage. He sends Scarlett with a message for Carol to turn herself in to him, in exchange for her son’s release. It takes a combined effort to face Mike in a rescue attempt.
By the end of the book, Carol, Deb, Bobbi and Jonah do have somewhere to stay but they’re not sure how long for as with Mike still out there, angry at his losses, still wanting Carol for their baby and looking for revenge will anywhere ever be safe. Carol still isn’t on great terms with her sons, though Zack did warm to her and was protective over her when they were in danger together. Deb is also feeling uncomfortable facing her ex-husband, Colton, who it seems has a child, something he told her he never wanted.
I really enjoyed reading this book, I loved being reunited with Molly, Colton etc and the little community that has been built up. I adored the interaction between the two brothers, Tommy chopping wood, pushing himself despite still not being fully recovered and Zack tentatively trying to help his brother without taking over or making Tommy feel useless in any way. This group of characters are happy with the life they have created together, they are moving on with life as best as they can. You can’t help feeling that there is going to be someone coming along to complicate things very soon. I suppose in an ideal world, Carol and her group will come along and fit right in, but there’s old hurts to be contended with, Carol’s old addiction and neglect of the boys, the fact they are being chased by a slaver with a grudge. Then there’s the fact Deb’s ex-husband Colton is living with and created a family with Molly. I am interested to see how the situation will play out, can Carol’s boys forgive her, or will her group be moved on before there’s chance of a reconciliation because of the threat of Mike returning? Will Mike ever give up on getting Carol back? I think the only way that situation will be resolved is if one of them is dead!
I really love the different plots that are going on, there is so much potential for what is to come from the rest of this series. Such as Mike the slaver, and the other slaver groups that were moving closer to the community and would need to be dealt with soon, though Carol, Deb, Bobbi and Jonah’s arrival has brought this potential problem higher on the list of the settlement’s priorities. Then Carol and her boys reuniting, how will Tommy and Zack react to her, can she even convince them she is clean now? Then there’s a hint of unfinished business between Deb and Colton, how will this affect Molly? What is Mike going to do next to get Carol and his baby? Is there a greater danger to the community now? Is it time Carol, Deb, Bobbi and Jonah just stopped running from Mike and gather allies to face and defeat him once and for all? Then, there are the “normal” once everyday dilemmas to be worked out, pregnancies, illnesses, relationships and community dynamics. I honestly can’t wait to read more of this series.
This is book five of the Dark Nation series and the small group of survivors led by Deb, are still trying to make sure they avoid Mike and his men, as they head to the town of Fairfield, where Carol used to live with her sons. Deb, Carol, Bobbi and Jonah left the farmhouse where they had been welcomed and given a safe haven whilst they recovered from their ill treatment under Mike’s hands and their rapid escape. Now, after managing to recover enough and knowing they had been a drain on the occupant’s supplies, they were ready to go on with their journey. It took them a week to travel to Fairfield, but Deb wanted them to check out what they could see about the town before blindly entering and trusting things would go okay, learning from their past experiences. They slept on it and then entered without even being stopped and found a bustling town with market stalls in the centre. They tried asking questions about Carol’s family from the stall holders, but no one would answer any of their questions and they walked away after getting too many strange looks. They decided to go and check out Carol’s former house, only to find it was in part of the town which had burnt down and there was not a lot of anything left. Carol has been clean since shortly after the EMP, as she couldn’t access drugs anymore, but amazingly, nobody had found one of her secret stashes and now temptation is eating away at her!
As they leave the house to find somewhere to stay, they are accosted by a group of men, a couple of who recognise Carol and aren’t happy to see her in their town, as they only know her as a drug addict from the past! One of the men, Chief Hicks introduces himself and tells them he is in charge of security in town, and the rest of the men are the town council. One of the more vocal men is Diego, who knows her past and isn’t happy to see her at all. Hicks informs them of how the town runs and if they want ration cards, they are going to have to register at the high school, but that would leave a record for Mike to find them. Carol is pregnant with Mike’s child and he will do anything to get his child and Carol back, until he has no more use for her. Deb soon finds that bartering is the main way people trade goods and goes to see if she can get anything to help Carol and get her baby checked out with a real doctor, asking the others to pair up and see what they can find out, coming back to the deserted house they found if there is any trouble. What Deb does spot is trouble in the form of Marie, Mike’s right hand, but also news of her ex-husband Carlton and Carol’s two sons, Zack and Tommy, living nearby.
Deb is determined to reunite Carol with her sons, to allow her to show they she has changed and hope for a chance to get to know them after how bad their childhood was when she was an addict. Her sons may want nothing to do with her, but she has to try at least. The only problem is that Mike, Marie and some of his men are closing in on them and they need to be even more careful as they can’t tell Hicks and Diego, since they already want them gone, they clearly won’t offer to help them. Some of Deb’s group want to tell Hicks and Diego about Mike being a slaver, but then they will be accused of bringing trouble with them, further alienating them against the town council and Hicks. Mike isn’t going to leave Deb alive after the trouble she has caused him and it is unlikely Jonah or Debbi would survive any confrontation with him and his men. News of one of her sons actually being in town makes Carol desperate to see them, but Deb has already seen him and ended up in a difficult position. Trouble always finds them and they will soon be in a fight to for their lives, and to keep Carol and her baby safe, which not everyone will survive! I can’t wait for the final book in the series to see what happens to them all and if they find a place they can finally call home.
I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
In this book, the two bands of people we've been following during the entire series draw closer to each other, or rather, the band who has been on the move for a few books is getting closer to the other group. In fact, they get to the area where they believe the other band to be rather quickly, but one person's history with the town and its people creates problems, the largest one being that key people who know of the other group's location will not share it. They do not trust she has changed and aren't willing to let the settled family decide whether they want to engage with one who caused two of them so much grief as they were growing up. Of course, the major villain of the last couple of books is also hot in pursuit of the traveling group as well. On the plus side, the travelers can't quite believe the community created at their new location, with open bartering and a system that keeps the residents fed, housed, and even given access to a medical doctor. Things come to a head near the end of the book quite dramatically, of course. I don't want to give away too much. Will the two groups of people find their way to each other? If they do, how will the settled family treat the newcomers? Will anyone be captured, kidnapped, or killed--as typically happens in this series? The ending chapters and epilogue give a good sense of how the last book of the series will start, with even more fireworks as the major psychopathic villain of this part of the series has a new, dark reason to wreak vengeance on those he has been seeking. I'm looking forward to digging into this next book to see how it all plays out!
I received a promo code for this audiobook, but that did not affect my review.
“Evolving Anarchy” is a post-apocalyptic tale that takes the reader on a journey through a world transformed by an EMP saga. The book is filled with fascinating characters and provides a wealth of information for preppers, making it a unique blend of fiction and practical advice.
The author’s ability to create a vivid and believable post-apocalyptic world is commendable. The characters are well-developed, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, adding depth to the narrative. The inclusion of prepper information within the storyline is a clever touch, providing readers with valuable insights without detracting from the plot.
However, the book does have its shortcomings. At times, the narrative can become tedious, with certain sections dragging on longer than necessary. This can disrupt the pacing of the story and make it difficult for the reader to maintain interest.
Additionally, some parts of the book can be hard to understand. This could be due to complex plot elements or the use of jargon and technical terms related to prepping. A glossary or explanatory notes could have been beneficial in these instances.
In conclusion, “Evolving Anarchy” is a book with a unique premise and interesting characters. While it has its dull moments and can be challenging to understand at times, it still offers a fascinating glimpse into a post-apocalyptic world and is a worthwhile read for those interested in prepper information.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Deb and the gang are back in Evolving Anarchy book five of the Dark Nation series. Grace Hamilton takes us on an action packed and captivating rollercoaster ride and I loved every post-apocalyptic twist and turn along the way. The writing is descriptive and this page turning story has danger, suspense, unexpected twists, and well developed characters. A well written story and after that ending I can't wait to read the next book in this series. I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book.
Grace Hamilton is one of my favourite post-apoc authors, she's definitely in my top ten favourite female authors. I absolutely loved this series. Action packed, suspense filled edge of your seat writing once again. If you are at book 5 and wondering if you need to read the reviews first - what are you even doing?.
I initially received a free copy of this book but ended up borrowing it in KU, just to read it again it's so good!
Deb thought her escapees from Mike’s work gang would be safe at the old Girl Scout Camp. Not so, not only were they not welcome, they were soon discovered by Mike. They set out to prove their worth and defeat Mike. A thrill a minute.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was an excellent book! We find in this one that Carols kids are at the cabin.Deb and the other 3 have a bad time in the town where Diego remembers Carol.Her past really comes back to bite her. Andrew Tell was a fine narrator. I was given this book free for an honest review.
An intriguing new series. Not like your other end of the world books, but a good book in which the author has shown an adherence to real world technology and what could happen. On to book 8
Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Another exciting part to this post apocalyptic series! More mayhem & madness in this turbulent world, action & agression all around! Fast paced & an exciting read!