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The Reset
A young man with a terrible secret buried deep in his chest staggers through what remains of the American South. The destruction is total—the landscape scrubbed bare by the fires of the Reset. The sun rarely penetrates the daily ash storms, and the last of the Earth’s plants and animals are slowly dying out.
And yet, there are survivors. Benjamin Stone is one of them, and he’s searching for the only person who can share his pain, another who was biologically altered at birth to become a weapon capable of bringing the world to its knees. Outside of the few supplies that sustain him in his search for a new life, he has nothing.
Nothing but a will to survive and the desire to find someplace safe—someplace better.
The Reset is a story of perseverance. It examines a future in which fragmentation and devolution have decimated society, and in which terrorism represents the final desperate attempt at shuffling the deck. With thematic elements similar to Stephen King’s The Stand and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, it’s a post-apocalyptic story about the survivors of humanity’s cruelest intentions, and their essential impulse to rebuild.
And yet, there are survivors. Benjamin Stone is one of them, and he’s searching for the only person who can share his pain, another who was biologically altered at birth to become a weapon capable of bringing the world to its knees. Outside of the few supplies that sustain him in his search for a new life, he has nothing.
Nothing but a will to survive and the desire to find someplace safe—someplace better.
The Reset is a story of perseverance. It examines a future in which fragmentation and devolution have decimated society, and in which terrorism represents the final desperate attempt at shuffling the deck. With thematic elements similar to Stephen King’s The Stand and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, it’s a post-apocalyptic story about the survivors of humanity’s cruelest intentions, and their essential impulse to rebuild.
304 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2014
95 people are currently reading
605 people want to read
About the author
Daniel Powell
24 books44 followersDaniel teaches a variety of writing classes at Florida State College at Jacksonville. He has published numerous short stories and critical essays in journals, anthologies, and magazines, and his novellas have been recently collected in Maximum Dark Four Tales of Suspense. He recently completed his doctoral degree (emphasis on digital media studies) in the Texts and Technology program at the University of Central Florida.
He enjoys fishing the tidal creeks of Duval County and jogging the haunted shell mounds of the Timucuan Preserve. He shares a small home near Florida’s Intracoastal Waterway with his wife, son, and daughter.
Other works include:
Cold on the Mountain
The Reset
In the Walls and Other Stories
The Silver Coast and Other Stories
These Strange Worlds Fourteen Dark Tales
You can learn more about Daniel’s upcoming writing projects by visiting The Byproduct, his web journal on speculative storytelling.
He enjoys fishing the tidal creeks of Duval County and jogging the haunted shell mounds of the Timucuan Preserve. He shares a small home near Florida’s Intracoastal Waterway with his wife, son, and daughter.
Other works include:
Cold on the Mountain
The Reset
In the Walls and Other Stories
The Silver Coast and Other Stories
These Strange Worlds Fourteen Dark Tales
You can learn more about Daniel’s upcoming writing projects by visiting The Byproduct, his web journal on speculative storytelling.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
October 7, 2015
Overall a VERY good, realistic, and well detailed post apocalyptic story set about 30-40 years into the future. This is a great read with fully developed characters, quick pace, nice action and a hook to keep you looking forward to the next chapter. I loved the description of the dystopian cities and the mental strength of the main characters in there journey to survive and their inner thoughts are brought out and you end up caring about them.
The story line is believable and draws you in from the start and keeps your attention all the way through. The flow is smooth and easy to follow but there are parts in the book that I skim read when it would go into detail about the "science experiments" (No spoilers) and how the Reset occurred in the first place. I couldn't get into those parts unfortunately. It seemed to go on and on a bit too long.
If you are looking for a good post apocalyptic book, that gives a new version of the end of the world, you have found it! I would recommend this to anyone who loves these types of books! Very well-written and a quick, easy read.
The story line is believable and draws you in from the start and keeps your attention all the way through. The flow is smooth and easy to follow but there are parts in the book that I skim read when it would go into detail about the "science experiments" (No spoilers) and how the Reset occurred in the first place. I couldn't get into those parts unfortunately. It seemed to go on and on a bit too long.
If you are looking for a good post apocalyptic book, that gives a new version of the end of the world, you have found it! I would recommend this to anyone who loves these types of books! Very well-written and a quick, easy read.
April 20, 2014
I received this book for free in return for an honest review.
A positive honest review for this book is very easy. I enjoy post apocalyptic and dystopian novels. This book blends sci-fi features into the genre and does it very well. I have not read this author before but will certainly search him out in the future.
The story and characters are interesting and really keep me up because I didn't want to put it down.
A positive honest review for this book is very easy. I enjoy post apocalyptic and dystopian novels. This book blends sci-fi features into the genre and does it very well. I have not read this author before but will certainly search him out in the future.
The story and characters are interesting and really keep me up because I didn't want to put it down.
September 11, 2014
he story opens at The Super Bowl in Jacksonville, FL. During the game, the Jumbotron feed is interrupted by news of a series of nuclear attacks on major American cities. The story follows Benjamin’s escape and his subsequent life as he copes after a nuclear holocaust.
I particularly enjoyed how the story opened. Beginning with the apocalypse, as the author did, was a little unusual. Normally stories in this genre take place after the fact, and the tragedy that gave rise to the post-apocalyptic world is referred to in back story. But the events were so recent that the way Benjamin dealt with the nuclear winter, and the suggestions of lawlessness and new social order sucked me in—made me wonder how I’d handle the situation. I was rooting for him, and sympathetic with the hard and cruel choices he and others had to make in order to survive.
The sub-plot—that the explosions were planned in order to “Reset” a society that had become exclusive (financially and racially), grated on me a little. At times it got a little preachy for my taste. Also, the technology surrounding the bombs and the way they were deployed seemed convoluted to this reader.
But the action scenes, and the time spent at “the miracle farm” were thoroughly entertaining, and I read late into the night on those scenes. The cast of characters were convincing and engaging. Overall, I thought this was a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Be aware of: A few typos--not enough to detract from the story. Some violent scenes later in the story (callous brutality and cannibalism) might not suit some chicken-hearted readers (like me).
Disclaimer: This review was originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. I may have received a free review copy.
I particularly enjoyed how the story opened. Beginning with the apocalypse, as the author did, was a little unusual. Normally stories in this genre take place after the fact, and the tragedy that gave rise to the post-apocalyptic world is referred to in back story. But the events were so recent that the way Benjamin dealt with the nuclear winter, and the suggestions of lawlessness and new social order sucked me in—made me wonder how I’d handle the situation. I was rooting for him, and sympathetic with the hard and cruel choices he and others had to make in order to survive.
The sub-plot—that the explosions were planned in order to “Reset” a society that had become exclusive (financially and racially), grated on me a little. At times it got a little preachy for my taste. Also, the technology surrounding the bombs and the way they were deployed seemed convoluted to this reader.
But the action scenes, and the time spent at “the miracle farm” were thoroughly entertaining, and I read late into the night on those scenes. The cast of characters were convincing and engaging. Overall, I thought this was a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Be aware of: A few typos--not enough to detract from the story. Some violent scenes later in the story (callous brutality and cannibalism) might not suit some chicken-hearted readers (like me).
Disclaimer: This review was originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. I may have received a free review copy.
March 15, 2018
Ben's world changed so much that he could not believe it was the same one he had left when first took shelter after it became apparent there was no other choice for his survival.
This tale does not involve many of the usual expectations one carries forward into reading the genre and at the same time it also follows along in the footsteps of other books that have come before it. The power structure that is described where a certain group decides how things should be rebuilt upon one man's vision is very familiar as well as disturbing in it's extremity.
There are a few surprises in store and some wonderful examples of the human spirit at its finest, also some horrible examples of humanity at its lowest too.
All in all it was a satisfying, if not really an outstanding reading experience for me, book that gave some food for thought about what could happen if the world really were to have such a catastrophic event happen someday.
This tale does not involve many of the usual expectations one carries forward into reading the genre and at the same time it also follows along in the footsteps of other books that have come before it. The power structure that is described where a certain group decides how things should be rebuilt upon one man's vision is very familiar as well as disturbing in it's extremity.
There are a few surprises in store and some wonderful examples of the human spirit at its finest, also some horrible examples of humanity at its lowest too.
All in all it was a satisfying, if not really an outstanding reading experience for me, book that gave some food for thought about what could happen if the world really were to have such a catastrophic event happen someday.
August 14, 2016
this is NOT a zombie read! This is a post apocolyptic tale of a world wide reset of the human kind. Where the more powerful humans decide the fates of millions! This is the story of a few of the survivors and how they handle actual survival! Its a tale that will thrill you,scare you and even worry you! Too many What If's these days and this is just one more way to get you to thinking what if! I would reccomend this book to ages 14 and up mostly because of the evil that is within the story and the fact that you must be willing to keep up to read it and get the most out of it!
September 3, 2018
I enjoyed reading this. However, there were some really hard realities presented in this book that I wish would have been explored. The main characters also somehow survived a LOT of things that could easily have killed them without much lasting effect. So, overall it wasn't incredibly realistic, but a wonderful ride all the same.
October 20, 2014
I received this book in the goodreads giveaways.
Very much enjoyed reading this. Flowed very well and kept me interested the whole time. I really like apocalyptic type stories and would read another by this author.
Very much enjoyed reading this. Flowed very well and kept me interested the whole time. I really like apocalyptic type stories and would read another by this author.
March 25, 2014
The Reset is a different take on mans fragility and enduring spirit. Ben is a likable hero and you root for him throughout the horrible events. A good story.
September 9, 2014
(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I've read quite a lot of apocalyptic books by now. Even though I felt like I was missing a lot of the story that occurred previously, I still felt this book was quite easy to read. I wasn't sure of all of the details, but the characters were easy to empathise with and I felt that the relationships came across really well.
It was interesting to see how different people dealt with society's collapse, even if I wasn't completely sure exactly what had caused the society to collapse. I really liked Ben as a character, though I felt that he probably cheated death a few too many times. Actually, so did one of the other characters.
The relationships that formed between the characters were really well-written and I particularly liked Lucy as a character, too. She was a really sweet little girl and I was happy to see the way she was looked after by her whole family.
There were quite a lot of awful scenes in this book as well as the sweeter ones. I found it tense enough to keep reading to find out what would happen next, but there is an awful lot of violence in this book... and a lot of characters who really aren't very nice and who take advantage of the state the world's in.
But it was good to see there were still nice people in the world, too. I'd probably look at more books by this author at some point in the future.
(This review may contain spoilers).
I've read quite a lot of apocalyptic books by now. Even though I felt like I was missing a lot of the story that occurred previously, I still felt this book was quite easy to read. I wasn't sure of all of the details, but the characters were easy to empathise with and I felt that the relationships came across really well.
It was interesting to see how different people dealt with society's collapse, even if I wasn't completely sure exactly what had caused the society to collapse. I really liked Ben as a character, though I felt that he probably cheated death a few too many times. Actually, so did one of the other characters.
The relationships that formed between the characters were really well-written and I particularly liked Lucy as a character, too. She was a really sweet little girl and I was happy to see the way she was looked after by her whole family.
There were quite a lot of awful scenes in this book as well as the sweeter ones. I found it tense enough to keep reading to find out what would happen next, but there is an awful lot of violence in this book... and a lot of characters who really aren't very nice and who take advantage of the state the world's in.
But it was good to see there were still nice people in the world, too. I'd probably look at more books by this author at some point in the future.
July 23, 2018
Great post apocalyptic story with an optimistic tone for a change. Plenty of terrible people and barbarism, but a thread of hope that "out there" there is something better. A bit difficult to believe that fallout in Atlanta prevents agriculture while a few days away (by foot) they are able to grow a garden and orchard, but these stories are for suspending belief. The ending was foreshadowed a bit too much to make it surprising, but that didn't detract from my curiosity about how it all would end.
September 2, 2016
The beginning of [The Reset] seemed a little slow and confusing but as I got farther in things began to come together. [Daniel Powell] did a good job creating a dystopian landscape as well as characters that make you cheer for them.
The characters could have been explained a little more because it was almost like a disjointed puzzle putting all the pieces together. If you liked books like [Alas, Babylon] and [The Road] I definitely recommend you give this book a read.
The characters could have been explained a little more because it was almost like a disjointed puzzle putting all the pieces together. If you liked books like [Alas, Babylon] and [The Road] I definitely recommend you give this book a read.
April 10, 2014
I was given the opportunity to read this for free in exchange for an honest review from librarything.com.
This is a very smooth flowing book by Mr. Powell. A tad confusing at first, but all in all a good solid dystopian story. Recommended!
This is a very smooth flowing book by Mr. Powell. A tad confusing at first, but all in all a good solid dystopian story. Recommended!
March 15, 2017
Fantastic!
I came across this book by accident with no memory of having downloaded it. I wish I had come across it sooner as this is a fantastic book that kept me reading nonstop from the first page to the last. A great read I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to others!
I came across this book by accident with no memory of having downloaded it. I wish I had come across it sooner as this is a fantastic book that kept me reading nonstop from the first page to the last. A great read I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to others!
October 4, 2017
I liked that
Excellence story! This story has great characters that I really cared about. Regular people just trying to go on living in a world that has gone so wrong. I truly enjoyed every minute of this book.
Excellence story! This story has great characters that I really cared about. Regular people just trying to go on living in a world that has gone so wrong. I truly enjoyed every minute of this book.
August 23, 2018
I really enjoyed the story and well written. If I were to critique anything, it would be to not have the characters repeat the beginning of sentence's too much. But, other than that, I look forward to the next novel in the series.
October 12, 2019
An interesting premise, with good characters and plotting. I'll not nit-pick the small inaccuracies and outlandish premises in the story, when it was the ending, that I saw coming a country-mile away, that made me knock down my rating from a high three to a two. Bleah.
September 10, 2017
This is a very good book. I have read a lot of these types of books but this one was different in a good way.
October 8, 2017
The Reset
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. I usually read at night to get sleepy. Found myself reading until 4 am. Best book I've read in a long time.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. I usually read at night to get sleepy. Found myself reading until 4 am. Best book I've read in a long time.
July 8, 2018
A wonderful story
Expertly written with a great story line and vivid characters. It was very realistic, grim but hopeful, and had a great ending.
Expertly written with a great story line and vivid characters. It was very realistic, grim but hopeful, and had a great ending.
September 14, 2018
A very light read. Reminds me of a summer action movie, where the main characters, in the midst of everyone else dying around them, somehow all make it out alive and seem no worse for the wear.
August 25, 2019
A sad dystopian novel. A set of young people are used in a nuclear terrorist plot that has left much of the world destroyed. Ben is a survivor and happens upon a farm where he tries to start anew with a new friend Alice. But are not able to until they confront the past and stand up to the bad guys.
December 16, 2018
It wasn't the best apocalyptic book I've ever read, but it kept my attention. I guessed how it would end, though didn't have the correct character so that was a bit of a surprise. But a lot of it was just too derivative. Still, 3 stars isn't bad.
March 24, 2020
Wow! Such a good quick read. This book sucked me in as soon as I started reading. I was thinking when I got to 90% done with the book that it wasn’t going to have a good ending with only 10% left. But the ending was awesome! It all tied together and just fit. Awesome book!
June 1, 2020
Reasonably entertaining, but not wonderful. The heroes were heroic, the villains were evil, and it wasn't difficult to tell them apart. The ending was predictable and rather blah, clearly leading into the next book in the series.
October 4, 2020
Finding hope.
End of the world book. It depicts what the world will be like is socialism comes in. How it could end. Good read. Well written. Praise for not leaving God out of your book. With him there's hope.
End of the world book. It depicts what the world will be like is socialism comes in. How it could end. Good read. Well written. Praise for not leaving God out of your book. With him there's hope.
August 24, 2019
This book started out with great promise and then went downhill. I think maybe the author had seen too many Walking Dead episodes.
Read
February 9, 2021OK. Quick, easy read.
July 18, 2014
I received this book for free in return for an honest review.
Through the first few chapters, I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy this book, or even if I would finish it. I kept getting lost in the story, but I decided to restart it.I believe it was the fact that it wasn't written from one person's point of view, but from third person. Starting over, I really got into the story. There weren't really many slow parts of the book because after one thing happened, another one started right up. It had me wanting more once I got to the end.
I had to give it 4 stars only because I kept getting lost the first time through, and then again when Alice explained what The Reset is. However, I would recommend this book to read!
Through the first few chapters, I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy this book, or even if I would finish it. I kept getting lost in the story, but I decided to restart it.I believe it was the fact that it wasn't written from one person's point of view, but from third person. Starting over, I really got into the story. There weren't really many slow parts of the book because after one thing happened, another one started right up. It had me wanting more once I got to the end.
I had to give it 4 stars only because I kept getting lost the first time through, and then again when Alice explained what The Reset is. However, I would recommend this book to read!
June 2, 2014
I liked this, but I really love Dystopian stories, so I am biased. It is nowhere near the level of Swan Song or The Passage, but it works and makes just enough sense that your WTF level is held in check. The HA stuff gets cleared up as the book progresses and clears up the confusion early on.
Only thing I couldn't wrap my head around is outrunning a thermonuclear explosion in a Chevy pick-up in the distance of a city park in Atlanta. Other than that I liked it.
Only thing I couldn't wrap my head around is outrunning a thermonuclear explosion in a Chevy pick-up in the distance of a city park in Atlanta. Other than that I liked it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 27, 2014
Amazing book!!!
This book would make for an amazing Movie!!! The plot with Ben searching for anything to make sense after the reset was riveting. Daniel Powell wrote an awesome futuristic story that was believable, which made it kinda scary that in the future this could happen. The Reset has it all.... drama, action, thrills and of course romance. This book is a must read!!! Look forward to reading other titles by this author.
This book would make for an amazing Movie!!! The plot with Ben searching for anything to make sense after the reset was riveting. Daniel Powell wrote an awesome futuristic story that was believable, which made it kinda scary that in the future this could happen. The Reset has it all.... drama, action, thrills and of course romance. This book is a must read!!! Look forward to reading other titles by this author.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews