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Alone #1
Facing Armageddon
Dave and Sarah Anna Speer had been preparing for Armageddon for years. They thought they'd covered all the bases, and had planned for everything. It never occurred to them that the single thing they had no control over was the timing. Sarah was on an airplane with her young daughters when solar storms bombarded the earth with electromagnetic pulses. Everything powered by electricity or batteries was instantly shorted out and would never work again. Dave was suddenly alone. He was also unsure whether his family was dead or alive. He assumed that the airplane stopped working and plunged from the sky. But it was scheduled to land in Kansas City at almost the exact time everything stopped working. Had they landed in time? Was it possible they survived? This is the story of a man facing Armageddon alone. It chronicles the things he does to survive in a newly vicious world. It also includes Dave's desperate and poignant diary entries to his wife. Just in case she did survive, and somehow makes it back to him to find he didn't make it himself. From the author of last year's best sellers "Final Dawn" and "Countdown to Armageddon" comes a new tale of one man's journey through hell... alone.
172 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 25, 2014
119 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
About the author
Darrell Maloney
103 books36 followersDarrell Maloney is a storyteller and author based in San Antonio, Texas.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
July 30, 2014
Loved it. Got some great new ideas from it. It's well written, comes across as a training manual for preppers in the form of fiction.
May 13, 2017
Dave and Sarah are preppers who believe that an EMP disaster is coming and they start prepping for it by gathering supplies and setting up plans to protect themselves and their home in the aftermath. The only thing they didn't plan for was that Sarah and their two daughters would be out of state, going to a wedding when the blast hits and Dave is left alone, unsure of what has happened to his family. Now he must survive and stay strong, preparing for winter, before he can think about going to find his family.
I liked the way the book started, showing how Dave and Sarah were researching the Mayans and the rumours of the end of the world. They start to think that the Mayans were really warning of a man made disaster that will render life as they know it gone. It looks as if it could be an EMP blast that is coming, so our heroes start preparing for it. Dave takes a second job to earn the income to prep fully and they start gathering food, wood, weapons, and everything the family need to make their home secure. This is explained to the reader near the start of the book as Dave takes his family to the airport. I liked the idea of linking the EMP to the Mayans as that was different from other EMP stories.
This book was unusual in that there is very little dialogue. In the tradition of I Am Legend, our hero is alone and lonely, and every day he has another project to do in making his home safe from looters, instead of vampires. It is also a prepper manual as we follow what Dave is doing step by step as he sets up various projects and solves new problems. Perhaps some people will find it a little boring because it lacks dialogue and character interaction, but I personally found all the detail fascinating.
Dave's projects were really interesting and smart. He starts by making his house look empty by putting a foreclosure notice on the door, leaving old newspapers on the porch and emptying the front room of furniture. He moves on to getting petrol from his wife's car and water into as many containers as he can. Over the weeks he tries to adapt his methods for rain collection and food storage, building outhouses and safe rooms, planting seeds and breeding rabbits. He had a lot of things planned long before the disaster which is now saving him time, and the whole thing was just gripping, despite the lack of real action.
There is an element of humanity through the book as Dave changes and his character develops. At first his attitude is that he doesn't have to help anybody or feel guilty about everything he has collected. He thinks that if others were too dumb or lazy to prepare, then that was their problem and not his. However something happens that makes Dave question whether it is right to let his neighbours starve just because they are not preppers. I found his dilemma interesting. I could see where he was coming from, having spent time and money preparing for the worst, and thinking that he doesn't need to help those who chose not to do the same. However, what Dave faces is a horrible thing and his guilt starts eating away at him. I liked what came next.
This was a really enjoyable book and you can relate to Dave as he is just an ordinary guy who wants to look after his family. He is not superhuman. He gets tired, lonely, frustrated and depressed, just as anyone in his situation would.
I've already ordered the next book in the series which follows Dave through his first winter in a changed world. I recommend this to people interested in prepper or apocalypse fiction.
I liked the way the book started, showing how Dave and Sarah were researching the Mayans and the rumours of the end of the world. They start to think that the Mayans were really warning of a man made disaster that will render life as they know it gone. It looks as if it could be an EMP blast that is coming, so our heroes start preparing for it. Dave takes a second job to earn the income to prep fully and they start gathering food, wood, weapons, and everything the family need to make their home secure. This is explained to the reader near the start of the book as Dave takes his family to the airport. I liked the idea of linking the EMP to the Mayans as that was different from other EMP stories.
This book was unusual in that there is very little dialogue. In the tradition of I Am Legend, our hero is alone and lonely, and every day he has another project to do in making his home safe from looters, instead of vampires. It is also a prepper manual as we follow what Dave is doing step by step as he sets up various projects and solves new problems. Perhaps some people will find it a little boring because it lacks dialogue and character interaction, but I personally found all the detail fascinating.
Dave's projects were really interesting and smart. He starts by making his house look empty by putting a foreclosure notice on the door, leaving old newspapers on the porch and emptying the front room of furniture. He moves on to getting petrol from his wife's car and water into as many containers as he can. Over the weeks he tries to adapt his methods for rain collection and food storage, building outhouses and safe rooms, planting seeds and breeding rabbits. He had a lot of things planned long before the disaster which is now saving him time, and the whole thing was just gripping, despite the lack of real action.
There is an element of humanity through the book as Dave changes and his character develops. At first his attitude is that he doesn't have to help anybody or feel guilty about everything he has collected. He thinks that if others were too dumb or lazy to prepare, then that was their problem and not his. However something happens that makes Dave question whether it is right to let his neighbours starve just because they are not preppers. I found his dilemma interesting. I could see where he was coming from, having spent time and money preparing for the worst, and thinking that he doesn't need to help those who chose not to do the same. However, what Dave faces is a horrible thing and his guilt starts eating away at him. I liked what came next.
This was a really enjoyable book and you can relate to Dave as he is just an ordinary guy who wants to look after his family. He is not superhuman. He gets tired, lonely, frustrated and depressed, just as anyone in his situation would.
I've already ordered the next book in the series which follows Dave through his first winter in a changed world. I recommend this to people interested in prepper or apocalypse fiction.
December 9, 2017
There is not a lot of action in this book but a lot of prepping info. For being a prepper, there were a lot of basic things that he missed such as solid non-scented long-burning candles, lanterns, more batteries etc. Most preppers rotate their stored canned goods rather than freeze. I didn't mind that he found holes in his own preps, because I think that is really what would happen. He had some issues with situational awareness though, fortunately, didn't suffer from it. The question of help-others vs no-impact-to-my survival was interesting and would be an issue for anyone in a disaster. A lot of the writing seemed fairly wooden and choppy but this can be improved. I rather liked that most of the story about Dave was from 3rd person but that there were a lot of excerpts from his diary which made the impressions more personable.
June 5, 2017
Great storyline and a good read
First off I want to say I did enjoy this book and will continue the series. Secondly I just want to point out parts that stood out in my mind and caused me to question the author.
Minor spoil alert on certain parts but not anything to ruin the book
1- I can not understand why the main character spent all the time and energy on the screws in the fence for security. A total waste. Anybody wanting in will bust through the fence.
2- why make such a point over the mayonnaise? Why take a chance of getting sick front it being spoiled or eating too much? You have plenty of rabbits and veggies plus all the other food. No need to worry about an open jar of mayonnaise?.
3- why would you freeze canned foot prepping for an EMP? Why not stock pile and replace with new cans as you eat them so they don't expire during prep?
4- I didn't quite understand how come he was in such terrible shape and so soar after moving 10 sheets of 1/2" plywood when he is a home building contractor and also works in a cabinet shop.
5- It's Armageddon, why worry about the house when moving the plywood? He should've prepped better for moving assistance with sliders or rollers etc.
6- There is no way he could've determined the bullet angle on the fence planks when it is only 3/4" thick, I felt that part was useless info.
Summery of my review: I know it looks like I picked the book apart and seems I didn't like it because of my bullet points, that is not true. I did enjoy it and would've given it 4 stars if not for the above mentioned items that broke my concentration.
First off I want to say I did enjoy this book and will continue the series. Secondly I just want to point out parts that stood out in my mind and caused me to question the author.
Minor spoil alert on certain parts but not anything to ruin the book
1- I can not understand why the main character spent all the time and energy on the screws in the fence for security. A total waste. Anybody wanting in will bust through the fence.
2- why make such a point over the mayonnaise? Why take a chance of getting sick front it being spoiled or eating too much? You have plenty of rabbits and veggies plus all the other food. No need to worry about an open jar of mayonnaise?.
3- why would you freeze canned foot prepping for an EMP? Why not stock pile and replace with new cans as you eat them so they don't expire during prep?
4- I didn't quite understand how come he was in such terrible shape and so soar after moving 10 sheets of 1/2" plywood when he is a home building contractor and also works in a cabinet shop.
5- It's Armageddon, why worry about the house when moving the plywood? He should've prepped better for moving assistance with sliders or rollers etc.
6- There is no way he could've determined the bullet angle on the fence planks when it is only 3/4" thick, I felt that part was useless info.
Summery of my review: I know it looks like I picked the book apart and seems I didn't like it because of my bullet points, that is not true. I did enjoy it and would've given it 4 stars if not for the above mentioned items that broke my concentration.
January 7, 2018
Love this. I highly recommend
Its as if we are living it is as he speaks. I read a lot ,but Mr. Maloney subtlety slips you a lot of survivor hints. I'm looking forward to the next book.
Its as if we are living it is as he speaks. I read a lot ,but Mr. Maloney subtlety slips you a lot of survivor hints. I'm looking forward to the next book.
April 23, 2024
Enjoyable read
This book is about a family who live in suburbia but are preppers. But what they didn't prepare for was being separated by many miles when IT happened.
Very good tips on prepping in this book. Enjoyed it a lot
This book is about a family who live in suburbia but are preppers. But what they didn't prepare for was being separated by many miles when IT happened.
Very good tips on prepping in this book. Enjoyed it a lot
July 11, 2018
Good book
Read all of the books in order to really enjoy. Characters are realistic and get better and better. Storyline continues to grow and develop.
Read all of the books in order to really enjoy. Characters are realistic and get better and better. Storyline continues to grow and develop.
March 2, 2019
Wow!
The writer really drew me into Dave's life. I am really looking forward to the next book in this serues
The writer really drew me into Dave's life. I am really looking forward to the next book in this serues
January 14, 2018
Enjoyed the story - but eventually started skipping stuff.
June 12, 2018
Good read
This was a very well written story whose characters were easy to identify with. One can only hope events such as these do not ever come to pass.
This was a very well written story whose characters were easy to identify with. One can only hope events such as these do not ever come to pass.
February 8, 2016
Ugh. This reads more like a Prepper's Guide to the Coming Armageddon than any kind of plot-having story. The diary entries from Dave only serve to repeat the same info given in the main book but in a slightly "in character" voice. Thoughts and info is so often repeated that it quickly became stale and uninteresting.
Unlike other Disaster Future novels this one was focused only on this one guy Dave and followed him for a few months from Spring when the EMP disaster wiped out much technology and humanity struggled to survive, through to the start of Winter. The only other people Dave actually interacts with are his wife and two daughters before he drops them at the airport the day of the huge solar EMP and one guy in the very last chapter.
Dave spends all his time that he's not Prepping either thinking about how all those gunshots must be either looters or weaklings unable to survive killing themselves; or about how he misses his family and hopes to somehow trek the 5 months and 1,000+ miles to where he hopes they safely landed and are surviving with prepper family members.
But, that's ALL that happens. In 220 pages Dave prepares like crazy, remenisces about prepping before the EMP, and avoids all interaction with any fellow humans. Until the last 4 chapters or so he was a very boring one-note character to read about. He DID get a bit of redemption in my eyes at the very end when he feels bad about a neighboring family he hears kill themselves and makes a bit of a mental turn around; starting to share info and seeds in little stashes around the nearly empty neighborhood.
So if you're looking for a How To Be A Disaster Scenario Prepper book with a VERY light storyline woven through it this is going to be a good read for you. If, however, you actually wanted to read about anything interesting happening then you're better off reading something like Ashfall.
Unlike other Disaster Future novels this one was focused only on this one guy Dave and followed him for a few months from Spring when the EMP disaster wiped out much technology and humanity struggled to survive, through to the start of Winter. The only other people Dave actually interacts with are his wife and two daughters before he drops them at the airport the day of the huge solar EMP and one guy in the very last chapter.
Dave spends all his time that he's not Prepping either thinking about how all those gunshots must be either looters or weaklings unable to survive killing themselves; or about how he misses his family and hopes to somehow trek the 5 months and 1,000+ miles to where he hopes they safely landed and are surviving with prepper family members.
But, that's ALL that happens. In 220 pages Dave prepares like crazy, remenisces about prepping before the EMP, and avoids all interaction with any fellow humans. Until the last 4 chapters or so he was a very boring one-note character to read about. He DID get a bit of redemption in my eyes at the very end when he feels bad about a neighboring family he hears kill themselves and makes a bit of a mental turn around; starting to share info and seeds in little stashes around the nearly empty neighborhood.
So if you're looking for a How To Be A Disaster Scenario Prepper book with a VERY light storyline woven through it this is going to be a good read for you. If, however, you actually wanted to read about anything interesting happening then you're better off reading something like Ashfall.
October 4, 2014
great story line but it had a lot of repetitiveness with the who's,how's and why's!
and it would have been nice if the author would have introduced some action and maybe switch characters to Dave's wife and kids to give us a break from reading only about Dave!
I would have been interested to read about them (at least once) to learn how they were doing since the EMP started and were separated from Dave.
I think the author put to much focus on Dave but there were a lot of great ideas to pull from the book on survival tips for my own needs if I were caught in a similar situation. (so I enjoyed that)
I have now started book 2 and hoping the next book is a little less dull but reading the reviews for book 2 I won't hold my breath!
and it would have been nice if the author would have introduced some action and maybe switch characters to Dave's wife and kids to give us a break from reading only about Dave!
I would have been interested to read about them (at least once) to learn how they were doing since the EMP started and were separated from Dave.
I think the author put to much focus on Dave but there were a lot of great ideas to pull from the book on survival tips for my own needs if I were caught in a similar situation. (so I enjoyed that)
I have now started book 2 and hoping the next book is a little less dull but reading the reviews for book 2 I won't hold my breath!
July 13, 2014
It could happen...
I never thought that I would like a book about one man's journey to survive after the world shuts down. This book was well written and I felt as if I was an observer of everything that happened. The author goes into great detail about what it would take to provide food, water, and safe housing when every convenience is taken away in the blink of an eye. I was so into the storyline that I was shocked when it ended. I was disappointed to find that the sequel won't be released for several months. After reading this book, I will be researching how to plan for my own survival if the world goes "dark" someday.
I never thought that I would like a book about one man's journey to survive after the world shuts down. This book was well written and I felt as if I was an observer of everything that happened. The author goes into great detail about what it would take to provide food, water, and safe housing when every convenience is taken away in the blink of an eye. I was so into the storyline that I was shocked when it ended. I was disappointed to find that the sequel won't be released for several months. After reading this book, I will be researching how to plan for my own survival if the world goes "dark" someday.
May 11, 2016
Readable... that's about as much praise as I can give it.. basically it's a survival manual for the apocalypse.. the guy never grows a pair to go and see if his wife and kids are still alive in Kansas City, nothing happens, nobody tries to nick his food or water, nobody even notices his house is occupied.. he doesn't do anything other than collect water and plant crops.... two stars was probably being kind.. but I did at least make it to the end.. generally one star reviews are for the books I can't bear to finish!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 8, 2014
I thought this was unique in they way the author works through the story. I think there could be some detail but it does point a few things worth researching. I enjoyed this very much and will be waiting for the second installment. The story flows well through out the book. It is a good start to a story that has great potential.
March 5, 2019
I love preppers. They are the survivors and are equipped with the right attitude to help others.
Dave Speer is up there with the best - strength of character, a man with a purpose and a serious struggle across the USA.
The stories are captivating and filked withwonderful little cameos.
Darrell Maloney can write!
Dave Speer is up there with the best - strength of character, a man with a purpose and a serious struggle across the USA.
The stories are captivating and filked withwonderful little cameos.
Darrell Maloney can write!
September 14, 2014
Survival
Been reading several of this prepper based novels lately and this one a little too simple,with basically only one character after the first few chapters.Interesting ideas on how to survive but nothing new.
Been reading several of this prepper based novels lately and this one a little too simple,with basically only one character after the first few chapters.Interesting ideas on how to survive but nothing new.
July 3, 2015
GreAt read
Separated from his family you experience one man's struggle to survive an EMP. Not knowing if his wife and kids survived. With the world falling apart, to dangerous to travel in you get ok be man's story
Separated from his family you experience one man's struggle to survive an EMP. Not knowing if his wife and kids survived. With the world falling apart, to dangerous to travel in you get ok be man's story
September 23, 2015
Not the usual prepper meets the apocalypse book. Pretty much just a man and his thoughts, missing his family and trying to survive. I did find it hard to believe he was able to stay hidden with everyone out scrounging for food and supplies.
July 23, 2014
Started strong ....
But then it got super boring. I was hoping for something interesting but it never happen for me. Well written but boring
But then it got super boring. I was hoping for something interesting but it never happen for me. Well written but boring
June 30, 2016
Really great story. Loved the characters.
September 17, 2014
Amazing story :)
April 3, 2015
Great Prepping Story
Great storyline on prepping and life after TSHTF. Plenty of tips for survival and building a safe environment for you and your family.
Great storyline on prepping and life after TSHTF. Plenty of tips for survival and building a safe environment for you and your family.
April 14, 2015
Interesting perspective in this book....it is the main character, alone, from almost the beginning. Lots of useful information from a prepping stand point but it did get a bit monotonous at points.
January 30, 2016
Alone really seems well chosen because even I really like the story the only thing disturbing me was the lack of dialogue.
August 19, 2016
Actual rating - 3.5
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews