Alpha Farm - The Beginning

Prepper Chick #1

by Annie Berdel

From the beginning, Emma was always looking for modern ways to becoming self-sufficient. Following the signs of a faltering economy and a nagging in her Spirit to return to her family farm, Emma begins rebuilding a life independent from The Grid and away from her high stress corporate job.

Is it any wonder that when a localized Electromagnetic Pulse is detonated over the New Madrid Fault Line and The Grid is taken down, that Emma immediately goes into action? Well, at least until Senator Varga and her personal Army shows up at Emma’s door. That is one curve ball that Emma was not expecting.

Calling her fellow Prepper Chicks into action, follow along as a Modern Day Underground Railroad is formed, a long forgotten way of life is pulled back into action and they all adjust to A World without Rule of Law.

Genres: Post Apocalyptic, Dystopia, Apocalyptic

343 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 16, 2014

Reviews

[Shelley · Rating 1 out of 5]

One star is a stretch- it deserved less. I called it quits at page 40 which is highly unusual for me- the writing and wording made me cringe on almost every page. I love the genre but the ultra-preachy, know-it-all type of author gives it a bad name and rightly so.

[chucklesthescot · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate been overly critical of a book these days but this one was all over the place. Firstly it takes the EMP 182 pages to finally arrive-I only know this because I skimmed ahead to see if it ever does happen. Prior to that it is basically a rape novel on hispanic women with a few wolf attacks thrown in. The wolf attacks are described in a strange manner which makes the wolf sound more like a violent lover than an animal. I found it weird to read. As for the rapes, well it starts with Angie being raped and saved by Emma but it then focuses on Angie's recovery and the attitudes of the police to the rape. Then the rapists, who happen to be cops try to attack Elsie, shooting her as she escapes with two kids that she is driving with. She dies in the woods and is found by Emma. Then the pregnant Sonya is raped by the cops. To say that I was getting a bit mad with the content was an understatement and this is before society breaks down.

There is also no cohesion in the book. In the space of four pages the subject matter leaps from how tornados destroy prepper houses, Emma taking a walk, description of her comm tower, mocking the Scottish accents they once heard on the radio, Prepper instructions and a website ad and an anti government rant about using the weather as a weapon. It was so disjointed and the plot just jumped around with no direction. There are also page long bible quotes and long prepper lists but no real sense of any impending doom, just the odd vague comment on society being a mess. I hated that the MC kept calling Emma 'doll' all the time and I found the comments about Europe being taken over by muslims insulting. Perhaps she needs to take a long look at her government and the problems America has before passing judgement on other countries. The other thing was the dreadful formatting which had gaps in between every line of dialogue, big spaces between paragraphs and poor punctuation-and this was the paperback copy. Not impressed with this book at all.

[Val Shaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just ok

I didn't hate it but I sure didn't love it. The good; the characters were enjoyable and the parts having to do with their survival were interesting. The bad; the editing was horrible and clearly the proof reader didn't do their job. Misspellings, wrong words, wrong tense, you name it. Besides the fact that I don't agree with all of the author's philosophy, I did enjoy the story. What I really disliked though was that these characters were supposedly Christians yet cursed a lot. Pick a side please.

[Tami Pollard · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had the makings of being a good book. Poor editing distracted from the reading. Names changed a couple of times and several times there were words left out of a sentence. Also, One of the characters changed personalities entirely and was a little unbelieveable. I might've given this three stars had the editing been better. The book is also part of a series so be prepared to be left with an unsatisfying conclusion. While I did enjoy the book somewhat, I didn't love it enough to continue the series.

[Mickenzie Jensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad read overall

While I generally liked this book, I felt that the editing and storyline left something to be desired. There were a lot of slips between past and present tense, often in the middle of a sentence. The story was good but I felt that there were several points where things were presented in a way that seemed awkward or forced. Overall though, I did enjoy the book enough to read the next book.

[Joni · Rating 4 out of 5]

No equality here

It’s definitely a world run by women in this book. The men are pretty much unimportant except to produce children and help around the farm. Oh and there is one really evil man. I won’t say who. Michael has some potential but I don’t hold out much hope. Still I’m compelled to read the next book as the author makes the characters interesting.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story started well. A little disappointed in the ending. 3 stars for unnecessary use of the F bomb. Story would have been just as good without the language. I prefer an author to use intelligent words to express the point instead of casual use of curse words.

[Mrs LB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy going at first

A good story along with a wealth of valuable info. I thought it would be a basic SHTF story but things got dicey at the end and a certain someone in book 2 is gonna feel Emma's wrath.

[Rence · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate to give a negative review on someone’s hard work. But this book was all over the place. It was complete chaos and forced. The author seems to be preoccupied by rape as well. The story had so much potential but was very disappointing.

[Joan L Huffman MD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alpha Farm: The Beginning

A widespread group of prepared women have established a network of safe houses. The locations become havens for harried travelers in the new post-apocalyptic world.

[J.L. Huffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A widespread group of prepared women have established a network of safe houses. The locations become havens for harried travelers in the new post-apocalyptic world.

[Kathi Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not your run of the mill prepper or post-apocalyptic fiction and it is written by a woman, which in and of itself is unusual. It is captivating, entertaining, educational, down-to-earth, scary and believable! Strong story, strong female characters who are so three dimensional (both the good and the evil) and heartfelt! I fell like I met friends. Overall I rate this 4.5.

There are editing problems but I am not penalizing the author for that. While the author did some good world building and providing the back story, she needed to do some more developing and connecting. For instance we meet a woman senator who initially seems like a "good guy" but out of what seems the blue, turns evil and diabolical. There is not transition and not explanation of how that happens. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this book and am very anxiously awaiting the second book. One tip for prospective readers, keep pen and pencil next to your e-reader to record some of the extensive information given. Yea Apocalypse Cowgirl!!!!!

[Brad Theado · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a lot of prepper fiction. This had a nice twist in that most of the main characters were strong women. The story was good and I will look for book 2 (there's always a book two any more).

The author is obviously well informed but I found the tearing down of the wall between the story and the reader to be annoying at times. I am a bit of a conspiracy nut myself but this was one conspiracy after another: HAARP, anti- vaccinations, emp, man made earthquakes to name a few. Got to be a bit unbelievable that one person could buy into as many as the author did.

I still enjoyed it though one of favorite characters doesn't make it to the end.

[David A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting story that held my interest.
I have never read a book with so many spelling and grammatical errors in it.
The book takes place in several areas of the USA with many participants, so many in fact that a few seemed out of place time wise.
Still I will be waiting for the second book in the series.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great plot but editing needed help

[MARIA JENNINGS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome!

This book was a great read, I couldn't put it down. Anxiously awaiting the sequel. Great job chick. . .

[Kelly Wade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

I really enjoyed this book and am hoping there will be more quickly. I love the strong female characters and how they work together.