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The Resolve: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller
What if you woke up one morning and everyone was dead?
Tyler Jacobs' and Ange Romano's world has ended. As the young teens search for other survivors, men claiming to be police officers—working for an organization called The Resolve—take them into custody.
What is The Resolve? After Tyler and Ange escape, they search for the answer. But The Resolve hunts them and if the two teens are recaptured, their fate—and the fate of humanity—will be worse than death.
If you enjoy fast-paced young adult survival thrillers, you'll love The Resolve. Order your copy today!
Tyler Jacobs' and Ange Romano's world has ended. As the young teens search for other survivors, men claiming to be police officers—working for an organization called The Resolve—take them into custody.
What is The Resolve? After Tyler and Ange escape, they search for the answer. But The Resolve hunts them and if the two teens are recaptured, their fate—and the fate of humanity—will be worse than death.
If you enjoy fast-paced young adult survival thrillers, you'll love The Resolve. Order your copy today!
292 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 26, 2025
About the author
Susan Berliner
13 books14 followersI have been a nonfiction writer for nearly my entire career. I had originally planned to be an elementary school teacher, but left after a year to become a newspaper reporter for Fairchild Publications. I covered men's retailing for Daily News Record, a men's wear/textile trade newspaper, which was the "brother" paper of Women's Wear Daily.
After my children were born, I switched to freelance writing—mainly in education—publishing book series dealing with editing skills, language arts, and standardized testing and creating teachers' guides, student activity sheets, and test passages. I also freelanced as a local reporter for the North County News, a weekly newspaper in Yorktown Heights, New York.
When I returned to work full-time, I became the promotion manager for the Yorktown PennySaver, a job I held for 20 years. After leaving the Pennysaver, I became a novelist. I'm the author of four supernatural thrillers: "DUST," "Peachwood Lake," "The Disappearance," and "Corsonia," and "THE SEA CRYSTAL and Other Weird Tales," a collection of short stories.
I live with my husband, Larry, in Yorktown Heights, where I am writing "The Touchers," an end-of-the-world series.
After my children were born, I switched to freelance writing—mainly in education—publishing book series dealing with editing skills, language arts, and standardized testing and creating teachers' guides, student activity sheets, and test passages. I also freelanced as a local reporter for the North County News, a weekly newspaper in Yorktown Heights, New York.
When I returned to work full-time, I became the promotion manager for the Yorktown PennySaver, a job I held for 20 years. After leaving the Pennysaver, I became a novelist. I'm the author of four supernatural thrillers: "DUST," "Peachwood Lake," "The Disappearance," and "Corsonia," and "THE SEA CRYSTAL and Other Weird Tales," a collection of short stories.
I live with my husband, Larry, in Yorktown Heights, where I am writing "The Touchers," an end-of-the-world series.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 11, 2025
DNF’d at page 12
I really wanted to like this one, and I hate that I’m the only review! But I’m going to be honest, and say exactly how I feel.
It has *such* an interesting premise, and honestly I was pretty excited to read it.
What made me DNF though was it felt very… rushed, but simultaneously moving so slow. It’s hard to really describe the weird rushed-but-slow pacing. Additionally, when it came to Tyler and Ange, it felt like there was nothing connecting us to them other than just knowing they were there.
There’s a LOT of dialogue—which I really don’t think is a bad thing by any means—but I wish I could’ve seen a bit more into the minds and personalities of the characters. It feels like they’re both very flat, and maybe it will change further on, but I’m not sure I’m ready to commit to the rest of it at the moment. I think also the dialog fails in capturing the reader; it feels almost a bit too matter-of-fact for my personal tastes.
Aside from these issues, I truly feel like Berliner has a potential gem hidden under here in terms of potential for storyline and world building, and if it was more polished, I think it would be a very enjoyable read.
Maybe I’ll come back to it another time and reassess (as I do like to do that to see if anything’s changed for me), but for now I’m going to have to put it down and hope Tyler and Ange make it through okay without their parents.
I really wanted to like this one, and I hate that I’m the only review! But I’m going to be honest, and say exactly how I feel.
It has *such* an interesting premise, and honestly I was pretty excited to read it.
What made me DNF though was it felt very… rushed, but simultaneously moving so slow. It’s hard to really describe the weird rushed-but-slow pacing. Additionally, when it came to Tyler and Ange, it felt like there was nothing connecting us to them other than just knowing they were there.
There’s a LOT of dialogue—which I really don’t think is a bad thing by any means—but I wish I could’ve seen a bit more into the minds and personalities of the characters. It feels like they’re both very flat, and maybe it will change further on, but I’m not sure I’m ready to commit to the rest of it at the moment. I think also the dialog fails in capturing the reader; it feels almost a bit too matter-of-fact for my personal tastes.
Aside from these issues, I truly feel like Berliner has a potential gem hidden under here in terms of potential for storyline and world building, and if it was more polished, I think it would be a very enjoyable read.
Maybe I’ll come back to it another time and reassess (as I do like to do that to see if anything’s changed for me), but for now I’m going to have to put it down and hope Tyler and Ange make it through okay without their parents.
May 26, 2026
Imagine waking up and finding that everyone you know is dead. That's what happens to a couple of teens in The Resolve. They soon learn that a group called The Resolve is behind the strange occurrence and that a madman who wants to rule the world is leading them. It's a cat and mouse game as the teens run from The Resolve and try to get to the headquarters to save any remaining survivors.
The premise is a good one. It's definitely intense with a lot of killing and anxiety-inducing scenes. What would make it better is if there was more "getting inside the characters' heads." The reader sees what they are doing and what's happening to them, but not so much about the anxiety going on inside. The motive of the madman is a headscratcher, too. I would think the survivors would have some kind of super-immunity that he'd want to harness. And why are there survivors? What makes them special? A little tweaking in these areas would make it a five-star read. Still, it's a good read, and one that those who enjoy thriller novels would like.
The premise is a good one. It's definitely intense with a lot of killing and anxiety-inducing scenes. What would make it better is if there was more "getting inside the characters' heads." The reader sees what they are doing and what's happening to them, but not so much about the anxiety going on inside. The motive of the madman is a headscratcher, too. I would think the survivors would have some kind of super-immunity that he'd want to harness. And why are there survivors? What makes them special? A little tweaking in these areas would make it a five-star read. Still, it's a good read, and one that those who enjoy thriller novels would like.
June 10, 2026
Armageddon with a Face
Nearly all of humanity is wiped out overnight, and two young survivors meet up with shadowy men ordering them to accompany them…somewhere. They’re not police officers, so who are they?
That’s what two teenagers, Ange and Tyler, would like to know in Susan Berliner’s exciting new YA thriller. The pair meet up after learning their own families and friends are dead, and soon after they meet up with a scant few others who survived this calamity, they learn they’re all targets of a force called The Resolve. The question soon arises: Could these people have had something to do with the demise of their loved ones and countless others?
The pace picks up early as the two teens, along with a stray dog, Lucky, who proves essential at every turn, near the headquarters of The Resolve—and learn of its sinister plans. For an action-packed, swiftly moving story, don’t miss this one!
Nearly all of humanity is wiped out overnight, and two young survivors meet up with shadowy men ordering them to accompany them…somewhere. They’re not police officers, so who are they?
That’s what two teenagers, Ange and Tyler, would like to know in Susan Berliner’s exciting new YA thriller. The pair meet up after learning their own families and friends are dead, and soon after they meet up with a scant few others who survived this calamity, they learn they’re all targets of a force called The Resolve. The question soon arises: Could these people have had something to do with the demise of their loved ones and countless others?
The pace picks up early as the two teens, along with a stray dog, Lucky, who proves essential at every turn, near the headquarters of The Resolve—and learn of its sinister plans. For an action-packed, swiftly moving story, don’t miss this one!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews