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A Tale of Survival in a Powerless World #2
Broken Roads
This is a stand-alone novel and doesn't require reading the other books in the series
It’s been a week without power. No phones. No computers. Nothing. Whatever shred of humanity is left in people is slowly dwindling away. Gangs are forming, people are starving, and the whole country is in a free-for-all. With his house burnt to the ground, Mike Grant finds himself on the road, fighting to stay alive. A single thought propelling him forward: get to his family. Accompanied by his neighbor, Nelson, Mike leaves Pittsburgh and heads to his family’s cabin in Ohio. For Mike the only thing worse than not making it to the cabin is the fear of his family not being there when he does.
It’s been a week without power. No phones. No computers. Nothing. Whatever shred of humanity is left in people is slowly dwindling away. Gangs are forming, people are starving, and the whole country is in a free-for-all. With his house burnt to the ground, Mike Grant finds himself on the road, fighting to stay alive. A single thought propelling him forward: get to his family. Accompanied by his neighbor, Nelson, Mike leaves Pittsburgh and heads to his family’s cabin in Ohio. For Mike the only thing worse than not making it to the cabin is the fear of his family not being there when he does.
- GenresPost ApocalypticDystopia
254 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 25, 2014
54 people are currently reading
164 people want to read
About the author
James Hunt
167 books228 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
James Hunt's passion for writing began at an early age. While his journal of yesteryear may never be the work of great fiction, he's been working hard every day since then to bring pages to life. James has well over a decade of writing under his belt, but his professional career in literature didn't take off until 2014.
James currently lives in Orlando, FL and when he's not pounding away at the keyboard you can find him at the theater or somewhere outside enjoying the beautiful Florida weather.
James Hunt's passion for writing began at an early age. While his journal of yesteryear may never be the work of great fiction, he's been working hard every day since then to bring pages to life. James has well over a decade of writing under his belt, but his professional career in literature didn't take off until 2014.
James currently lives in Orlando, FL and when he's not pounding away at the keyboard you can find him at the theater or somewhere outside enjoying the beautiful Florida weather.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 29, 2014
This is the second book in the series - which is a little daunting if you haven't read the first, but as promised, you can pick up this book and read from here and not feel like you have been completely left behind!
I'm a fan of the tv shows Revolution and the Walking Dead - and if you are too, then there are a few reasons why you will want to read this book:
1) The revolving character stories. Hunt does a great job of taking a full world with rich character details and breaking them into multiple points of view. And he does it pretty seamlessly. Whether you are reading a chapter from Mike's point of view (that's the main character - he's a pretty bad *ss survivalist that knows what to do in an emergency and is definitely the kind of guy I'd want to have on my side) as he treks his way across Pennsylvania and into Ohio to find his family - dodging robbers, gangs, sharp shooters on the road - and definitely picking up some stragglers... Let's just say, if you loved the Walking Dead because of the strong male lead, you're gonna want to buy Broken Road right now.
2) Scary Stuff. Hunt doesn't play around. There is violence (not gratuitous - which I appreciate), but it's violence that changes these characters - often the most innocent and sweet characters are changed by the most violent actions. Hunt does a pretty good job of walking us through the emotional aspects of the consequences of violence without showing us too much graphic depiction on the page. Regardless, it feels like we get it full in the face - but it makes us even more devoted to Hunt's characters.
3) IT READS LIKE A SMOKING HOT EPISODE OF THE WALKING DEAD
So you know how at the end of every episode - there is a glimmer of hope, but there is also the faint feeling that nothing is ever going to be good or right again for these people? It's all up and down, and every good thing that happens (families reunited? Awesome!) is partnered with something equally awful (hey - a whole town is murdered!). This book definitely keeps you on an emotional roller coaster.
I actually read this book in one sitting. It was fast-paced, smart and interesting.
The only negative that I would really pounce on is that Hunt writes a little too fast-paced - there is NO FAT to his prose and so I often felt like scenes in the book were finished before I was ready for them to be over.
I'm a fan of the tv shows Revolution and the Walking Dead - and if you are too, then there are a few reasons why you will want to read this book:
1) The revolving character stories. Hunt does a great job of taking a full world with rich character details and breaking them into multiple points of view. And he does it pretty seamlessly. Whether you are reading a chapter from Mike's point of view (that's the main character - he's a pretty bad *ss survivalist that knows what to do in an emergency and is definitely the kind of guy I'd want to have on my side) as he treks his way across Pennsylvania and into Ohio to find his family - dodging robbers, gangs, sharp shooters on the road - and definitely picking up some stragglers... Let's just say, if you loved the Walking Dead because of the strong male lead, you're gonna want to buy Broken Road right now.
2) Scary Stuff. Hunt doesn't play around. There is violence (not gratuitous - which I appreciate), but it's violence that changes these characters - often the most innocent and sweet characters are changed by the most violent actions. Hunt does a pretty good job of walking us through the emotional aspects of the consequences of violence without showing us too much graphic depiction on the page. Regardless, it feels like we get it full in the face - but it makes us even more devoted to Hunt's characters.
3) IT READS LIKE A SMOKING HOT EPISODE OF THE WALKING DEAD
So you know how at the end of every episode - there is a glimmer of hope, but there is also the faint feeling that nothing is ever going to be good or right again for these people? It's all up and down, and every good thing that happens (families reunited? Awesome!) is partnered with something equally awful (hey - a whole town is murdered!). This book definitely keeps you on an emotional roller coaster.
I actually read this book in one sitting. It was fast-paced, smart and interesting.
The only negative that I would really pounce on is that Hunt writes a little too fast-paced - there is NO FAT to his prose and so I often felt like scenes in the book were finished before I was ready for them to be over.
November 9, 2014
I started this series with book 2 because I didn't realize it was a series. It is a stand alone book. This is an EMP/ apocalyptic story. It was an EMP that ruined all microchip items from working. It takes less than 2 days to fall apart. It takes less than a week for humans to begin to behave like animals and killers. I like the way each character held their place in the novel and that made an enjoyable read.
October 11, 2015
Couldn't stop with this series once I started! This is a must read for anyone that's interested in disaster novels, apocalypse, EMP's, survival stories.
September 6, 2018
It's only been a week without power, but the world has become unrecognizable. Mike Grant's world is terrorized by a sadistic biker gang. What lengths will he go through to keep his family safe? Great second book in the series!
September 23, 2019
This is the 2nd book in the EMO series. The story continues at a good pace & the story is growing with additional characters & more intense situations. It's going to be a great series!
February 12, 2015
This book was the second in a series of what I believe is a four book series -- although book one and two are not full length books but rather long, short stories or novellas. Perhaps this is the author's way of increasing reader interest by breaking one long book into three or four short books; which seems to be a trend with many writers these days.
Book one was free and the second book was only 99 cents and I must say that you get what you pay for. The story in each book focuses on one family and their struggle to survive with several of their neighbors after a global EMP power outage. Neither book explained the cause of the EMP which I wanted an answer for. The writer describes the breakdown of society and man's drive to survive in a world without any type of power or modern conveniences. Because the main character, Mike, has always been a survivalist nut, he is the only one in his neighborhood prepared for an "end-of-the-world" life; a fact which makes him a target of his starving neighbors.
Book two was considerably more violent than Book one and both books contain harsh language and brutal violence. I don't believe I will be buying any more installments in the series as I found myself anxious for this second book to hurry up and be over because the characters continually did such stupid things. Perhaps though the writer was trying to portray real people who don't possess fictional super-hero characteristics as seen in many other fiction books or movies today. The book was just "okay," and could have used another read-through edit due to many typographical errors that distracted me as a reader.
The one takeaway I got from reading these books was it really made me think about my lifestyle and how I would fare in a post-apocalyptic, end-of-the-world kind of society. I dare to say that I wouldn't fare nearly as well as the characters in the book and would likely fall into the same category as some of the stupid survivors in this book.
Book one was free and the second book was only 99 cents and I must say that you get what you pay for. The story in each book focuses on one family and their struggle to survive with several of their neighbors after a global EMP power outage. Neither book explained the cause of the EMP which I wanted an answer for. The writer describes the breakdown of society and man's drive to survive in a world without any type of power or modern conveniences. Because the main character, Mike, has always been a survivalist nut, he is the only one in his neighborhood prepared for an "end-of-the-world" life; a fact which makes him a target of his starving neighbors.
Book two was considerably more violent than Book one and both books contain harsh language and brutal violence. I don't believe I will be buying any more installments in the series as I found myself anxious for this second book to hurry up and be over because the characters continually did such stupid things. Perhaps though the writer was trying to portray real people who don't possess fictional super-hero characteristics as seen in many other fiction books or movies today. The book was just "okay," and could have used another read-through edit due to many typographical errors that distracted me as a reader.
The one takeaway I got from reading these books was it really made me think about my lifestyle and how I would fare in a post-apocalyptic, end-of-the-world kind of society. I dare to say that I wouldn't fare nearly as well as the characters in the book and would likely fall into the same category as some of the stupid survivors in this book.
January 26, 2016
It's difficult for a writer to have believable conflict. Too much misfortune, and you get a tragedy. Not enough, and it's The Hardy Boys saccharine. In this post-EMP world, it's suddenly turned things into a Hobbesian setting where good people play defense and bad people (like gangs and bikers) play offense.
In the first book, neighbors fought over whether they were entitled to the property of others. In this one, Mike and Katie try to reconnect with their families at Mike's cabin in Ohio. Mike's cabin turns out to be right next to a town that's been taken over by a biker gang. They didn't just take it over. They killed every. person. in. the. town. That seems pretty short-sighted. Those people might have had some skills or talents that the biker gang would need in the years to come.
And somewhere, someone knows who set off the EMP. It hasn't been made clear what the scope is. The EMP is a bit of a McGuffin through the first two books - it just puts people magically into a post-apocalyptic setting. No doubt things like food and water would be in short supply. In a real EMP setting, parts of the grid would be back right away. Waiting two books without any sign of a return of civilization tells me that the author is using the EMP as if it were magic, instead of attempting to write a story that includes the response of civilization to an EMP.
Anyhow, two books is as far as I'm going. Mike's dad trips and we go on and on about the injury. There is just too much bad luck befalling the good guys. When the roof beam breaks, and hits a sleeping man and breaks his leg ... well, okay. I see what kind of story it is. It's "One bad thing right after another." Just random misery.
I'll pass. It's not bad. I'm just looking for a different balance. This is more like a horror story than the sci-fi I was looking for. I hope that the good guys manage to work it out.
In the first book, neighbors fought over whether they were entitled to the property of others. In this one, Mike and Katie try to reconnect with their families at Mike's cabin in Ohio. Mike's cabin turns out to be right next to a town that's been taken over by a biker gang. They didn't just take it over. They killed every. person. in. the. town. That seems pretty short-sighted. Those people might have had some skills or talents that the biker gang would need in the years to come.
And somewhere, someone knows who set off the EMP. It hasn't been made clear what the scope is. The EMP is a bit of a McGuffin through the first two books - it just puts people magically into a post-apocalyptic setting. No doubt things like food and water would be in short supply. In a real EMP setting, parts of the grid would be back right away. Waiting two books without any sign of a return of civilization tells me that the author is using the EMP as if it were magic, instead of attempting to write a story that includes the response of civilization to an EMP.
Anyhow, two books is as far as I'm going. Mike's dad trips and we go on and on about the injury. There is just too much bad luck befalling the good guys. When the roof beam breaks, and hits a sleeping man and breaks his leg ... well, okay. I see what kind of story it is. It's "One bad thing right after another." Just random misery.
I'll pass. It's not bad. I'm just looking for a different balance. This is more like a horror story than the sci-fi I was looking for. I hope that the good guys manage to work it out.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 3, 2014
While the storyline is good, the editing was poor.
The storyline follows the lives of several small groups of people in the decaying society aftermath of a catastrophic EMP blast. The story is generally good but the character development seems a bit shallow. It is also evident that the Kindle edition was rushed because there are numerous grammatical errors and on one occasion the characters are mixed up.
The storyline follows the lives of several small groups of people in the decaying society aftermath of a catastrophic EMP blast. The story is generally good but the character development seems a bit shallow. It is also evident that the Kindle edition was rushed because there are numerous grammatical errors and on one occasion the characters are mixed up.
October 25, 2014
Broken Roads
Not finished reading this book yet, but it is keepiing my interest. Little trouble keeping track of all the different names and who goes with what family. I am intriguid enough that will want to get to the end so can learn what happens to everyone. Excellent book for those that like intrige and crime fiction.
Not finished reading this book yet, but it is keepiing my interest. Little trouble keeping track of all the different names and who goes with what family. I am intriguid enough that will want to get to the end so can learn what happens to everyone. Excellent book for those that like intrige and crime fiction.
June 19, 2016
The whole set together is a harsh reality story of what can and probably will happen if the lights go out. A family in a neighborhood, then torn apart by group-think, then on to the cabin the family had prepared. The next steps are so real, so scary I felt like I had been through the wringer by the time it was over. Excellent story.
September 28, 2014
Another great read
James hunt has a snack for writing temp books. broken lines was great and so was this.you felt like you were there in the search for a life after a temp. every one should read this book Linda st.
James hunt has a snack for writing temp books. broken lines was great and so was this.you felt like you were there in the search for a life after a temp. every one should read this book Linda st.
February 23, 2015
Survival
Mike's trip forward to what he thinks is safety. The people he 'adopts' along the way. What is happening to his family he is so anxious to get too. Love this book a nd look forward to the next installment.
Mike's trip forward to what he thinks is safety. The people he 'adopts' along the way. What is happening to his family he is so anxious to get too. Love this book a nd look forward to the next installment.
September 19, 2014
started reading on my phone but I can't get into the story so I've given up reading this title.
September 24, 2014
This second installment was better than the first but I wish it were a full book.
September 28, 2014
Loved it
So glad I purchased this great book. Couldn't put it down. Looking forward to reading the next one. I think this would make a good movie.
So glad I purchased this great book. Couldn't put it down. Looking forward to reading the next one. I think this would make a good movie.
November 15, 2014
Great Read
I really enjoyed this book. It was a great read. It was a gritty realistic book on what could happen if suddenly our modern world was unraveled.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a great read. It was a gritty realistic book on what could happen if suddenly our modern world was unraveled.
December 18, 2014
Broken Roads review
Broken Roads is the second post apocalyptic book in the Broken Lines series written by author James Hunt. There are some typos, but I liked the story.
Broken Roads is the second post apocalyptic book in the Broken Lines series written by author James Hunt. There are some typos, but I liked the story.
March 15, 2015
The second book in the series is equally realistic. It keeps the reader on the edge of the seat with suspense. The book shows how people will become like animals in this type of catastrophe.
March 13, 2015
Great story
You will totally enjoy this families journey through the post emp world. You will fell their fear, joy and sadness. Keep reading as you pack your own to go bag!
You will totally enjoy this families journey through the post emp world. You will fell their fear, joy and sadness. Keep reading as you pack your own to go bag!
May 31, 2015
The story is good but the book needs an editor. In the section where Jenna is hurt, he starts calling her Fay, this could be caught easily by proofreading or an editor.
June 11, 2015
Been a few months since I read the first so it took me a bit to get back into it. It's good but not a lot different from many others I've read in the genre.
January 15, 2016
The story continues to get better and better. The situations created are sometimes horrific yet the resiliency of good people resounds. Looking forward to the next book.
March 9, 2016
This book keeps your interest as you follow the journey of those living after an EMP. You are drawn into the characters and if and how good will triumph over evil.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews