Nuclear Midnight: From a Nightmare scenario a New World was Forged

Savage Dawn #1

by Robert Cole

On a holiday in England, Alex Carhill is caught in the nightmare of a nuclear holocaust. In a matter of hours a mid-summer’s day is turned into a nuclear winter. This is the story of his survival in a world that no longer has rules; where climatic extremes, murder, starvation and disease are commonplace.
As the land slowly heals, the survivors scratch together an existence in a contaminated wasteland ravaged by plagues of insects and disease. In this world, through hardship and pain, a new society is forged based on new rules and values moulded from the demands and necessities of life.
After years of struggle, the survivors find themselves facing their greatest adversary. One they despised and thought had long disappeared in the first months of the holocaust. Now they must marshal all their resources and strength for one last battle against an enemy bent on their destruction.

Genres: Science Fiction, Post Apocalyptic

317 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 14, 2014

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Robert Cole was born and grew up in Sydney, Australia. After achieving a Bachelor of Science (Honours) at the Australian National University he travelled extensively and returned to Sydney to complete a Doctor of Philosophy in Molecular Biology. Following a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Sydney University, he worked in a number of biotech companies and has numerous scientific publications.

Robert has always had an interest in writing speculative fiction, particularly with themes related to social and political issues. Recently he has published an Apocalyptic novel called "Nuclear Midnight," that reached number one on Amazon UK. His other areas of interest lie in children and teenage fiction, generated while raising three children.

Reviews

[Elaine and Tess the Springer. I won’t be on GR for a bit. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A riveting read.

A thoroughly enjoyable book that drew me in with the great cover and title. It absolutely lived up to my expectations. I loved it! Following our main character, Alex, through all of his ups and downs in trying to stay alive and
the many people he comes into contact with during his travels made me realize that every day is a battle and he needs to win just to survive.

[BooksCoffee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cole serves up buffet-size portions of action, nightmarish apocalyptic events, extreme weather conditions, impossible odds, murder, and mayhem in his page-turning dystopian.

An adventurous holiday in England for Alex Carhill becomes a nightmare of nuclear holocaust after Russia and USA declares war. With his brother dead, Alex has no option but to continue his journey of survival. The world has changed. Bloodshed, violence, senseless killings, starvation, and infectious diseases are widespread. In this world, through hardship and pain, a new society is formed, which follows new rules and values. But an old enemy is back, and Alex and other survivors must brace themselves for one more fierce battle.

Cole tells his story with simplicity, sensitivity, and without any hint of melodrama. The suspense is rampant, the tension stays high, and Cole reveals the devastation of the planet bit by tantalizing bit. He ably infuses escalating danger, mounting mistrust, and dug-in-friendships into the affecting narrative, bringing the survivors’ struggles to life.

The story moves with confidence, and readers will find themselves just as caught up in the game of survival as the characters themselves. Fans of fast-paced, action-packed dystopian will want to take a look.

This roller-coaster ride is a winner.

[Pam Shelton-Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This starts with a litany of the difficulties going on in the world, any of which could be the subject of a PA book (btw since this was written in 2014, there is no country West Germany). The description of the attack and the aftermath over the years is indeed harrowing. The characters, though, are difficult to connect with, especially Alex. I do suppose people would suppress a lot of their emotions when just trying to survive nuclear winter, but it is less interesting for a reader. I was really puzzled as to why Alex and friends would build a raft to cross the Bristol Channel instead of going east a bit and then north across the land. I found the bunker/mine a bit incredible, but the large underground city with fully functioning technology was preposterous. The dictatorial method of controlling the Wales group (12 people with absolute authority over 35000?) might be necessary at the start of the disaster, but three years on doesn't seem sustainable. I was very put off by the depiction of the military as a bunch of sadistic, thuggish slave drivers with a nefarious objective to destroy everyone on the surface. This did build to a confrontation which was naturally exciting, but then the book just ends. Abruptly. Like stubbing a toe.

[Joe Stamber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nuclear Winter treads a fairly well worn path that will be familiar to regular readers of the genre. That isn't particularly a criticism as by necessity many PA novels feature a disaster, a road trip and conflict between the survivors. Cole knows how to write, and this makes the story easy to read, although I didn't really engage with the main character. I wanted to be gripped but I can't say I was. However, I would recommend this to fans of the genre who aren't looking for any new ground to be broken.

[Karen Siddall · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-done post-apocalyptic tale set in Wales featuring young adult protagonists.

Brothers Alex and Jason Carhill were several months into a planned year-long world tour traveling from their native Australia when troubles between the US and Russia suddenly erupted. Due to the volatility of the political situation, they decided to cut their trip short when they arrived in London, both to let things settle down and to see the city sights while they waited it out. The boys had lived in London when they were small and were ready to discover the places of their childhoods. However, neither the US nor Russia were backing down from hardline ultimatums, and the world’s citizens were holding their collective breaths as the two angry superpowers appeared headed toward a final showdown.

The London population began to panic, prepared for the worse, hoarding supplies and clogging all roads out of the city. But just as suddenly, the crisis appeared to have been averted, and the boys decided to hire a car and drive west to tour Devon and Cornwall. After several days on the road, a single emergency warning came that Russia had launched a large number of missiles, some of which were headed to Great Britain. But before the brothers could even seek shelter, the world around them exploded with brilliant white light and searing heat.

When Alex came to, he was in an underground shelter, and Jason was missing, taken to a nearby hospital to treat the injuries he’d received when the car they’d been in had been destroyed. The world was dark, the wind was howling, and a nuclear winter was upon them. Radiation fall-out made leaving to search for his brother impossible. He was alone with random strangers, many of whom were already showing the signs of radiation poisoning but safe, at least for the moment.

As soon as radiation levels dropped enough, Alex and others from the shelter (an old church basement) were sent out to search for additional survivors, supplies, government assistance, and Alex’s brother. But when they found instead was sheer chaos and a world quickly returning to savagery.

Nuclear Midnight is the first book in author Robert Cole’s post-apocalyptic series, Savage Dawn. The story follows the survival journey of young Alex Carhill and the comrades he acquires as he searches for safety, food, and a community of survivors looking to rebuild their world. It is an exciting and action-filled story with, literally, never a dull moment. The danger felt plausible and real, and because I quickly became engaged in Alex’s survival, I never wanted to put the book down. The setting in Wales was a new one for me, so I found that extra interesting and fresh. The storyline includes some great battle sequences that, although conveying the panic and confusion inherent in war, were still easy to follow and understand. These scenes were exceeding well done. If I had a complaint, it would be that the story had a somewhat abrupt ending. However, with the next book in the series on the Savage Dawn horizon, the wait to find out what happened next isn’t too long.

I recommend Nuclear Midnight to readers that enjoy post-apocalyptic tales featuring young adult protagonists, especially those set in Great Britain.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from Reedsy Discovery.

[Djb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only about 25% through this. It's written in a very direct almost sparse style. It's main drawback so far is that it relies on the concept of nuclear winter. I realise that if even one bomb was dropped on one city it would be a monumental disaster for the world, and that any heavier exchange would be suicidal. However, studies of the effect of the mass oil fires set by the retreating Iraqi force in Kuawit found that the clouds, dust etc created did not behave in the way expected and that a mass blackout caused by such clouds wouldn't happen, as posited by the theory.

[Colin Kitchen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very dull post nuclear war survival story. I would normally enjoy this but the entire book lacks plot tension. The author writes on the same level throughout and doesn’t create any intensity by shortening the sentences or hurrying the pace. Also we are not given any details how the characters are coping with their new life of survival. The characters are very bland and just go through the motions without any description of the practical hardships. It’s very difficult to get into their head or their world. I got to part 3 and didn’t care about them enough to continue.

[Vicki Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nuclear Midnight is a dystopian tale of Alex Carhill, who is a survivor in England after the onset of a nuclear holocaust and all the life changes that occur with its destruction. This realistic story of survival is a thought provoking read. It is a great science-fiction read.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[John Hamer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Decent read

It's been a while since I read any post-apoc fiction, and this was a well written reintroduction to post-nuclear storytelling. Without all the bizarre weapon fetishisation of US equivalents I found it an occasionally grim but believable tale.

[June · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting premise but a let down at the end.

[neil booth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

Really enjoyed this Novel it was real enough to be trie it does make you stop and think about thé frailty of our life

[Krisaundra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sooner May've Been Better...

I found this book began slow but it drew me in quite quickly. It was easy to envision the world as described by the main character. The writing brought the people as well as the apocalyptic wasteland to life incredibly well. Unfortunately, in my opinion, from the time that the underground city was discovered onwards the story began to drag... The last few chapters seemed over detailed, overly drawn out and not written in the same flowing fashion as the majority of the book had been. Sadly that made reading the last portion of the book slow and much harder to read, which was really disappointing because prior to that the book had been easy to read and very easy to get lost in without being bogged down by lots of what felt like unnecessary details....

[cathy moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different story of life after the apocalypse

Nuclear Midnight is a great tale of the horrors of post apocalyptic Great Britain. Instead of immediately becoming a primitive society, some people have formed large semi-civilized settlements and gotten on with the task of reforming their lives. Previously unknown military communities are found and are blamed for the situation that everyone is stuck in. I really enjoyed 90% of the book but was disappointed in the over long battle at the end.

[Kari Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nuclear apocalypse

Good book that avoided too many cliches, both in characters and situations. I really enjoyed reading it, and it encompassed many years and many events that I could see potentially happening after a nuclear war. I liked the main characters and even some of the secondary characters that I wasn't too fond of didn't turn out as bad as they could have. Ok, except for the final settlement they encountered, their leaders were completely irredeemable. Scary, but really good

[Daniel Hutmacher · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good Book.

I bought this book because it sounded interesting. I was prepared to be disappointed by it. But I wasn't. I hard a very hard time putting it down.
The ending was a little confusing but I enjoyed it a lot.

[Dawn Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book

Nuclear disaster so real in today's world. This story depicts what could happen and how society can turn on itself in the aftermath of a worldwide crisis.

[Janet C Frankie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book

The story was hard to get into . Once I had read about 2 chapters I got really into the story and could not put it down . Wonderful story.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good post-apocalyptic book with characters to care about and the dilemmas of a new world well laid out.

[Steve Pillinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather unremarkable dystopian survival tale.