Fringe of Calamity: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller

by K.K. Johns

In the Ashes of Collapse, Trust Is a Weapon… Seventeen-year-old Klytie Smoot has always been the odd one a loner. Crazy Klytie. That’s what they called her in school, and they weren’t entirely wrong. But when a devastating EMP tears through the country, collapsing society overnight and severing all communication, Klytie’s outsider instincts become her lifeline.

As the rules of society break down and survival forces hard choices, Klytie must confront not only the dangers outside, but the unraveling within. In this new world, trust is a gamble, and staying alive might mean losing everything that made her who she was.

Fringe of Calamity is the tense, emotionally charged first book in the Fringe of Unraveling series. Gritty, character-driven, and unflinching, it explores what happens when everything falls apart, and the people you need most are the ones you never saw coming.

362 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 10, 2025

Reviews

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable YA story. Good ideas, a nice level of action & high energy moments. An interesting plot & a good selection of characters. I liked that it had two main characters, facing similar but different problems in this post apocalyptic world. A good fun read!

[Jacquetta Harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved and enjoyed every minute of Fringe of Calamity. The story of the odd blue lightening storm that went through the storm, taking more than their way of life. It took families too. To be young, no one to rely on, only the knowledge you had gotten from your family. No food, low water, not much knowledge unless you had  been taught to survive in the wilderness. Danger around every turn, towns unsafe, groups forcefully gathering and herding others towards one site, carrying weapons to control them. No one to help, law enforcement and government agencies deserting people, leaving them with no help. 

Where will Klytie and Mattis go? Where is Roddy? Will Leon help? What dangers will they face now?

If you love Apocalyptic books you will love the journey these people will take you on. I, myself cannot wait for the next book and many others by K.K. Johns.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy distopian books because there's so many directions they can go. This is one of those that could actually happen so it made it that much more interesting to see how the various characters reacted and handled the situations they found themselves in.
At first I thought some events unfolded a little too quickly but after thinking about it I feel it was actually pretty fair because people are so used to electric/automatic/instant everything I think it would probably go down fairly similarly.
While I did like this book portions of it felt like there were bits of information that were missing and while at times you could piece it together after a few chapters it didn't feel like that was the case with everything.

[Valerie Roberson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent read! I couldn’t put the book down!

Each character had its own story to tell and as you went from one to the other, you didn’t lose track of each story, very easy to follow.
This storyline kinda reminded me of the Left Behind series, but I could also see this happening today.
I really enjoyed reading this book and having my imagination run wild with each chapter. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes Young Adult and Science Fiction with a dose of pure survival.

[G S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fringe of Calamity

Wow exciting but I dislike books that end like this. So good not a boring moment in this one. Can’t wait to read #2