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Crude
Lock the doors and board up the windows. The power grids are down, food is scarce, communications have been reduced to short range transmissions, and the only sound on the radio is a killer's heavy breathing.
After a catastrophic incident that abruptly depletes the global fuel supply, Eddie Slate, a local car salesman, finds himself spiraling into an apocalyptic world where the only rule for survival is self-preservation. Alone, frightened and barricaded in the house, Eddie spends the empty hours on a handheld radio searching for a friendly voice. Nobody ever answers, at least not until a mysterious drifter starts transmitting and takes a dark step into his life.
After a catastrophic incident that abruptly depletes the global fuel supply, Eddie Slate, a local car salesman, finds himself spiraling into an apocalyptic world where the only rule for survival is self-preservation. Alone, frightened and barricaded in the house, Eddie spends the empty hours on a handheld radio searching for a friendly voice. Nobody ever answers, at least not until a mysterious drifter starts transmitting and takes a dark step into his life.
257 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 4, 2023
The usual end of the world stories revolve around zombies or emps. At least the ones I've read. This is the first one I've read (listened) that was about a lack of fuel supply. No matter what the cause, humans always prove to be the worst kind of monster that exists.
The voice of the book was good. His voice for the bad guy reminded me of a very short lived, small time role on the sitcom Friends (I don't recall the character's name, but Phoebe dated him. He was a cop).
I know it's fiction, but I think it's true. When faced with disaster, evil people will be the biggest problem
The voice of the book was good. His voice for the bad guy reminded me of a very short lived, small time role on the sitcom Friends (I don't recall the character's name, but Phoebe dated him. He was a cop).
I know it's fiction, but I think it's true. When faced with disaster, evil people will be the biggest problem
June 15, 2016
3.5 stars!
I love books that take place around or after apocalyptic events. So, when I started this book, I was a little disappointed at first. It started out pretty slow. I kept listening as I did the dishes, and after awhile I realized I was really into it! It was very different than I was expecting, but I did end up enjoying it. Our main character ends up having to be the hero, and goes through a series of trials and "games." The antagonist is a major bully, who is not afraid to kill anyone in his way. This story actually does have a good many action scenes, and there are a couple twists along the way that I didn't see coming. I think I would classify this book as more of a thriller, that takes place in an apocalyptic setting. S.W. Salzman was the narrator of the audiobook, and he was enjoyable to listen to. He had kind of a unique voice, and I liked that he sounded a little different. Even though I had a harder time getting into this audiobook, I ended up really enjoying it. I would recommend this one, just be aware that its more of a thriller than the summary makes it sound!
**This book was provided in exchange for an honest review.
I love books that take place around or after apocalyptic events. So, when I started this book, I was a little disappointed at first. It started out pretty slow. I kept listening as I did the dishes, and after awhile I realized I was really into it! It was very different than I was expecting, but I did end up enjoying it. Our main character ends up having to be the hero, and goes through a series of trials and "games." The antagonist is a major bully, who is not afraid to kill anyone in his way. This story actually does have a good many action scenes, and there are a couple twists along the way that I didn't see coming. I think I would classify this book as more of a thriller, that takes place in an apocalyptic setting. S.W. Salzman was the narrator of the audiobook, and he was enjoyable to listen to. He had kind of a unique voice, and I liked that he sounded a little different. Even though I had a harder time getting into this audiobook, I ended up really enjoying it. I would recommend this one, just be aware that its more of a thriller than the summary makes it sound!
**This book was provided in exchange for an honest review.
February 22, 2015
Good read.
Entertaining, and at times moving. Well written with a good plot, as well as interesting characters. This was not my usual genre, but I still enjoyed it.
Entertaining, and at times moving. Well written with a good plot, as well as interesting characters. This was not my usual genre, but I still enjoyed it.
November 30, 2017
** Review of Audio Format **
Interesting Take
When the lights go out, Eddie Slate is semi prepared and at least has a little stockpile of food, which is more than most people have. He is a small town boy born and bred and decides to stick it out as long as he can without leaving town. As things get worse and he listens to gunshots at night and hides from intruders looking for supplies by day, he gets extremely lonely and begins to call out on his hand radio hoping to reconnect with the woman he considers the love of his life. He hears nothing in return...until he gets a chilling reply and a deadly game begins. Will this civilized, gentle man rise to the occasion to save Beth or will he take the cowards way out and run?
This was an interesting take on the end of civilization. There are no preppers here and even Eddie just sits around all day instead of getting himself in a good position supply wise. The catalyst is unique to these types of novels, too. The end is caused by petroleum running dry around the world. This was an interesting, well drawn and well narrated audiobook. I particularly though Salzman did an excellent job with Frank. I would have personally enjoyed it more if there were not a flashback in every scene and if Eddie had grown a pair a few confrontations earlier than he did. He was entirely clueless through almost the entire book and it got frustrating after a while. I guess you could say Eddie is a romantic at heart and so takes a long time to get to the point where he's willing to fight back. I listened on 1.5 speed and this was perfect for me. Eddie also had an annoying habit of mispronouncing words (eye-talian, gardenia, etc) that distracted from the story for me.
I received this audiobook for free through Audiobook Boom! in exchange for an honest review.
Interesting Take
When the lights go out, Eddie Slate is semi prepared and at least has a little stockpile of food, which is more than most people have. He is a small town boy born and bred and decides to stick it out as long as he can without leaving town. As things get worse and he listens to gunshots at night and hides from intruders looking for supplies by day, he gets extremely lonely and begins to call out on his hand radio hoping to reconnect with the woman he considers the love of his life. He hears nothing in return...until he gets a chilling reply and a deadly game begins. Will this civilized, gentle man rise to the occasion to save Beth or will he take the cowards way out and run?
This was an interesting take on the end of civilization. There are no preppers here and even Eddie just sits around all day instead of getting himself in a good position supply wise. The catalyst is unique to these types of novels, too. The end is caused by petroleum running dry around the world. This was an interesting, well drawn and well narrated audiobook. I particularly though Salzman did an excellent job with Frank. I would have personally enjoyed it more if there were not a flashback in every scene and if Eddie had grown a pair a few confrontations earlier than he did. He was entirely clueless through almost the entire book and it got frustrating after a while. I guess you could say Eddie is a romantic at heart and so takes a long time to get to the point where he's willing to fight back. I listened on 1.5 speed and this was perfect for me. Eddie also had an annoying habit of mispronouncing words (eye-talian, gardenia, etc) that distracted from the story for me.
I received this audiobook for free through Audiobook Boom! in exchange for an honest review.
October 26, 2019
( Format : Audiobook )
"There are no comedians left in the world. "
Set thirty days after the oil had fun out and the lights had gone out, Eddie Slate, shut safely into his house protected from the growing dangers outside, realised he was not alone. 'I'm coming for you.' So begins a cat and mouse dance between Eddie and the mystery caller, where others are also threatened and die. It is a post apocalyptic tale with a difference, perzonal, somewhat creepy and, in parts, chilling but too long to sustain the reader's interest through all of the flasbacks and internal rumination of the main character who is telling the tale in the first person.
Narrator, S.W.Salzman, gives a good performance as a very credible Eddie, and gives individual voice to the other characters as well as reading the text with understanding and full intonation. He certainly adds credence to the rather improbable story.
There are several enjoyable aspects to this book such as the exaggerated development of the individual personalities in an unexpected situation. The idea is interesting, giving an additional horror aspect to an already terrifying plot scenario. But it is too limited to sustain realistically, too much repitition.. Enjoyable but would improve with strong editing.
My thanks to the rights holder of Crude, who, at my request, freely gifted me with a complimentary copy, via Audiobook Boom. .
"There are no comedians left in the world. "
Set thirty days after the oil had fun out and the lights had gone out, Eddie Slate, shut safely into his house protected from the growing dangers outside, realised he was not alone. 'I'm coming for you.' So begins a cat and mouse dance between Eddie and the mystery caller, where others are also threatened and die. It is a post apocalyptic tale with a difference, perzonal, somewhat creepy and, in parts, chilling but too long to sustain the reader's interest through all of the flasbacks and internal rumination of the main character who is telling the tale in the first person.
Narrator, S.W.Salzman, gives a good performance as a very credible Eddie, and gives individual voice to the other characters as well as reading the text with understanding and full intonation. He certainly adds credence to the rather improbable story.
There are several enjoyable aspects to this book such as the exaggerated development of the individual personalities in an unexpected situation. The idea is interesting, giving an additional horror aspect to an already terrifying plot scenario. But it is too limited to sustain realistically, too much repitition.. Enjoyable but would improve with strong editing.
My thanks to the rights holder of Crude, who, at my request, freely gifted me with a complimentary copy, via Audiobook Boom. .
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 3, 2019
This was a really good story, like a small snapshot of what life could be like if the world ran out of oil and you had a psycho after you.
Didn’t understand Franks motivation at times or why they didn’t just kill each other and get ‘it’ over with. Also can’t remember what if anything we were told about Beth’s husband.... I’m sure it was covered.
There could definitely be more to this story and I’d be interested in there were other snapshot with different characters or even more with these characters.
Salzman is one of my favorite narrators but I kept hearing ‘Smokes’ voice for Frank. If you are familiar with his work you’ll get the reference.
I was voluntarily provided this review copy at no charge by the author, publisher and or narrator.
Didn’t understand Franks motivation at times or why they didn’t just kill each other and get ‘it’ over with. Also can’t remember what if anything we were told about Beth’s husband.... I’m sure it was covered.
There could definitely be more to this story and I’d be interested in there were other snapshot with different characters or even more with these characters.
Salzman is one of my favorite narrators but I kept hearing ‘Smokes’ voice for Frank. If you are familiar with his work you’ll get the reference.
I was voluntarily provided this review copy at no charge by the author, publisher and or narrator.
June 27, 2022
The world has run out of fuel? Hey, that could really happen! Yikes!
Very interesting and entertaining read. No energy. No law. Every man for themselves. Watch a typical guy, a car salesman, handle his life in this crisis.
I was gifted an Audible version of this book from the author. Well written. Well told. Great narrator. Great plot. Great characters.
Very interesting and entertaining read. No energy. No law. Every man for themselves. Watch a typical guy, a car salesman, handle his life in this crisis.
I was gifted an Audible version of this book from the author. Well written. Well told. Great narrator. Great plot. Great characters.
December 7, 2022
audible:This was an okay read.S.W.Salzman was a very good narrator. The oil is gone so life comes to a halt.People are either taken to camps or being picked off by a psychopath. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
June 15, 2016
3.5 out of 5
Note: I listened to the audio version of this book and it was provided at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast.
There were too many things wrong with this for me to give it an overall rating of 4. The superb narration is what saves this from getting bumped down to a 3.
Mild spoilers ahead:
As I've seen at least one other person mention somewhere, this felt like it should have been more like a short story than the length it ended up being. Usually, I'd consider an audiobook this size to be very short but in reality it felt probably an hour or two longer than it really needed to be. We kept getting interrupted with the protagonist's internal musings and flashbacks at the most inappropriate moments - such as right in the middle of an action scene or dialogue. Then there were the downright stupid things the protagonist would do, like taunt the bad guy when he wasn't even figuratively out of the woods (and, of course, the tables would turn and he'd be back in hot water again) or not tie a knot sufficiently tight to keep the bad guy adequately restrained, or not be able to find the bullets when he needed to and yadda yadda. On top of that, there were countless times where both the protagonist and antagonist would keep going through the same dialogue over and over to the point that I just wanted them both to shut up. And then there were the moments when of *course* the worst possible thing would happen at the worst possible moment ... multiple times. Really?
Like I said, the narration saved this from getting bumped down to a lower score. Salzman did a good job of representing the characters and bringing them to life. I especially liked how he made the character of Frank sound (despite hating that character early on). No complaints in this area.
Final thoughts: the premise of this story was interesting and the situations scarily realistic. Listening to post-apocalyptic stories does make me think about what life would be like if humanity was punched backward by about 150 years. It's frightening to think about, but definitely a possibility, and I hope it never comes to pass. However, the method of delivering the story was a bit too flawed to fully appreciate. Still, someone who likes this genre might like to check it out.
P.S. - The dog was pretty cool.
Note: I listened to the audio version of this book and it was provided at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast.
There were too many things wrong with this for me to give it an overall rating of 4. The superb narration is what saves this from getting bumped down to a 3.
Mild spoilers ahead:
As I've seen at least one other person mention somewhere, this felt like it should have been more like a short story than the length it ended up being. Usually, I'd consider an audiobook this size to be very short but in reality it felt probably an hour or two longer than it really needed to be. We kept getting interrupted with the protagonist's internal musings and flashbacks at the most inappropriate moments - such as right in the middle of an action scene or dialogue. Then there were the downright stupid things the protagonist would do, like taunt the bad guy when he wasn't even figuratively out of the woods (and, of course, the tables would turn and he'd be back in hot water again) or not tie a knot sufficiently tight to keep the bad guy adequately restrained, or not be able to find the bullets when he needed to and yadda yadda. On top of that, there were countless times where both the protagonist and antagonist would keep going through the same dialogue over and over to the point that I just wanted them both to shut up. And then there were the moments when of *course* the worst possible thing would happen at the worst possible moment ... multiple times. Really?
Like I said, the narration saved this from getting bumped down to a lower score. Salzman did a good job of representing the characters and bringing them to life. I especially liked how he made the character of Frank sound (despite hating that character early on). No complaints in this area.
Final thoughts: the premise of this story was interesting and the situations scarily realistic. Listening to post-apocalyptic stories does make me think about what life would be like if humanity was punched backward by about 150 years. It's frightening to think about, but definitely a possibility, and I hope it never comes to pass. However, the method of delivering the story was a bit too flawed to fully appreciate. Still, someone who likes this genre might like to check it out.
P.S. - The dog was pretty cool.
June 6, 2016
2.5 Stars
Really has you thinking about the destruction of society during a crisis.
After the global fuel supply depletes, everything goes to shit. We follow two completely different characters throughout the story and how they react to this disaster. The story shows us how society can crumble leaving you to do things that you would never have thought about.
Eddie was just a guy...pick any normal guy that you would pass on the street. He was just living life like he always did. The fuel depletion didn't really change Eddie's life other than stocking and conserving food, plus hiding himself inside his home without any human contact. He just lived his life quietly until he came up against Frank.
(+) It was interesting seeing how different characters acted during this crisis. How some of them evolved and others stayed the same. What people will do to survive.
(+) Salzman did a wonderful job keeping me engaged.
(-) The story was slowly paced for a good potion of it. Salzman's reading pace was okay, but the story pacing in spot really lagged.
(-) Most time people want full size stories because they are wanting more, but with this book I think that it really should have been a short story. There was just parts that I didn't want to sit through.
(+) Not always was it predictable. I was shocked to see how certain events unfolded, which was probably one of the reasons that I continued with the story.
I guess from the title I expected a little more. I was disappointed with what I got. I think this story had potential.
Really has you thinking about the destruction of society during a crisis.
After the global fuel supply depletes, everything goes to shit. We follow two completely different characters throughout the story and how they react to this disaster. The story shows us how society can crumble leaving you to do things that you would never have thought about.
Eddie was just a guy...pick any normal guy that you would pass on the street. He was just living life like he always did. The fuel depletion didn't really change Eddie's life other than stocking and conserving food, plus hiding himself inside his home without any human contact. He just lived his life quietly until he came up against Frank.
(+) It was interesting seeing how different characters acted during this crisis. How some of them evolved and others stayed the same. What people will do to survive.
(+) Salzman did a wonderful job keeping me engaged.
(-) The story was slowly paced for a good potion of it. Salzman's reading pace was okay, but the story pacing in spot really lagged.
(-) Most time people want full size stories because they are wanting more, but with this book I think that it really should have been a short story. There was just parts that I didn't want to sit through.
(+) Not always was it predictable. I was shocked to see how certain events unfolded, which was probably one of the reasons that I continued with the story.
I guess from the title I expected a little more. I was disappointed with what I got. I think this story had potential.
July 28, 2018
If you have a two way radio and think you are the only one left alive would you broadcast over the radio for the heck of it hoping maybe someone out there might hear? What if someone did? What if that someone used your words against you? Eddie our main character is a salesman that is all he knows how to do is talk so that is what he does, but can he man up and deal with what happens next?
This was one action packed, roller coaster twists and turns, hold your breath suspenseful book (with a dog), it has everything, and paired with voice actor S.W. Salzman narrating this book it just doesn't get any better. Salzman makes you feel as though you are there with Eddie trying to help him, at least though this one crisis, or the next and then you are hooked.
This was one action packed, roller coaster twists and turns, hold your breath suspenseful book (with a dog), it has everything, and paired with voice actor S.W. Salzman narrating this book it just doesn't get any better. Salzman makes you feel as though you are there with Eddie trying to help him, at least though this one crisis, or the next and then you are hooked.
November 25, 2017
I gave it my best shot, but the book could not compel me to go any further. The premise was a bit ridiculous to begin with. The tempo slow and plodding. The characters could not gain my interest or sympathy. Perhaps another title may show more promise, but this one could not do it for me.
This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom. First read: 6-2-2016.
Upon second examination, first impressions were still relevant. I listened through to see how the tale ended, but it was a chore. The story is a study in revenge, torture, and anger; not well done and having nothing to do with the proposed oil shortage.
This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom. First read: 6-2-2016.
Upon second examination, first impressions were still relevant. I listened through to see how the tale ended, but it was a chore. The story is a study in revenge, torture, and anger; not well done and having nothing to do with the proposed oil shortage.
June 24, 2016
“This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.”
I wasn't a big fan of this book. The narration was fine, I just didn't get sucked into the story unfortunately.
I wasn't a big fan of this book. The narration was fine, I just didn't get sucked into the story unfortunately.
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