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Chaos at the Border: A Post Apocalyptic EMP Survival Thriller
When the grid falls and war closes in, one man will stop at nothing to find his daughter.
With his farewells to Ethan, Brooke, and the rest of Camp Joy behind him, Jarrod Hearst pushes south toward the Mexican border, determined to find his daughter before the world closes in for good. With Dallas McCrea, Mad Dog, and a handful of battle-hardened survivors at his side, he navigates gang-held highways, war-weary military outposts, and seas of desperate refugees.
But the deeper they push into the collapse, the darker the news becomes—Mexico is sealing its gates, cartels are selling passage for guns and gold, and the war with China is burning hotter by the day. To reach his daughter, Jarrod will have to cross into a nation on the brink, fight through a gauntlet of enemies, and survive the deadliest gamble of his life.
Chaos at the Border is book six in the Desperate Age Series.
With his farewells to Ethan, Brooke, and the rest of Camp Joy behind him, Jarrod Hearst pushes south toward the Mexican border, determined to find his daughter before the world closes in for good. With Dallas McCrea, Mad Dog, and a handful of battle-hardened survivors at his side, he navigates gang-held highways, war-weary military outposts, and seas of desperate refugees.
But the deeper they push into the collapse, the darker the news becomes—Mexico is sealing its gates, cartels are selling passage for guns and gold, and the war with China is burning hotter by the day. To reach his daughter, Jarrod will have to cross into a nation on the brink, fight through a gauntlet of enemies, and survive the deadliest gamble of his life.
Chaos at the Border is book six in the Desperate Age Series.
316 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 18, 2025
64 people are currently reading
3 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 16, 2025
I had read book 5 in 2023 and at the time thought it was the end of the series which I had generally enjoyed. Then I found this book. I struggled quite a bit with this one, partly because it has been so long since i had read the previous volume. For quite a while, they are driving and driving and though we get glimpses of life in post EMP/invasion USA, it is actually fairly boring. Jarrod got on my nerves. I tried to be sympathetic to his quest to find his young daughter, but he was often too whiny and way too often, reckless and put himself and those trying to help him in danger. There were also quite a few editing and writing issues-quite a few times there were missing quotation marks at the beginning or end of quotes; repartiates is not a word and I assume it should have been repatriates; the spelling of Vazquez changes to Vasquez a couple of times. Page 88 is a repeat of page 87. Some sentences did not make sense: "The trust me to transport", should be They trust me to transport; "Mad Dog, find is a what the hell out of here"....not sure what this was but maybe "find us a way the hell out of here?" We heard that Chinese troops were all over the south but we never see any of them at all. Just bad drug cartel fellas. Sorry but this installment was flat for me.
November 19, 2025
An excellent story that answers a lingering question!
Chaos At The Border, book 6 in the Desperate Age series, follows the story of Jarrod Hearst from Camp Joy as he ANF a volunteer team go to Mexico in order to rescue his daughter Celia and ex-wife Denise. Its a TL Payne book, so you know going into the book that the writing is going to be excellent and the action non-stop. I had been wondering about Jarrod and his journey for some time, so this is a thrilling and satisfying read. 5/5 stars! Highly recommended to any fans of post-EMP survival thrillers and apocalyptic thrillers!
Chaos At The Border, book 6 in the Desperate Age series, follows the story of Jarrod Hearst from Camp Joy as he ANF a volunteer team go to Mexico in order to rescue his daughter Celia and ex-wife Denise. Its a TL Payne book, so you know going into the book that the writing is going to be excellent and the action non-stop. I had been wondering about Jarrod and his journey for some time, so this is a thrilling and satisfying read. 5/5 stars! Highly recommended to any fans of post-EMP survival thrillers and apocalyptic thrillers!
November 27, 2025
The first five books were great! Had me hooked and wanting to know more. This one felt different. I couldn’t get in to Jarrod and his whining about “what if we don’t succeed”? Ugh!
Some editing struggles that bugged me. Former military characters say 1900 (7:00 pm) on one page and then the next page they aren’t using military time?
The formula for the books worked for 5 but may have run their course. Maybe just stop with this series and let these characters have a happy new normal.
Some editing struggles that bugged me. Former military characters say 1900 (7:00 pm) on one page and then the next page they aren’t using military time?
The formula for the books worked for 5 but may have run their course. Maybe just stop with this series and let these characters have a happy new normal.
November 20, 2025
Wow another great book in the series by T.L. Payne
I love this author and all the books he writes and this one was excellent. He writes books that capture my interest right away with great storylines and excellent and diverse characters. I am already onto my next book from him. Highly recommend you read this book.
I love this author and all the books he writes and this one was excellent. He writes books that capture my interest right away with great storylines and excellent and diverse characters. I am already onto my next book from him. Highly recommend you read this book.
December 25, 2025
Continuation of awesome series.
I was wondering if the author would write what happened to Jarod. I was happy when this book came out. I recommend you read the series in order. This story has many of the characters from the series as Jarod and a few of the group head to Mexico to find Jarod’s daughter. There is some great suspense in the story. I really liked it.
I was wondering if the author would write what happened to Jarod. I was happy when this book came out. I recommend you read the series in order. This story has many of the characters from the series as Jarod and a few of the group head to Mexico to find Jarod’s daughter. There is some great suspense in the story. I really liked it.
January 18, 2026
Sad ending
I've been reading all 6 of these books and I got close to each and every character and when each person crossed the rainbow bridge it brought a sadness to me to think that there might be a time where America is facing this kind of disaster and I believe Donald Trump is yes into World War 3 if we don't stop him
I've been reading all 6 of these books and I got close to each and every character and when each person crossed the rainbow bridge it brought a sadness to me to think that there might be a time where America is facing this kind of disaster and I believe Donald Trump is yes into World War 3 if we don't stop him
December 1, 2025
Very suspenseful
What an exciting and action filled book. A perfect way to end this series. I found myself holding my breath as I was reading. So many great characters that really made this book come alive.
What an exciting and action filled book. A perfect way to end this series. I found myself holding my breath as I was reading. So many great characters that really made this book come alive.
November 23, 2025
great story
Sometimes unreal but all in all a great story. I needed a recap of the series because I was kinda lost but I still enjoyed the action.
Sometimes unreal but all in all a great story. I needed a recap of the series because I was kinda lost but I still enjoyed the action.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews