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Darkened America: An EMP Post Apocalypse Prepper Survival Thriller
The lights die. Planes fall. Chaos erupts. In the aftermath of an EMP, paramedic Ashley Monroe will risk everything to find her sister in a collapsing city before the world crumbles for good.
278 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 16, 2025
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October 6, 2025Two stars. There are too many undeveloped plot holes to make this tale cohesive and revelatory. We are never told what happens, whether it's an EMP, a terrorist threat made real, a bio-diverse accident or just lights out in Ohio-but from the point of MC Ashley, a paramedic in the process of going on coffee break before end of shift, suddenly life as she knows it grinds to a halt and she is on the run: first to find her teen-aged sister, who is on a school field trip, and then to find some sort of sanctuary or escape from the city where hell has apparently broken loose.
What they find is confusing: pavement upheaved and broken, weeds overgrowing sidewalks and buildings, obvious signs of looting and gang tags on every conceivable surface and no explanations. Where are the people? Has no one survived whatever the experience? There are no answers.
I found myself really bored with Ashley. Apparently she can do everything with little to no effort. While she doesn't quite walk on water, she manages to be an expert at directions, weather predictions, health and safety issues, navigating the terrain and getting out of the city without issue.
When the girls have gone less than 5 miles, they come across a stray child, and while there's no stated age given, I guess the little girl is about 8. She's verbal but quiet and shocked. But she agrees to travel with the sisters, so now the band of three continues the journey. Suddenly they are joined by a single male, himself traveling rough and lonely for survival companionship. He proves to be an apt member of the team, and it is hinted that he has some basic military training, if you consider the national guard to be military and/or trained. (We could ask our current Secretary of Defense (2025) about national guard service, he is the alleged expert on warrior ethos and combat readiness-he being a desk jockey in Gitmo for 11 months; so brave and defense oriented (NOT).
In any case, still not knowing what has happened to society, the three set off together to try to find some way to survive and thrive.
Of course, they do. That's a given.
But Super-woman Ashley is intrepid and determined to make her little group thrive. Along the way, they add a couple more travelers, and dispatch with some raiding groups who batter but do not break, their peace.
It's very unrealistic. And petty. Unlikely to be reality, given the scope of the damage and the rapid destruction of not just society but of housing, supply, surviving persons, proof of life that did not succeed-it just glosses over the nitty gritty and makes it seem like it is all doable by a doofus paramedic and her band of ragtag followers.
I found one point in particular very interesting. NO ONE EVER NEEDS TO USE A BATHROOM. No one ever mentions sanitation or hygiene in any way. They build makeshift fences and barricades, even a solarium, but no one ever needs the loo. Nope, not buying it.
Warmth, protection from the elements, food and potable water along with shelter and defense are essential. But so is a bathroom or at least a privacy pit. So, this group either has the constitution of immortals or their personal hygiene and elimination are not addressed. Too sensitive? Maybe, I don't know. But it contributed to the feeling that this is almost a fairy tale, a dream.
It just doesn't have any feet in reality.
By the end, they have established a thriving garden, (naturally) and Ashley can finally relax without her machete close at hand. And that's it. The conclusion, when it finally arrives, is a complete shoulder-shrugging, "Yeah? So?"
I wasn't impressed. I wouldn't recommend buying it. I found it free on KU, but if there was a price for it, I wouldn't pay.
More of a short story along the theme of, "The world ended. So I..."
Disappointed.
What they find is confusing: pavement upheaved and broken, weeds overgrowing sidewalks and buildings, obvious signs of looting and gang tags on every conceivable surface and no explanations. Where are the people? Has no one survived whatever the experience? There are no answers.
I found myself really bored with Ashley. Apparently she can do everything with little to no effort. While she doesn't quite walk on water, she manages to be an expert at directions, weather predictions, health and safety issues, navigating the terrain and getting out of the city without issue.
When the girls have gone less than 5 miles, they come across a stray child, and while there's no stated age given, I guess the little girl is about 8. She's verbal but quiet and shocked. But she agrees to travel with the sisters, so now the band of three continues the journey. Suddenly they are joined by a single male, himself traveling rough and lonely for survival companionship. He proves to be an apt member of the team, and it is hinted that he has some basic military training, if you consider the national guard to be military and/or trained. (We could ask our current Secretary of Defense (2025) about national guard service, he is the alleged expert on warrior ethos and combat readiness-he being a desk jockey in Gitmo for 11 months; so brave and defense oriented (NOT).
In any case, still not knowing what has happened to society, the three set off together to try to find some way to survive and thrive.
Of course, they do. That's a given.
But Super-woman Ashley is intrepid and determined to make her little group thrive. Along the way, they add a couple more travelers, and dispatch with some raiding groups who batter but do not break, their peace.
It's very unrealistic. And petty. Unlikely to be reality, given the scope of the damage and the rapid destruction of not just society but of housing, supply, surviving persons, proof of life that did not succeed-it just glosses over the nitty gritty and makes it seem like it is all doable by a doofus paramedic and her band of ragtag followers.
I found one point in particular very interesting. NO ONE EVER NEEDS TO USE A BATHROOM. No one ever mentions sanitation or hygiene in any way. They build makeshift fences and barricades, even a solarium, but no one ever needs the loo. Nope, not buying it.
Warmth, protection from the elements, food and potable water along with shelter and defense are essential. But so is a bathroom or at least a privacy pit. So, this group either has the constitution of immortals or their personal hygiene and elimination are not addressed. Too sensitive? Maybe, I don't know. But it contributed to the feeling that this is almost a fairy tale, a dream.
It just doesn't have any feet in reality.
By the end, they have established a thriving garden, (naturally) and Ashley can finally relax without her machete close at hand. And that's it. The conclusion, when it finally arrives, is a complete shoulder-shrugging, "Yeah? So?"
I wasn't impressed. I wouldn't recommend buying it. I found it free on KU, but if there was a price for it, I wouldn't pay.
More of a short story along the theme of, "The world ended. So I..."
Disappointed.
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