Zero Signal: Grid Down: Book 1 of the Zero Signal Trilogy

by S.E. O'Keefe

A worldwide EMP kills the grid in minutes. Civilization follows. Now survival means impossible choices.

In the African jungle, tech investor Max Kendall crawls from the wreckage of his private jet. In Vancouver, Dr. Tessa Bennett knows the truth the moment her hearing aids fail. She must protect their twelve-year-old son as the city unravels, from dangers she cannot hear.

Between 8,500 miles of dead silence.

Tessa vowed to never practice medicine again. But when she must perform emergency surgery on her kitchen island, then faces armed raiders, she confronts unthinkable choices about who deserves to be saved and whether mercy has a place when civilization collapses.

Max realizes no rescue is coming. His CFO, who survived the plane crash with him, is breaking down, and the jungle is unforgiving. Max will make decisions that haunt him if he survives to regret them.

Tessa and Max discover that staying human is harder than staying alive.

Zero Grid Down is a dark and gritty post-apocalyptic thriller packed with suspenseful action and adventure.
For readers who loved the relentless pacing of Kyla Stone and Bobby Akart, and the emotional depth of Station Eleven.

No zombies. No punches pulled. No family dogs die.

Book 1 of the Zero Signal trilogy. This first installment delivers hard-won victories as Tessa and Max face the first brutal weeks of collapse. While their immediate crises find resolution, new dangers emerge that will test them in ways they never imagined. The journey continues in Zero Powerless (January 6th, 2026).

238 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 14, 2025

Reviews

[Ashley Nussman-Berry · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an incredible start to a new post-apocalyptic series! The concept behind Zero Signal is so fresh and well executed. The dual storylines are easy to follow and flow seamlessly, keeping the tension high while still allowing for strong character development. Each perspective feels real and grounded—you can truly see how each person reacts and grows as the world around them collapses.

The writing is sharp and vivid, with just the right mix of realism and emotion. It never feels overdone or confusing, and the pacing kept me turning the pages late into the night. I really connected with the characters, especially in the quieter moments where their resilience and humanity shine through.

An amazing debut that perfectly balances heart, survival, and suspense. I’m already counting down the days until book two.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Mike Corcoran · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best way to describe this book is a realistic portrayal of what happens when our global civilization is severely disrupted. It is a survival book without aliens or zombies. Just real people figuring out how to survive in a new world. The strength is the narrative and the characters that you find yourself rooting for. The book also makes you think about how tenuous our current world is with the reliance on technology and what would happen if it all stops working. My one criticism is that it didn't feel like a complete novel. I know there are more coming, but usually a novel, even one in a series, comes to some sort of resolution, even if it is just temporary. This felt like someone wrote a full novel and then arbitrarily divided into 3rds.
But saying that, I am looking forward to reading the other novels in the series.

[Rebecca Morel · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Book wasn't awful, but it surely wasn't a 5 star. A story of what would happen if the earth lost power and fried all electronic items. What would you do to stay alive? This book concentrates on just 1 family and drug out forever. So much more could have happened, but we never got past someone being lost in a jungle and someone being held up in their house. That was literally the entire plot. I had no idea it was the first in a series, but even if I did, the ending was the most abrupt ever, and nothing makes me want to continue. It had potential though.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

[Cynthia L. Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE GRID

Everyone takes The Grid for granted. It is something that helps modern life go smoothly until the power turns off. When the power turns off and everything goes dark, then people realize just how important and need The Grid is for modern and every day life. This novel explores what happens to different people in different parts of the world that are connected but unable to communicate. Read this fascinating and realistic novel to see how modern, every day people cope without The Grid.