Safehaven

by Ken Barnes

Three people flee into the mountains of East Tennessee after a major terrorist attack brings the country to its knees. There is Rhoda Jennings, a young woman who was raised by a survivalist-nut father, who is plenty capable of taking care of not only herself, but also her naive New Age boyfriend, Garth Manatee. Garth, a yoga instructor and healer, is totally unprepared for the many dangers that he will have to face in the new post-apocalyptic America. Then there is Tony, a macho biker who forms an unlikely alliance with Garth when they flee the city together. The mountains are not as safe as they had hoped. Transportation, food, and dealing with other survivors are not the only difficulties they face. And what is the strange thing that is beginning to happen to one of their dogs?

236 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Ken Barnes is a former member of the UTC Writers Guild and currently lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Reviews

[Carolyn F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The US' major cities have been bombed with dirty bombs on Rhoda's 21st birthday. Rhoda just happens to have been raised by a survivalist dad and immediately knows what to do. Her boyfriend Garth wants to wait and see what the government and/or Red Cross does. Eventually they do meet up again and are trying to stay away from all of the people gone bad or bad people that are now worse.

I have a feeling the author is a Reiki therapist because there are constant references to the miraculous healing powers of Reiki. My husband and sister have gone to a Reiki therapist and although the therapy ended up being better than massage it never came close to the healing powers described in the book. In fact, I would have rated this book higher because I found the constant references a little off-putting and felt the book would have been better without them.

There are strange mutations that happen that I liked and found added to the book. Would love to see how this pans out later.

Overall the book was really good and I would totally recommend it. I have heard the author is working on the next book and I can't wait.

[Erin M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a creative, unique look at post apocalyptic life...
I thought it was different to pair kind of a hippie up with a surivalist, but have the genders swapped from what would be typical...
I loved Bear! lol! Greatest ever! I want him!!!
I don't want to do any spoilers to give anything away...
I definitely felt like the character development was great, descriptive, etc...I love details about characters, and this book really did that well...
I stayed interested on every page.
The ending is...a cliffhanger...
I hope so bad that Ken follows up with a second...
I thoroughly enjoyed this book...

[Rybus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Considering this is my novel that I just released I must admit that I'm rather biased. One helluva good read!

[Glenda Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being from the South myself, I found Safehaven to be doubly enjoyable. I love science fiction and this book didn't let me down.