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Survival Train
A small group of people in Texas leaves for a camping trip, only to find them caught up in the start of World War 3. Knowing their only hope of survival was to reach a safe haven in the mountains of North Carolina. Two members of the party work for the railroad and the decision is made to take a train and head east. Along the journey, the group encounters fellow survivors and rouge bands of marauders.
The story is that of average people thrust into ultimate battle of survival not only of good verses evil but also of the elements of nature. To survive the group combines talent from people from all ages, backgrounds and walks of life.
The story is that of average people thrust into ultimate battle of survival not only of good verses evil but also of the elements of nature. To survive the group combines talent from people from all ages, backgrounds and walks of life.
340 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 5, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 13, 2017
A group of people about to leave on a camping trip execute their emergency plan when a military relative alerts them to an attack. They take refuge at a nearby empty school along with a police officer who tries to stop them, just in time for the nuclear blast hitting. Now it is a waiting game until it is safe to go back outside and see the damage.
I very much liked the idea of the story-a group of people prepared for disaster who jump into their plan and have a clear idea about what they want to do. But there were so many characters that it was hard to remember who was part of which couple, and more are added soon after. We start with our twelve preppers and the police officer that they save. Thirteen people in a bunker together doesn't really allow for any of them to shine or develop their own character. Basically, they are all the same, speaking with the same voice, sounding pretty much identical, so I didn't really connect with them much. To make this worse, the two weeks in the bunker are covered in only a few pages so there is no sense of time passing, or any kind of tension in their situation. It didn't really work for me.
The other huge problem is the way the book is written. The characters don't speak the way people do. They all say 'I will do this' instead of the more common 'I'll do this' so it makes the conversations very formal, when they are supposed to be close friends. It is impossible to tell which character is meant to be talking as there are no paragraphs or spacing, speech marks around descriptive text, no speech marks around the dialogue, dreadful spelling and grammar, no sentence structure and the wrong words in the wrong place. The end of one person talking and the next starting are BOTH in ONE sentence which is really tough to read.
I found myself ploughing through the text trying to work out what was text and what was dialogue, who was speaking and when they stopped speaking and what they were trying to say/what was being described. I found this to be one of the worst 'edited' books I've ever tried to read. It really was impossible to get into the story when understanding it was such hard work. I just couldn't get into it and didn't continue with it, which is a real shame as I liked the sound of the story. Lack of editing and attention destroyed this book for me.
I very much liked the idea of the story-a group of people prepared for disaster who jump into their plan and have a clear idea about what they want to do. But there were so many characters that it was hard to remember who was part of which couple, and more are added soon after. We start with our twelve preppers and the police officer that they save. Thirteen people in a bunker together doesn't really allow for any of them to shine or develop their own character. Basically, they are all the same, speaking with the same voice, sounding pretty much identical, so I didn't really connect with them much. To make this worse, the two weeks in the bunker are covered in only a few pages so there is no sense of time passing, or any kind of tension in their situation. It didn't really work for me.
The other huge problem is the way the book is written. The characters don't speak the way people do. They all say 'I will do this' instead of the more common 'I'll do this' so it makes the conversations very formal, when they are supposed to be close friends. It is impossible to tell which character is meant to be talking as there are no paragraphs or spacing, speech marks around descriptive text, no speech marks around the dialogue, dreadful spelling and grammar, no sentence structure and the wrong words in the wrong place. The end of one person talking and the next starting are BOTH in ONE sentence which is really tough to read.
I found myself ploughing through the text trying to work out what was text and what was dialogue, who was speaking and when they stopped speaking and what they were trying to say/what was being described. I found this to be one of the worst 'edited' books I've ever tried to read. It really was impossible to get into the story when understanding it was such hard work. I just couldn't get into it and didn't continue with it, which is a real shame as I liked the sound of the story. Lack of editing and attention destroyed this book for me.
September 20, 2015
This was the author's first book, and seeing as I am acquainted with him, I just had to read it.
A group of friends in Texas are planning a camping trip when basically WWIII happens. The group spends a few weeks bunkered down in an emergency shelter before facing the aftermath.
Upon embarking from their shelter, they find that massive genocide has occurred by way of bombing (maybe chemical or nuclear warfare or a combination of both) and survival was at a minimum.
The group constructs a plan to travel east by train and settle at the Biltmore estate in North Carolina. I think they picked this location due to the Biltmore being a large and semi fortified structure that would be sure to have room for not only their own group but also for more folks they may pick up on the way. Also, there is plenty of land that would give way to long term sustainability with the absence of civilization and the need to start from scratch.
So, they put a train together, gather as many supplies as they could forage, and begin their journey. The train idea is quite genius considering it's a great way to carry lots of supplies and train tracks are less likely to be destroyed or blocked by sitting traffic than interstates and other roads. And if a train is in your way, it can be moved. Definitely sign me up for train travel during the apocalypse.
The team stops in many towns/cities along the way to increase their supply stash and to try and check out the damage to see what they are up against. They meet both good and bad people. Lots of gunfights.
I really enjoyed the technical aspect of the novel. I have a new interest in train travel. Truly a lost art.
Oh, and there were a few really neat illustrations in the book. I really enjoyed those.
Here are the only things about the book that I had a difficult time with as a reader:
1) There were lots of grammatical and punctuation errors. The author was writing in dialect, which I really enjoy. I like it when the characters talk like they would if they were real people in real life. The errors I recognized were heavy in the punctuation department and sometimes made it difficult for me to read and completely understand what was going on at the time. Also, a few times there was confusion for me regarding the tenses that were being used. I think a very simple proofreading job would fix this up with no problem.
2) There were lots and lots of characters...even new characters were being introduced all the way up to the end. Everyone had a name. I feel like because of this I didn't get to know any of the characters very well (it was saturated with names and I couldn't keep up). The exception to this would have been with Kathy and Steve, whom were 2 of the main characters, I did feel like I got to know them a little bit. But everyone else was just a name. It seems as if this was less of an issue for me during the last 1/3 of the story. After a few of the characters were killed off, it made it easier to know the ones that were left.
Overall, this was some good story telling. I hope there is a sequel someday. I would like to know how things worked out at the Biltmore, and if the US government ever rebuilt itself. Who's in charge of the free world now?
Happy reading.
A group of friends in Texas are planning a camping trip when basically WWIII happens. The group spends a few weeks bunkered down in an emergency shelter before facing the aftermath.
Upon embarking from their shelter, they find that massive genocide has occurred by way of bombing (maybe chemical or nuclear warfare or a combination of both) and survival was at a minimum.
The group constructs a plan to travel east by train and settle at the Biltmore estate in North Carolina. I think they picked this location due to the Biltmore being a large and semi fortified structure that would be sure to have room for not only their own group but also for more folks they may pick up on the way. Also, there is plenty of land that would give way to long term sustainability with the absence of civilization and the need to start from scratch.
So, they put a train together, gather as many supplies as they could forage, and begin their journey. The train idea is quite genius considering it's a great way to carry lots of supplies and train tracks are less likely to be destroyed or blocked by sitting traffic than interstates and other roads. And if a train is in your way, it can be moved. Definitely sign me up for train travel during the apocalypse.
The team stops in many towns/cities along the way to increase their supply stash and to try and check out the damage to see what they are up against. They meet both good and bad people. Lots of gunfights.
I really enjoyed the technical aspect of the novel. I have a new interest in train travel. Truly a lost art.
Oh, and there were a few really neat illustrations in the book. I really enjoyed those.
Here are the only things about the book that I had a difficult time with as a reader:
1) There were lots of grammatical and punctuation errors. The author was writing in dialect, which I really enjoy. I like it when the characters talk like they would if they were real people in real life. The errors I recognized were heavy in the punctuation department and sometimes made it difficult for me to read and completely understand what was going on at the time. Also, a few times there was confusion for me regarding the tenses that were being used. I think a very simple proofreading job would fix this up with no problem.
2) There were lots and lots of characters...even new characters were being introduced all the way up to the end. Everyone had a name. I feel like because of this I didn't get to know any of the characters very well (it was saturated with names and I couldn't keep up). The exception to this would have been with Kathy and Steve, whom were 2 of the main characters, I did feel like I got to know them a little bit. But everyone else was just a name. It seems as if this was less of an issue for me during the last 1/3 of the story. After a few of the characters were killed off, it made it easier to know the ones that were left.
Overall, this was some good story telling. I hope there is a sequel someday. I would like to know how things worked out at the Biltmore, and if the US government ever rebuilt itself. Who's in charge of the free world now?
Happy reading.
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