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THE WALK: A novel of system failure
Cole Harmon has run critical care for fifteen years. He knows how to keep people alive in the back of an ambulance when everything is going wrong. What he doesn't know is how to get home — eighty-six miles on foot through West Virginia mountains after an electromagnetic pulse drops every electronic system in the country.
The truck is dead. The radio is dead. The monitor, the ventilator, the IV pump — all of it dead. Cole finishes his call the only way he knows how and starts walking.
The Walk is the story of those five days.
Cole isn't a soldier or a prepper. He's a medic — someone who has spent a career managing chaos under pressure and filing it away. He carries what he a get-home bag, forty years of hard-earned clinical instinct, and a working knowledge of what it takes to keep a human being alive when the infrastructure fails. In a grid-down world, that turns out to be more valuable than he expected — and more dangerous.
From the hollows of Raleigh County to the ridgelines above Lincoln County, Cole moves through a landscape he knows and a situation he doesn't. People he meets have to decide quickly what he is — help or threat. So does he.
Back home, his wife Sarah is making the same calculations. No power. No phone. No word. Five days of not knowing.
The Walk is built on authentic critical care medicine, real West Virginia terrain, and the kind of operational detail that only comes from someone who has actually run the calls. It is the first book in The Hollow Series — a story not about the end of the world, but about the people who hold it together when the systems fail.
For readers One Second After, Lights Out, Alas, Babylon — and anyone who has ever wondered what the person in the back of the ambulance would do if the ambulance stopped.
The truck is dead. The radio is dead. The monitor, the ventilator, the IV pump — all of it dead. Cole finishes his call the only way he knows how and starts walking.
The Walk is the story of those five days.
Cole isn't a soldier or a prepper. He's a medic — someone who has spent a career managing chaos under pressure and filing it away. He carries what he a get-home bag, forty years of hard-earned clinical instinct, and a working knowledge of what it takes to keep a human being alive when the infrastructure fails. In a grid-down world, that turns out to be more valuable than he expected — and more dangerous.
From the hollows of Raleigh County to the ridgelines above Lincoln County, Cole moves through a landscape he knows and a situation he doesn't. People he meets have to decide quickly what he is — help or threat. So does he.
Back home, his wife Sarah is making the same calculations. No power. No phone. No word. Five days of not knowing.
The Walk is built on authentic critical care medicine, real West Virginia terrain, and the kind of operational detail that only comes from someone who has actually run the calls. It is the first book in The Hollow Series — a story not about the end of the world, but about the people who hold it together when the systems fail.
For readers One Second After, Lights Out, Alas, Babylon — and anyone who has ever wondered what the person in the back of the ambulance would do if the ambulance stopped.
279 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 1, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 19, 2026
Slow Burn Excellence!
The Walk is a post-EMP survival thriller written from the perspective of paramedic Cole as he navigates the 86 miles between where his ambulance shut down and home, where Wife Sarah, his son Evan and youngest child, a daughter named Lily. Along the way, Cole witnesses the rapid deterioration of society as the infrastructure that supported it failed. This isn't the most action packed book, but that doesn't mean it's not highly enjoyable. Its more thoughtful than many post-EMP survival novels that rely solely upon constant firefights to keep the reader engaged. Overall, 5/5 stars! Highly recommended to anyone who has an interest in the possible outcomes of society post-EMP or post-CME, as well as anyone looking for an apocalyptic survival novel that's far more thoughtful than most books in the genre. I can't wait for book 2!
The Walk is a post-EMP survival thriller written from the perspective of paramedic Cole as he navigates the 86 miles between where his ambulance shut down and home, where Wife Sarah, his son Evan and youngest child, a daughter named Lily. Along the way, Cole witnesses the rapid deterioration of society as the infrastructure that supported it failed. This isn't the most action packed book, but that doesn't mean it's not highly enjoyable. Its more thoughtful than many post-EMP survival novels that rely solely upon constant firefights to keep the reader engaged. Overall, 5/5 stars! Highly recommended to anyone who has an interest in the possible outcomes of society post-EMP or post-CME, as well as anyone looking for an apocalyptic survival novel that's far more thoughtful than most books in the genre. I can't wait for book 2!
October 28, 2026
This was a hard call. I would have given it a 4 except the repetitive mulling over the character does of past calls and decisions. He laid it on too thick. As a former LPN I appreciate the medical knowledge that went into the story. Still trying to figure how he got the heavy pain killer out of a locked box he had no key for. Nice that there was no violnce. I rarely give 5 for this genre. Gave it for CJ Cherryh's "Foreigner" series.
August 1, 2026
Great concept, very good story
I enjoyed getting to know this character and his story very much. Little bit too much reliance on AI (hence the 4 stars instead of 5) but enjoyable read for sure.
I enjoyed getting to know this character and his story very much. Little bit too much reliance on AI (hence the 4 stars instead of 5) but enjoyable read for sure.
September 25, 2026
Wonderful
Well written and just a great story. His detail is amazing. Not often to find an author this talented. Can't wait for book two.
Well written and just a great story. His detail is amazing. Not often to find an author this talented. Can't wait for book two.
September 14, 2026
EOTWAWKI
A medic walks home some 80 miles to his wife, kids and country home.
1st book in series, Borrowed with Kindle Unlimited, read with Alexa audio assist.
A medic walks home some 80 miles to his wife, kids and country home.
1st book in series, Borrowed with Kindle Unlimited, read with Alexa audio assist.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews