What do you think?
Rate this book
EMP Blackout Super Boxset
Dystopian masterminds James Hunt, author of “Broken Lines”, and Roger Hayden, author of “The Pulse”, which collectively accumulated 300+ five-star reviews come together in this SUPER BOXSET for the first time! That’s TWO complete book SERIES at a discounted price!
Broken Lines:
The advancement of technology has allowed our society to grow in leaps and bounds. The fields of medicine, engineering, agriculture and countless others have benefited from the applied science of high tech microprocessors and their data processing capabilities.
This technology helps power our homes, cars, laptops, and phones. It is involved in every aspect of our lives, but as powerful and complex as these systems are there is one device that can cripple everything and bring the world as we know it to a standstill: EMP.
Mike Grant, a veteran welder for a Pittsburgh steel company, is at work when an EMP wrecks the entire country. With no transportation and no way to contact his loved ones, Mike has to combat the panic stricken city to find his father, reach his wife and children in the suburbs, and escape to their cabin in Ohio.
This fast-paced, adrenaline filled thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat as we all find out what happens when the lights go out.
The Pulse:
September 21, 2020: America is worse off than it has ever been economically, but the worst is yet to come. On a seemingly normal Monday morning, a power outage occurs across the entire state of Georgia. A massive breakdown of vehicles and communications follows, sending towns and cities into chaos. The sweeping blackout is unlike anything ever seen, but that's not all. Without access to news, there is no information on the mysterious phenomenon. Rumors of a looming war spreads, creating further panic. Only one weapon could be capable of such stealth destruction: an electromagnetic pulse (EMP), and on that Monday, the nightmarish cold war scenario becomes a chilling reality. Meanwhile, a group of preppers band together amidst the chaos to seek safety at a rural bug-out house. But getting there won’t be easy in this exciting thriller of a dark future where society is on the brink, and no one is safe.
Broken Lines:
The advancement of technology has allowed our society to grow in leaps and bounds. The fields of medicine, engineering, agriculture and countless others have benefited from the applied science of high tech microprocessors and their data processing capabilities.
This technology helps power our homes, cars, laptops, and phones. It is involved in every aspect of our lives, but as powerful and complex as these systems are there is one device that can cripple everything and bring the world as we know it to a standstill: EMP.
Mike Grant, a veteran welder for a Pittsburgh steel company, is at work when an EMP wrecks the entire country. With no transportation and no way to contact his loved ones, Mike has to combat the panic stricken city to find his father, reach his wife and children in the suburbs, and escape to their cabin in Ohio.
This fast-paced, adrenaline filled thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat as we all find out what happens when the lights go out.
The Pulse:
September 21, 2020: America is worse off than it has ever been economically, but the worst is yet to come. On a seemingly normal Monday morning, a power outage occurs across the entire state of Georgia. A massive breakdown of vehicles and communications follows, sending towns and cities into chaos. The sweeping blackout is unlike anything ever seen, but that's not all. Without access to news, there is no information on the mysterious phenomenon. Rumors of a looming war spreads, creating further panic. Only one weapon could be capable of such stealth destruction: an electromagnetic pulse (EMP), and on that Monday, the nightmarish cold war scenario becomes a chilling reality. Meanwhile, a group of preppers band together amidst the chaos to seek safety at a rural bug-out house. But getting there won’t be easy in this exciting thriller of a dark future where society is on the brink, and no one is safe.
- GenresDystopia
Kindle Edition
Published October 26, 2015
155 people are currently reading
186 people want to read
About the author
James Hunt
167 books228 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
James Hunt's passion for writing began at an early age. While his journal of yesteryear may never be the work of great fiction, he's been working hard every day since then to bring pages to life. James has well over a decade of writing under his belt, but his professional career in literature didn't take off until 2014.
James currently lives in Orlando, FL and when he's not pounding away at the keyboard you can find him at the theater or somewhere outside enjoying the beautiful Florida weather.
James Hunt's passion for writing began at an early age. While his journal of yesteryear may never be the work of great fiction, he's been working hard every day since then to bring pages to life. James has well over a decade of writing under his belt, but his professional career in literature didn't take off until 2014.
James currently lives in Orlando, FL and when he's not pounding away at the keyboard you can find him at the theater or somewhere outside enjoying the beautiful Florida weather.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
July 2, 2020
Ri
Ridiculous, HIGHLY juvenile tactics, absolutely unbelievable. Character development is weak. Even if I knew nothing about tactics, the decisions made by the main character were nonsensical at best. Either the bikers were members of the reject chapter or they had zero brain cells altogether. Outlaw gangs don't think as balloons and destroy as written, they would establish dominance, but they killed all their assets that would serve them better as live slaves as opposed to dead meat. It's impossible to believe the active military would augment their ranks with street crawlers ESPECIALLY to attack and seize key transportation assets, routes, while opposed by alleged military forces even if they are Guard or Reserve personnel. Since no one assaulting the bridge could develop anything resembling a plan or even an operations order, nor couldanticipate destruction as a emergency plan by belligerent, some old guy is the only EOD asset available? The alleged Colonel or high ranking military advisor actually in the assault force shows the only ARMY he belonged to was the Salvation Army! Oh, and if my teen daughter had access to my weapons armory and she was gonna have "girl Tim e" to teach some other pre teen weaponry, the grandad was an IMBECIL to not question what the bell she actually knows, with LIV E ROUNDS, she wouldn't get out of the basement! Any leader who didn't take the rotor out of the only operating vehicle ESPECIALLY with untested guests around is an idiot and deserves to be ripped off. The fact that a farmer out thinking a leader just s t confirms that he's not a smart leader.
I had to quit reading at the bridge ops. Stupid people lead by non thinking military, using a combined force is simply asinine. I wouldn't follow this moron to t h e bathroom, much less into combat.
Ridiculous, HIGHLY juvenile tactics, absolutely unbelievable. Character development is weak. Even if I knew nothing about tactics, the decisions made by the main character were nonsensical at best. Either the bikers were members of the reject chapter or they had zero brain cells altogether. Outlaw gangs don't think as balloons and destroy as written, they would establish dominance, but they killed all their assets that would serve them better as live slaves as opposed to dead meat. It's impossible to believe the active military would augment their ranks with street crawlers ESPECIALLY to attack and seize key transportation assets, routes, while opposed by alleged military forces even if they are Guard or Reserve personnel. Since no one assaulting the bridge could develop anything resembling a plan or even an operations order, nor couldanticipate destruction as a emergency plan by belligerent, some old guy is the only EOD asset available? The alleged Colonel or high ranking military advisor actually in the assault force shows the only ARMY he belonged to was the Salvation Army! Oh, and if my teen daughter had access to my weapons armory and she was gonna have "girl Tim e" to teach some other pre teen weaponry, the grandad was an IMBECIL to not question what the bell she actually knows, with LIV E ROUNDS, she wouldn't get out of the basement! Any leader who didn't take the rotor out of the only operating vehicle ESPECIALLY with untested guests around is an idiot and deserves to be ripped off. The fact that a farmer out thinking a leader just s t confirms that he's not a smart leader.
I had to quit reading at the bridge ops. Stupid people lead by non thinking military, using a combined force is simply asinine. I wouldn't follow this moron to t h e bathroom, much less into combat.
October 31, 2018
Fairly good story, but . . .
A well thought out story, but done with not so good skill. Sentences broken, overuse of the same words in connecting sentences, and too many writing techniques screwed up. Badly. Scenes and point of view with no clear break; the author changes scenes by only using paragraph breaks. Very confusing. But the one thing that bugged me the most was not knowing the difference between ground and floor. Things that fall to the ground are outside-- to the floor, inside. Also knowledge of weapons is sadly terrible, which is an important issue in an EMP story. Too much description on no-interest parts, and description needed not included. It reads like the writer was stuck at times and prattled on about nothing, yet sped up and skipped stuff the reader would like to have known. The worst writing in a book I fully read. Not again will I read another of his works.
A well thought out story, but done with not so good skill. Sentences broken, overuse of the same words in connecting sentences, and too many writing techniques screwed up. Badly. Scenes and point of view with no clear break; the author changes scenes by only using paragraph breaks. Very confusing. But the one thing that bugged me the most was not knowing the difference between ground and floor. Things that fall to the ground are outside-- to the floor, inside. Also knowledge of weapons is sadly terrible, which is an important issue in an EMP story. Too much description on no-interest parts, and description needed not included. It reads like the writer was stuck at times and prattled on about nothing, yet sped up and skipped stuff the reader would like to have known. The worst writing in a book I fully read. Not again will I read another of his works.
February 1, 2018
Makes you think
Interesting book, but it is actually 2 "books" with little joining them, so it's hard to rate. Some good thoughts about preparing against an Emp attack. Both books are plausable in places and very implausable in others. Overall, I enjoyed it, but a mite too long.
Interesting book, but it is actually 2 "books" with little joining them, so it's hard to rate. Some good thoughts about preparing against an Emp attack. Both books are plausable in places and very implausable in others. Overall, I enjoyed it, but a mite too long.
January 12, 2017
Well...
These books SO need an editor. An a realist to perform fact checking. Can't recommend either of them. There is potential.
These books SO need an editor. An a realist to perform fact checking. Can't recommend either of them. There is potential.
June 30, 2017
Good series
Overall a good series with some unexpected plot twists and predictable plots as well. The last in the series started slow, but ended strong.
Overall a good series with some unexpected plot twists and predictable plots as well. The last in the series started slow, but ended strong.
February 12, 2018
Great
These two series' are really exciting. There are great characters and lots of action. Plenty of plot twists keep things interesting.
These two series' are really exciting. There are great characters and lots of action. Plenty of plot twists keep things interesting.
March 9, 2018
2.5 stars. While there were parts of this set that were interesting, overall it was poorly put together. While Pulse was better than the others that isn't saying much.
December 27, 2018
Garbage
June 21, 2021
Broken Lines by James Hunt: Good start to the tale.
Broken Ties by James Hunt: Character development continued.
Broken Roads by James Hunt: Cause of the EMP is explored.
Broken Lives By James Hunt: Wrap up was a bit abrupt, but the overall story was a good one.
The elements of the story by James Hunt would get a 3.5 rating in my mind.
The Pulse Episode 1 by Roger Hayden: Slow boring start. So much lead up in the early plot development. 2 subsequent episodes/before this story is finished. I'll try Episode 2, but not sure I'll complete it.
The Pulse Episode 2 by Roger Hayden: This is the second episode of Roger Hayden's "The Pulse". I was underwhelmed with Episode 1, but continued slogging through this episode in order to complete the Boxset this was part of. The pace picked up enough that I'll read the final Episode.
The story is just "ok".
The Pulse Episode 3 by Roger Hayden: Much of this episode was awkwardly spent tying up a number of loose ends from the previous two episodes. I kept plowing on to one of the worst finishes I've ever read. This is a pretty poor story.
Broken Ties by James Hunt: Character development continued.
Broken Roads by James Hunt: Cause of the EMP is explored.
Broken Lives By James Hunt: Wrap up was a bit abrupt, but the overall story was a good one.
The elements of the story by James Hunt would get a 3.5 rating in my mind.
The Pulse Episode 1 by Roger Hayden: Slow boring start. So much lead up in the early plot development. 2 subsequent episodes/before this story is finished. I'll try Episode 2, but not sure I'll complete it.
The Pulse Episode 2 by Roger Hayden: This is the second episode of Roger Hayden's "The Pulse". I was underwhelmed with Episode 1, but continued slogging through this episode in order to complete the Boxset this was part of. The pace picked up enough that I'll read the final Episode.
The story is just "ok".
The Pulse Episode 3 by Roger Hayden: Much of this episode was awkwardly spent tying up a number of loose ends from the previous two episodes. I kept plowing on to one of the worst finishes I've ever read. This is a pretty poor story.
March 17, 2016
I consider the first portion, James Hunt's, to merit 2.5 stars while part two, Roger Hayden's, gets 2.
***Part 1, James Hunt: I like Mike as a character throughout these books quite a bit. He’s generous but not a pushover. The more he’s forced to endure for his family, the harder he gets and the less willing he is to let others in. It’s a believable trip from helpful neighbor to hard-core survivalist. At first I wasn’t thrilled with his obnoxious kids, but Kalen goes through some things that make her start to grow up. Most of the bad guys in this book are one-note ‘evil’ creatures with no redeeming features; it would be nice to see more nuance.
When our heroes hear on a radio (they’d kept one in a Faraday cage in the cabin–smart!) that Cincinnati is powering back up and is accepting people, it sounds too good to be true. But with all the extra people who ended up accompanying Mike’s family to the cabin, they’re running out of food super-quick. They decide it would be best to go. Naturally there’s a charismatic bad guy livin’ high in a penthouse who’s in charge of everything. (Yet another obvious eeeevil character.) But they’re all in Cincinnati, they have power and hot showers, and they’re all asked to chip in and work a job.
This later part of Hunt’s series had the most holes in it. Mike starts sounding like a retread of Rick Grimes. At one point one of the folks in Cincinnati says “If you talk to me like that again I’ll have you shot.” Seriously?! What more evidence does anyone need that these people are pure evil?
It’s a decent series, but not a great one. There are too many little plot holes and inconsistencies that plagued me as I went along.
***Part 2, Roger Hayden: There are occasional lectures in here that aren’t integrated well into the narrative. Also, the narration sometimes dashes off in weird directions for a paragraph or three, making it difficult to follow along. Now for some semi-random gripes: How does James justify putting bear traps near the cars and fuel when there are two kids in the house? When the survival camp you run off to join asks–before they’ll let you in–how many women and how many men you have in your party, rather than the total number of people, why would you not immediately run away? I think I said the words “well, that escalated quickly,” at least four times, and some of these climactic events bordered on slapstick.
There are a lot of details surrounding Russell, the guy running the 'sanctuary' site, that just don't add up. Which is a shame, because as a bad guy he had more depth than any of the others in these two books.
Overall I just can't recommend this collection.
My original, and longer, review:
Part I: http://www.errantdreams.com/2016/03/e...
Part II: http://www.errantdreams.com/2016/03/r...
***Part 1, James Hunt: I like Mike as a character throughout these books quite a bit. He’s generous but not a pushover. The more he’s forced to endure for his family, the harder he gets and the less willing he is to let others in. It’s a believable trip from helpful neighbor to hard-core survivalist. At first I wasn’t thrilled with his obnoxious kids, but Kalen goes through some things that make her start to grow up. Most of the bad guys in this book are one-note ‘evil’ creatures with no redeeming features; it would be nice to see more nuance.
When our heroes hear on a radio (they’d kept one in a Faraday cage in the cabin–smart!) that Cincinnati is powering back up and is accepting people, it sounds too good to be true. But with all the extra people who ended up accompanying Mike’s family to the cabin, they’re running out of food super-quick. They decide it would be best to go. Naturally there’s a charismatic bad guy livin’ high in a penthouse who’s in charge of everything. (Yet another obvious eeeevil character.) But they’re all in Cincinnati, they have power and hot showers, and they’re all asked to chip in and work a job.
This later part of Hunt’s series had the most holes in it. Mike starts sounding like a retread of Rick Grimes. At one point one of the folks in Cincinnati says “If you talk to me like that again I’ll have you shot.” Seriously?! What more evidence does anyone need that these people are pure evil?
It’s a decent series, but not a great one. There are too many little plot holes and inconsistencies that plagued me as I went along.
***Part 2, Roger Hayden: There are occasional lectures in here that aren’t integrated well into the narrative. Also, the narration sometimes dashes off in weird directions for a paragraph or three, making it difficult to follow along. Now for some semi-random gripes: How does James justify putting bear traps near the cars and fuel when there are two kids in the house? When the survival camp you run off to join asks–before they’ll let you in–how many women and how many men you have in your party, rather than the total number of people, why would you not immediately run away? I think I said the words “well, that escalated quickly,” at least four times, and some of these climactic events bordered on slapstick.
There are a lot of details surrounding Russell, the guy running the 'sanctuary' site, that just don't add up. Which is a shame, because as a bad guy he had more depth than any of the others in these two books.
Overall I just can't recommend this collection.
My original, and longer, review:
Part I: http://www.errantdreams.com/2016/03/e...
Part II: http://www.errantdreams.com/2016/03/r...
January 30, 2016
Do not buy this box set
I would not waste my money on this box set. It is a shame because the first 3 books, Broken Lines set was really good even though it had some story line issues this set alone is worth buying. I have read the first half of Pulse and can go no further, the story is good ok but not at all believable because the story leads up to a group of preppers coming together and on 1 hand they are super thorough and the other the story has them acting like they dont even know what the word prepper is. Im sorry but if a members of a bug out house do not want to eat dinner outside because strangers came by earlier then why would 1 guy go out in the middle of the night to check on a noise??? Then he confronts 2 of the men, shots a shot into the air and struggles fighting both and no one in the house hears the gun shot or the guy who stepped in a bear trap screaming his head off?!?!?!?!. Its the middle of summer and super hot in a house with out a/c so you would think the windows would be open as they had mentioned earlier, but the 3 other adults or teen in the house heard nothibg.....and this is just the parts I wrote about.......save your money and go buy the Broken Lines set by itself
I would not waste my money on this box set. It is a shame because the first 3 books, Broken Lines set was really good even though it had some story line issues this set alone is worth buying. I have read the first half of Pulse and can go no further, the story is good ok but not at all believable because the story leads up to a group of preppers coming together and on 1 hand they are super thorough and the other the story has them acting like they dont even know what the word prepper is. Im sorry but if a members of a bug out house do not want to eat dinner outside because strangers came by earlier then why would 1 guy go out in the middle of the night to check on a noise??? Then he confronts 2 of the men, shots a shot into the air and struggles fighting both and no one in the house hears the gun shot or the guy who stepped in a bear trap screaming his head off?!?!?!?!. Its the middle of summer and super hot in a house with out a/c so you would think the windows would be open as they had mentioned earlier, but the 3 other adults or teen in the house heard nothibg.....and this is just the parts I wrote about.......save your money and go buy the Broken Lines set by itself
December 15, 2015
i stopped reading this before i got too far into it: first, there's implied rape which does not make your dystopian future "cool" and "edgy" by showing "how tough things will be" that's, bullshit. second, there's gang rape - now, i will admit i didn't read far enough to see if they actually went through with the gang rape, but the threat of gang rape is disgusting. the rape and abuse of women is not a plot device to further manpain, it's disgusting and misogynistic and shows hatred of women. i wish i could give it zero stars, but that won't bring the overall rating down. don't read this rapist fantasy garbage.
November 17, 2015
Great stories, lack of editing
The stories were great as long as you don't mind excessive violence. Unfortunately lack of proofreading and editing made it hard to suspend disbelief. It's easy to overlook grammatical errors but harder when there are inconsistencies in the story ranging from the year model of somebody's car from one character taking a bullet but a different unharmed character having the bullet removed.
A thorough revision to correct these errors would lead to a great Prepper Boxed Set.
The stories were great as long as you don't mind excessive violence. Unfortunately lack of proofreading and editing made it hard to suspend disbelief. It's easy to overlook grammatical errors but harder when there are inconsistencies in the story ranging from the year model of somebody's car from one character taking a bullet but a different unharmed character having the bullet removed.
A thorough revision to correct these errors would lead to a great Prepper Boxed Set.
December 13, 2015
A Pretty Good Read
Overall this combination of different EMP novels is a good read. Two different book series are combined within this collection making it a lot to read, but because it is two series together just as you get to the end of one series the next page is the start of another. I quite enjoyed both series but while this was a great price for such a large amount of reading, having the ability to stop and take break between books will only enhance your overall experience of this collection.
Overall this combination of different EMP novels is a good read. Two different book series are combined within this collection making it a lot to read, but because it is two series together just as you get to the end of one series the next page is the start of another. I quite enjoyed both series but while this was a great price for such a large amount of reading, having the ability to stop and take break between books will only enhance your overall experience of this collection.
March 31, 2016
The author tried
Tried for a new perception and angle, kudos for that. Too many typical flaws of this genre remained: cardboard characters, poor editing of the they book, words left, to for too, some actions were not believable. Yet many parts were good. I would read other books by these authors.
Tried for a new perception and angle, kudos for that. Too many typical flaws of this genre remained: cardboard characters, poor editing of the they book, words left, to for too, some actions were not believable. Yet many parts were good. I would read other books by these authors.
April 23, 2016
The first part of this boxset was awesome! Mike and his family's struggle was well written. I could have cried at the end. Broken Ties, however, was disappointing to say the least. It had too much rehashing of what we already knew. The Pulse was better but still to much rehashing. Overall, I give it 4 stars but the part about Mike, I give a 5 star and then some!
December 14, 2015
Turmoil and drama
Action, internal and inter persons conflict. Makes you wonder if anyone can makes rational decision. Looking for survival strategies. Get multiple actions which don't work.
Action, internal and inter persons conflict. Makes you wonder if anyone can makes rational decision. Looking for survival strategies. Get multiple actions which don't work.
Want to read
October 31, 201510/29/15 - Kindle free download.
November 1, 2015
Mixed
The first story was a real interesting read. The second one not so much. The constant reminding on who was who was annoying
The first story was a real interesting read. The second one not so much. The constant reminding on who was who was annoying
October 17, 2016
Great book! Lots of drama.
December 29, 2015
Great set!
Good character writing. Great story. Definitely a good read. The box set is worth the time. Hated to put it down.
Good character writing. Great story. Definitely a good read. The box set is worth the time. Hated to put it down.
February 25, 2016
Interesting storylines, it is really two stories. Not one of my favorites.
August 31, 2016
An okay read
I would have given a better rating but for the fact that the story jumps around so much. It goes from present to past so often, you can get confused.
I would have given a better rating but for the fact that the story jumps around so much. It goes from present to past so often, you can get confused.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews