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After The Flare #1

Alone in the Apocalypse

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Alone in the Apocalypse:

This story is a post-apocalyptic tale about a series of solar events that test the metal of a man who just wants to live alone in remote Wyoming. Will the solar catastrophe or his fellow man kill him, or can he prevail?
The Sun is entering a period of solar activity that makes the famous Carrington event of 1859 pale by comparison. Just that alone will knock out the grid, kill most vehicles and fry electronics. The USA is not prepared for this catastrophe and the entire world will go back 150 years in technology and living standards. Hardened military vehicles and pre electronic vehicles will be the only machines moving not drawn by a horse, mule or camel.
People with pacemakers will fall dead, planes will fall out of the sky and transportation will come to a halt. People will starve; riots and looting will start all across the world. 60% of the world’s population will die off the first year.
While that sounds bad, unfortunately, a trio of rogue planets has been traveling on a collision course with the Sun for millions of years. US scientists predict that they will strike the sun during this period of intense solar activity and could exacerbate the catastrophe into an E.L.E (Extinction Level Event). They forecast that the impact would eject a massive amount of solar mass, which will become a Coronal Mass Ejection of enormous size. If it approaches the Earth, it could sear the surface and kill all life. Even a near miss would kill all life on the side facing the glob of solar plasma.
Does the US government warn the world and start panic in every country? How can the government prepare for an E.LE with only two years notice?
Matt Jones became disgusted with his life as a high school teacher, politics and political correctness, which has run amuck in America. He dropped out and took survival courses while learning as much about prepping as possible. He sold his home and business to buy a home in a remote part of the USA and prepare for whatever apocalypse is heading his way. He just wanted to be alone on his property with his two dogs and give the finger to the rest of the world. That is easier said than done.
He encounters many good and many evil people as he fights for survival in this post-apocalyptic world. He is able to do what he has to do to stop the criminals, but struggles on how to cope with the good people who will die without help. Matt can’t save the whole world; he first has to save himself and then figure out what to do for the others if anything.
What would you do to survive? Read “Alone in the Apocalypse and find out what Matt Jones does to survive.

323 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 8, 2016

239 people are currently reading
67 people want to read

About the author

A.J. Newman

69 books78 followers
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

A.J. Newman is the author of over 22 novels that have been published on Amazon. He was born and raised in a small town in the western part of Kentucky. His Dad taught him how to handle guns very early in life, and he and his best friend Mike spent summers shooting .22 rifles and fishing.
He read every book he could get his hands on and fell in love with science fiction. He graduated from USI with a degree in Chemistry and made a career working in manufacturing and logistics, but always fancied himself as an author.
He served six years in the Army National Guard in an armored unit and spent six years performing every function on M48 and M60 army tanks. This gave him a great respect for our veterans who lay their lives on the line to protect our country and freedoms.
He currently resides in Kentucky with his wife Patsy and their three tiny mop dogs, Sammy Cotton and Callie.

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5 stars
134 (45%)
4 stars
78 (26%)
3 stars
60 (20%)
2 stars
17 (5%)
1 star
5 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
Profile Image for Pamellia.
235 reviews
March 17, 2017
AN Newman is as new author for me. I enjoyed his story telling abilities and the story itself. However I took a full star away for the sub-standard editing and a star away for not finishing the story. I would have liked to see this story completely coming to an end prior to starting the next in the series.

There were a lot of good characters in this book.
Personalities were developed and interesting. I liked the children in the story and absolutely loved the dogs, especiall0y Party's dog she found while traveling. There were a awfully lot if bad guys. But the good guys were really good guys and I felt glad to have met them.

Now for book two! I see it's going to be released in late Spring 2017… maybe I can wait. Guess I will have to!

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the post apocalyptic Sun flare genre, sci do,, horror or just as good solid story.
Profile Image for Pam Shelton-Anderson.
1,956 reviews65 followers
October 1, 2019
There were things to like about this book. The characters were generally likable, though the will there be romance or won't there be romance was a little tiresome. Very lucky for Matt that a NASA scientist did such a great job prepping the ranch. With the science, I would be surprised if 3 rogue planets, one the size of Jupiter would not do more than just cause some CMEs. I'm also not sure how a CME would interfere with a pacemaker. There were a lot of writing errors in this book, with mistakes in basic sentence structure, punctuation and other grammar issues that disrupted the flow of the book. Mary and Patty were mixed up at one point. The dialogue also tended to be very stilted and unnatural at times and a lot of back and forth so it was hard to tell who was actually speaking. I wish them well getting to safer climate in South America.
Profile Image for Cherye Elliott.
3,397 reviews24 followers
February 25, 2017
Alone?

Absolutely loved this book. I liked that the character was always talking to me. Fun to read. I have read all of Mr. Newman's books but this one must have passed me by. Enjoy the book as much as I.
32 reviews
January 24, 2017
interesting characters

It is amazing what just a few months of prep and training did for these characters. This will not be among my favorites.
Profile Image for Cliff Deane.
Author 15 books9 followers
May 8, 2017
Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men oft do go astray, and you'll like the adjustments the hero must make to survive...if he does, of course. I loved this book.
6,202 reviews41 followers
December 24, 2017
Tired of a EMP-inducced or virus-induced or war-induced apocalypse? Then try this one. Three rogue planets just happen to find there way into our solar system and all collide with the sun. This sets off massive coronal ejections and even somehow lowers the sun's mass.

Fortunately there's a character list at the start of the book (an idea that I wish other authors would use.) Matt and most of the others are preppers, meaning they have been preparing for whatever major disaster will destroy at least a part of the human race. This is gone into in detail and it all makes good sense.

Matt figures that about 80% or more of the human race will die off as a result of the collisions with the sun. There will only be a relatively small area north and south of the equator that will be inhabitable and the book goes into what the 'have' countries do in order to 'reserve' that space for their own governments and survivors. (Again, not surprising.)

The story centers on what Matt and those around him do to survive and how they have to fight off gangs of thugs, usually, who want to kill them and take what they have. (Again, a very realistic scenario.) All this also causes Matt and the others to change their mindsets and instead of helping nearly everyone they have to concentrate on their own need to survive (although there are some nuns and kids helped later in the story.)

It's a very dark but very well done story.
Profile Image for Krisaundra.
218 reviews13 followers
April 5, 2018
A New Favourite!

This book caught me off guard in regards to how fast it it grabbed me, not wanting to put it down until I found out what happened next, then what happened after that, etc until I simply kept reading as long as I could each time I picked it up. Written in a way that comes across as if it was a tale being shared over a campfire or similar situation added to my enjoyment of this book immensely. I can't think of anything I don't like about this book except for having to stop reading it long enough to write a review it definitely deserves so that hopefully others who may be considering this series knows that in at least one persons opinion this is a great book to read if you like well written adventure adventure stories, and maybe even a good choice if it's not your usual choice in genres to experience a really well told story. I for one can't wait another minute and am off to get started reading the next book to see what's been happening to the characters while I've been encouraging others to get started reading this one!
Profile Image for Karen L. Curnow.
54 reviews
February 18, 2017
So many twists and turns

Do yourself a favor and read this book covering so many aspects of the Apocalypse, from Government lies, to takeovers, prepping g and surviving. Trust is the greatest issue facing the survivors in this story. Be along for the ride as the are betrayed, kidnapped and fight their way back to one another. This is a gripping tale, one you won't want to put down.
Profile Image for David A..
813 reviews
May 3, 2022
A good read, I really enjoyed this 1st book in a series of twp.v When I went back to Amazon to buy book #2, I found that I could not but book #2. My only choices were to buy book #1 (I have) or I could but books #1 as a set, but book #2 was not offered for sale. What the heck? To say the least I was and still am, a bit mad...
42 reviews
July 8, 2023
Kept me reading!

Nothing monotonous about this book. Every word is worth reading! Full of adventure. Great research so it has the feel of truth. My favorite author now. Just surpassed 3 other of my favorites.
51 reviews1 follower
February 17, 2017
Loved It

Fun to read and action packed! Loved the characters and the one person narrative. Will read the next and hopefully it will be better edited.
Profile Image for Wancket Enterprises.
632 reviews6 followers
March 2, 2017
Good

EMP is a scary thing that I hope never happens but it is possible. I liked the adventure of this book and the characters both good and brave
Profile Image for Debbie.
190 reviews26 followers
December 1, 2017
It was ok though it fell apart for me at about f the halfway point. Good for a slow day.
Profile Image for Peggy Pancherz.
1,173 reviews6 followers
February 14, 2018
Good book

Storyline continues to grow and develop. Characters are realistic and get better and better. Read all of the books in order to really enjoy.
4,416 reviews28 followers
September 17, 2018
Alone in the Apocalypse review

Alone in the Apocalypse is the first post apocalyptic book in the After the Flare series written by of A. J. Newman.
263 reviews3 followers
August 26, 2021
Excellent

I like the book. I like the characters. But, somehow I find them amazingly naive. I do understand that they are just normal people but they seem to trust everyone.
519 reviews8 followers
January 3, 2025
ok, but better stuff out there.

Yeah I read it, nothing great, couple of different turns, you’ll do better with other reads. Not sure if I’d recommend this one.
49 reviews2 followers
March 15, 2017
Hard to put down

This book is the first of a series and is a winner. The action is non stop and the characters are well drawn. I am starting book 2 now and I hope book 3 will be published soon! (no pressure-lol)
Profile Image for Pat Smith.
126 reviews7 followers
March 8, 2017
Enjoyed the book.

It's been a long time since I couldn't put a book down at bedtime. This had me in it's grip. Thanks A. J. Newman for this and all of your books. Your wife is lovely and I appreciate that she is still smiling! P.D. near Allcorn Park.
104 reviews7 followers
February 19, 2017
Great P-A Fiction! Highly Recommended!

Great, easy read. Most interesting was the extra twist of the dagger into the world's back AFTER an EMP. Extremely clever plot and sub-plots, great dialogue and very smooth writing. This Kentucky -born author knows how to write.

Also refreshing to read an author who clearly knows firearms...but doesn't make the story an ode to gun metal and oil. Firearms are valuable tools, sometimes the most valuable tool in the world...but still just a tool. This author understands how to use them, when to use, and who to use them against--but doesn't fall for gun cult syndrome.

Interesting dilemmas for the main characters keep the plot moving and intriguing. Romantic angles included are fresh and light, kept adult but clean...and besides, doesn't every great story really start or end with a man and woman falling in love?

One does hope a P-A world wouldn't be quite as cutthroat as described...but we all also fear it would be.

Great book, great writing, clean, looking forward to the next in the series.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Profile Image for Patiscynical.
287 reviews4 followers
January 24, 2017
Just so-so

All about 3 rogue planets plunging into the sun, and huge coronal mass ejections frying the electrical grid
Matt moved to Wyoming to prepare for the coming apocalypse. He buys a heavily fortified ranch, and gets ready for the coming disaster.
Unfortunately, he is unaware that an ice age is coming, and any survivors need to head south asap. The U.S. government has invaded Mexico and South America, because the politicians don't want to freeze. Little to nothing is done to help the surviving common folk.
And someone Always says, " but if it were really bad the government would warn us!"
No, they wouldn't. Does anyone really believe that in real life?
Matt is a gung-ho killing machine, and Patty and Mary, two friends staying with Matt are nearly as deadly.
This book is a cliffhanger, so don't expect to learn the fate of our heroes in this book.
Results: a lot of this is very similar to other books in the genre, and there were some grammar and punctuation issues. It's better than some other TEOTWAWKI books, but there was nothing really new. I was gonna give 2 stars, but it's marginally better than the last few I reviewed, so I felt I should give it one more star
630 reviews2 followers
January 1, 2017
Worth reading.

At last a hero who can handle adversity. Matt Jones is a man whom you want on your side in a battle. The story is compelling, the characters well drawn. One mistake I could point out is early on there are livestock in the barn. We never know if they are eaten, froze to death or were given away. I hate loose ends like that. I recommend you read this book. Newman knows how to write a story.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews

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