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Cities on Fire: A Family's Apocalypse
Cities on Fire: A Family's Apocalypse
This is a tale about how the Karr family survives and meets the challenges thrown at them during the early days of the Apocalypse. There have been nuclear and EMP attacks on the USA and most of the world.
The Apocalypse has caught the world by surprise. Cities and countries are on fire. The USA has been reduced to burned-out cities, the grid is down and society has reverted backward 150 years. Food and drinkable water are scarce. The US Government is no longer able to help or protect its citizens. Millions are dying.
In “Cities on Fire,” several of the Karr family members have to travel long distances to reach the family bugout location and encounter death and destruction along the way. Could you walk hundreds of miles in a short time to get the jump on the hordes of people flocking from the cities to the countryside to find food? Could you kill to protect your family from criminals? Worse yet could you kill good God-fearing people who would kill you or your family just to get food to feed their starving family? The Karrs live through these situations and get stronger day by day.
The Karr family has a mixture of old school preppers, conservatives, and liberals that make for an interesting blend of personalities, opinions, and sometimes even volatility. They are able to hate the sin but always love the sinner who disagrees with them. They have each other’s backs through thick and thin.
This is a tale about how the Karr family survives and meets the challenges thrown at them during the early days of the Apocalypse. There have been nuclear and EMP attacks on the USA and most of the world.
The Apocalypse has caught the world by surprise. Cities and countries are on fire. The USA has been reduced to burned-out cities, the grid is down and society has reverted backward 150 years. Food and drinkable water are scarce. The US Government is no longer able to help or protect its citizens. Millions are dying.
In “Cities on Fire,” several of the Karr family members have to travel long distances to reach the family bugout location and encounter death and destruction along the way. Could you walk hundreds of miles in a short time to get the jump on the hordes of people flocking from the cities to the countryside to find food? Could you kill to protect your family from criminals? Worse yet could you kill good God-fearing people who would kill you or your family just to get food to feed their starving family? The Karrs live through these situations and get stronger day by day.
The Karr family has a mixture of old school preppers, conservatives, and liberals that make for an interesting blend of personalities, opinions, and sometimes even volatility. They are able to hate the sin but always love the sinner who disagrees with them. They have each other’s backs through thick and thin.
280 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 23, 2017
214 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
A.J. Newman
69 books78 followersLibrarian 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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 26, 2024
GREAT START TO WHAT MIGHT HAVE THE POTENTIAL BE ANOTHER GREAT ONE OF AJ NEWMAN'S SERIES
I will admit, this book and series really isn't what I expected from AJ Newman based on some of the other series that I have read that he's done. I am not saying that it was not good, but I just figured it would be a little bit more family and community working together with higher morals and not so trigger happy. I know and believe you need to do everything you can to protect your family and friends and have no problem taking out the bad guys, but at times, I found myself thanking that 15 and 16 year olds pulling the trigger, dropping numerous people (even if they're scum and need to be taken out), that they would have a little harder time doing so and that it would take them a little while to come to terms doing so.
With that being said, the storyline is good, the characters are well defined, and you'll find yourself following long hoping that the Karr family and their community will not only survive but will prosper, but their community will grow and the relationships that are developing will continue.
I will admit, this book and series really isn't what I expected from AJ Newman based on some of the other series that I have read that he's done. I am not saying that it was not good, but I just figured it would be a little bit more family and community working together with higher morals and not so trigger happy. I know and believe you need to do everything you can to protect your family and friends and have no problem taking out the bad guys, but at times, I found myself thanking that 15 and 16 year olds pulling the trigger, dropping numerous people (even if they're scum and need to be taken out), that they would have a little harder time doing so and that it would take them a little while to come to terms doing so.
With that being said, the storyline is good, the characters are well defined, and you'll find yourself following long hoping that the Karr family and their community will not only survive but will prosper, but their community will grow and the relationships that are developing will continue.
May 1, 2017
Cities on Fire
My favorite quote: "There will be riots and looting when the food runs out, and then my favorite, the unfed hordes of Walking Democrats will leave the large cities looking for food, drugs, guns and women.”
Fun read.
My favorite quote: "There will be riots and looting when the food runs out, and then my favorite, the unfed hordes of Walking Democrats will leave the large cities looking for food, drugs, guns and women.”
Fun read.
May 15, 2017
Struggled with it
Everything in this story is black & white there is no gray. The good guys are all hard working Americans who generally have some military experience & do not hesitate to kill. The bad guys are one dimensional who are killers with no regard for anyone beyond their own survival. Hard to read as most of the characters are very self righteous no matter who they are.
Everything in this story is black & white there is no gray. The good guys are all hard working Americans who generally have some military experience & do not hesitate to kill. The bad guys are one dimensional who are killers with no regard for anyone beyond their own survival. Hard to read as most of the characters are very self righteous no matter who they are.
September 7, 2021
This is my first book by A.J. Newman and I loved it. I liked the characters and the story just gripped me from the beginning. I'm away to start on number two.
September 21, 2022
Excellent story all around
This story has well thought out excellent characters that do believable actions (Unlike many authors that have their characters do stupid things just to develop their over the top climatic endings) and choices. Very good action. And the clincher to earn FIVE STARS a great dog character that is a must for when TSHTF. I highly look forward to the next book in the series!
This story has well thought out excellent characters that do believable actions (Unlike many authors that have their characters do stupid things just to develop their over the top climatic endings) and choices. Very good action. And the clincher to earn FIVE STARS a great dog character that is a must for when TSHTF. I highly look forward to the next book in the series!
September 5, 2017
Not bad for its genre
I was itching to take an editing pencil to it at times, but for the most part, it was pretty cohesive and engaging. More foul language than I care for, oh...and it's "HEEL" as a dog command, not "HEAL!". There were a few others, but they escape my mind, at the moment. But it's interesting enough that I will get book 2.
I was itching to take an editing pencil to it at times, but for the most part, it was pretty cohesive and engaging. More foul language than I care for, oh...and it's "HEEL" as a dog command, not "HEAL!". There were a few others, but they escape my mind, at the moment. But it's interesting enough that I will get book 2.
November 10, 2022
Family
Thing that drew me further into the book was how different characters changed their way of thinking when everything fell apart. Others kept their thinking that they didn't have to work for anything and those that had was to feed them. Like the government has done for many years.
Thing that drew me further into the book was how different characters changed their way of thinking when everything fell apart. Others kept their thinking that they didn't have to work for anything and those that had was to feed them. Like the government has done for many years.
August 5, 2017
Awful
Blech. Don't waste your time with this author. There are so many superior authors- Hugh Howey, Mike Sheridan, A. American, Mike Kraus and on and on. Totally unoriginal plot, poor character development, terrible dialogue, and typos.
Blech. Don't waste your time with this author. There are so many superior authors- Hugh Howey, Mike Sheridan, A. American, Mike Kraus and on and on. Totally unoriginal plot, poor character development, terrible dialogue, and typos.
June 2, 2017
Do not waste your time
This book is horrible. Don't waste your time trying to read it. I barely got to the second chapter and wanted to be done with it.
This book is horrible. Don't waste your time trying to read it. I barely got to the second chapter and wanted to be done with it.
June 7, 2017
Good read
Needs better editing. Enjoy the characters, but they are lucky to accomplish what they do and always have the right skills...too lucky
Needs better editing. Enjoy the characters, but they are lucky to accomplish what they do and always have the right skills...too lucky
September 18, 2018
Cities on Fire review
Cities on Fire is the first post apocalyptic book in the A Family's Survival Story series written by author A. J. Newman.
Cities on Fire is the first post apocalyptic book in the A Family's Survival Story series written by author A. J. Newman.
May 7, 2017
Not my favorite. It was to graphic for my taste. I didn't enjoy the language used but understand why it was in there. The plot seemed somewhat predictable.
August 9, 2017
One of A J's best. He zigs and zags with his characters.
Try it, you'll like it...no, love it.
Try it, you'll like it...no, love it.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews