Ping: From the Apocalypse

Ping #1

by Susan Lowry

When Kate awakens from a plague-induced coma her nightmares have just begun. Barely clinging to life, she must wait for the snow to melt to find out if humanity has been completely wiped out.

Then the pings arrive—desperate messages that won’t leave her mind. Are they a figment of her imagination, or a spark of hope? They feel more believable than the frozen corpses she encounters everywhere.

Meanwhile, time is running out for six-year-old Travis. Stranded in the blazing heat of post-apocalyptic Texas, he pleads for help—communicating in the one way he can.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Post Apocalyptic, Dystopia

284 pages, ebook

First published June 2, 2011

About the author

Susan Lowry grew up on the outskirts of Toronto, Canada, and raised her son and daughter in Mississauga. Now residing in Central Ontario with her husband, she spends most of her time writing her next novel. She also enjoys movies, photography, drives to the Muskoka and Haliburton area, walking the shores of Wasaga Beach, and when the weather permits, swimming.

She has worked as a custom photo-finisher, embroidery artist and digitizer, owner of a small toy company, office administrator, and freelance website designer.

Susan studied at The Ontario College of Art and graduated from York University with a degree in Psychology.

Please visit my website for news on upcoming novels and other goodies!
http://www.susan-lowry.com/

Reviews

[Felicia A Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, actually, but half stars are not allowed.

This story was well written and engaging, just....lonely. Which I guess was the point.

The story starts out in the middle of both a blizzard and an unexplained illness (flu-like, but with skin sores). The main character, Kate, watches her husband and neighbors get sick, even as she succumbs to the illness herself, as the blizzard continues to rage outside.

Lots of inner discourse and hallucinations, until she begins telepathically communicating with two people, one a little boy in Texas, and another that she calls Ping, who turns out to be someone very unexpected. Eventually, she hooks up with Jack, a doctor who had survived, who has a horrible story of his own.

There are very few survivors to this illness, and no outward threats as there are in other PA stories. This story is more about inner demons, and the surivors attempting to navigate their new reality.

Months pass in the blink of an eye and the turn of a page, and conflicts emerge.
The only explanation of the sickness and resulting death of nearly the entire world population is sketchy at best, but I think that's more because this book is not about the end of the world, it's about this particular group of people.

Not a bad read at all, but I wish there was more about the actual illness and other survivors....if there were any, which it doesn't seem there were. This book is a lot different than most PA books, in that there is not some rogue bad guy group out to rape, murder and pillage just because they can, which is a nice change from the norm.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

What was that?

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing was mundane, the plot riddled with holes, and my suspension of disbelief stretched so thin that it snapped. So glad I only paid .99 for the ebook. Ugh.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to admit I was hoping for more based on the high reviews, but it fell flat for me. It was an okay read. Interesting story idea but I never really felt myself connect with any of the characters. I did not like the way the chapters would jump suddenly to an unknown person or jump suddenly months ahead in time with no idea how you got there. There was so much possibilty for vivid description and interaction but they weren't there. I found myself annoyed with Kate, the main character for her attitude and her sudden shifts for loving and sympathetic to impatient and harsh.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love post-apocalyptic fiction, and this one was promising. The plot line was interesting and I really wanted to see where it would go. Unfortunately, the characters were not very compelling and I didn't really care what happened to them. The ending, in particular, was annoying. What was with Jack anyway? First he was one type of person, and then another. I wasn't convinced. However, the author does have potential and I hope she continues to work at her craft.

[Mari Stroud · Rating 2 out of 5]

Made it about 20% through and had to stop. Author shows promise, but this book needed another firm line edit something fierce.

[Tena · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just could not finish this. It bored me to tears and I am not sure I will pick it up again for a second try.

[EVELYN ANN · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dystopian/Science Fiction

Talk about a page turner. Something wipes out the world and no clue as to what and the people you encounter are good/not good. Crazy 'ping' / hearing others from far away mentally. Mind-blowing. 😱 Could have had a better ending, but it's a good start. On to the next! #HappyReading 💖

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book, through Reading Deals, and I gave an honest review.

[Joni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wish I could ping!

For a while it seemed to drift towards fantasy with the pinging. But I do believe the ability is hidden in the unused portion of our brain. Fascinating story so far.

[Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lonely

I would give it 3 1/2 stars but that's not allowed. Good story. No bad guys seemed to survival in this apocalypse. The overall feeling of the book is overwhelming loneliness.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read. Competent narrative with a few plot twists that are so far fetched they were hard to read past.

[Jessica Bronder · Rating 5 out of 5]

We start the story with Kate coming home and finding her husband really ill. She tries to call an ambulance but the phones are dead. Trying to get through the huge piles of snow, she tries to get to her neighbors house for help. There she falls ill. After a week, and horrible sores, she manages to come around enough to get back to her house. An unknown virus has raged throughout the world and only a few have survived.

But those that have survived have developed an ability to “hear” others in their mind. Kate talks with a young boy in Texas and works her way from Canada to him. On the way, she meets Jake and although falling in love with him but his past comes back to haunt her. She also meets up with her sister, after a horrible past, and work their way to a safe place to restart.

I admit that I love dystopian novels and this one is one that will be put on my shelf. It is a sad, lonely story as we follow Kate. I liked how the survivors could communicate and work toward getting together. I only have a couple things that didn’t flow for me. The main on was when they got to the lake and then suddenly it was eight months later without any notice except a statement several paragraphs into the chapter. I honestly would have liked to learn more about the astronaut, there was a lot of potential and I was curious about him.

Beyond that, this is a great story. If you like dystopian stories, this is one that you will want to read.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ping begins with one of those great fears of humanity - a super virus runs rampantly through the population in a short period of time and 99.99% of people die a horrible, painful death. Kate, who lives a normal life with her husband, also contracts the virus but manages to pull through, finding herself utterly alone in a world devoid of people and animals.

As she struggles to survive, alone but surrounded by the ghosts of her husband and neighbours, she starts to hear voices - a young boy, a nameless woman, in her head, and after months of isolation, sets off to the south in search of her telepathically connected friends.

The idea behind the story of Ping is a good one, but it needs some work. There are huge jumps in time, which are OK, but they aren't noted with headers like 'three months later', it's a sudden and disconcerting shift that only reveals itself a few paragraphs into a new chapter.

When it comes to characters, they are pretty standard - Kate is not exactly outgoing or brave, and tends to fade into the background, particularly after she meets up with the woman she has been telepathically connecting with - although that particular character says 'sweetie' so many times it becomes grating.

I understand that this is Ms. Lowry's first book, and it is a good attempt - with some polishing it could have been an excellent story.

Read more of my reviews at The Aussie Zombie

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first thing about this book that pulled me in was the price. I love finding great deals on ebooks and discovering new authors. I was hooked from the first paragraph. This book is a gripping tale that pulls you in from the very beginning. I felt like I was dropped into an episode of the Twilight Zone and then taken on a wild roller-coaster ride until the end; yet the author still left me wanting more. I am anxiously waiting for the sequel. The fact that something like this could happen in the future really makes you stop and think and I'm not too sure I'd want to be one of the few that survived. It was refreshing to read an original plot with well developed characters. I plan to go back and reread it today now that I know how it ends. Kudos to Susan Lowry on an excellent debut novel!

[Bethenia Dixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am kind of surprised that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. I found myself contemplating it extensively, imagining myself in the situation of the characters. But it left me wanting more, and not in a way that a great book does, but in a way that it felt as if something was missing throughout its entirity. I really hated how the timeline would jump ahead with months in between with no explanation of how it got to that point.

[Stevie · Rating 3 out of 5]

it really was interesting. I like the whole post Apocalypse theme and this was a neat approach to it. I feel like the first half was extra detailed and very long.....slow even. but not bad. and then the 2nd half was crazy fast and didn't seem to be well thought out. but it wasn't too bad. 3 ish stasrs.

[Kimla Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book.. I believe this is Susan's 1st and I enjoyed it from the very first sentence until the end. I hope Susan continues to write and gives us many more hours of enjoyment.

[Stephanie Daniels · Rating 1 out of 5]

This story was incredibly slow. I usually fly through books, but I kept getting bored with this one so is forget it and read some others then come back when I had nothing else to read...

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A different take on the post apocalypse. That's welcome. Other than that, nothing special, but not bad.

[Barry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Telepathic Mills and Boon.