Holding Their Own II: The Independents

Holding Their Own #2

by Joe Nobody, E.T. Ivester (Editor)

The second in the series, Holding Their Own The Independents continues the saga of a young couple trying to survive in the post-apocalyptic American West. Unable to maintain rule of law, the federal government now faces an opposition movement and the threat of civil war. Bishop and Terri are drawn into the struggle and have to risk everything to save both an old friend and the country they love.

Genres: Post Apocalyptic, Fiction, Survival, Dystopia, Apocalyptic, Action

345 pages, Paperback

First published April 5, 2012

About the author

Joe Nobody (pen name for the author who wishes to keep his identity confidential) has provided systems, consulting and training for the U.S. Army, Department of Homeland Security, Office of Naval Research, United States Border Patrol as well as several private firms and government agencies which cannot be disclosed.
He is currently active in this area and for the security of his family and ongoing business, wishes to remain anonymous.

He has over 30 years of competitive shooting experience, including IPSC, NRA, and other related organizations. He has been a firearms instructor and consultant for over 30 years and holds the rights to a United States Patent for a firearms modification.

Joe initially became involved in helping private citizens "prepare" at the request of his students and clients. A conscientious instructor, he would always inquire as to why they wanted to learn certain skills or techniques and often the response was to prepare for more than just simple home invasion or self-defense. If you ask Joe what his greatest attribute is, he will tell you he is a "problem solver" and uses his formal education in Systems Engineering to this end.

"As the economy worsens, world tensions rise, and the modern media propagates bad news faster than ever before, more and more people want to prepare. I wrote HOLDING because it allows me to reach more of the good folks who are concerned about their security. I want them to sleep better at night knowing they have a plan of defense should the 'Event' ever occur."

Reviews

[RJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book two begins deciding the final disposition of the gold recovered from The Force after their demise. The existence of the gold has traveled far and wide and there are several people interested in possessing such. Even though gold is virtually worthless at the moment, there is the hope that the world may return to something resembling normal some day and gold may once again have value. As the tale continued a new group challenging the military and political control of the country made itself known. This resistance was comprised of 30% of the active military and 40% of the reserves. The resistance movement is known as The Independents. We will discover more about them, the important role they will play in future volumes, and what impact they will have on Bishop and Terri.

[Teresau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series!

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unfortunately, my edition had a few errors and spelling mistakes. Aside from that, a great continuation.

[ML Couch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of action

Good sequel, but leaves you hanging for the third installment. I did feel the author was more comfortable with this book. Looking forward to the next installment.

[Francis Piché · Rating 5 out of 5]

captivating

Very interesting series thus far. Worth the price i would say. Looking forward to read the other novels in the series.

[Caleb Neese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book

[BH Gill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Near unstoppable protagonist in an apocalyptic circumstance.

[Henry Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started the Holding Their Own series with the second novel because I listened to the Audible version and it sounded like the narrator of #1 was just awful.

So in this one, subtitled The Independents, the SHTF already, and folks are surviving as best they can.

The hero's name is Bishop. Not sure whether that's a first or last name, but it doesn't really matter. He and his wife have a small ranch hidden in a canyon in Texas, surviving and minding their own business. The story kicks off when a former military/intelligence colleague of Bishop's crash lands in a small plane after buzzing the hidden ranch.

"The Colonel" is seriously injured in the crash, and a whole bunch of other stuff is triggered as well. The plot involves a Colombian drug lord , a kidnapped girl, a treasure in gold, and a frustrated doctor without the right tools and materials to help his patients...just to name a few.

The adventure factor made this the most fun I've had in the genre since reading The Last Ranger and Doomsday Warrior series as a young man, though there are no radioactive mutants or B-movie villains in this one.

Where the author shines is in his characters. Bishop is smart and skilled. Not invincible, but he doesn't cause me to groan like so many heroes in the genre, either. He faces some pretty intimidating odds at different points, and enjoys good luck for sure, but his triumph is entirely plausible as written. What's more, I actually liked the character of his wife in this book. Most female protagonists in the genre are written in a way that causes me to roll my eyes and skip ahead. But this one is the kind of woman you'd want to have in such a situation.

Well, frankly she'd be a prime catch for any man in the western world these days, but especially in a frontierish survival scenario.

Mr. Nobody has made me a return customer with this book.

[Lucas Hamasaki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as the first book. While I understand that the author wants to build a strong, cohesive context/universe - and I appreciate that - sometimes I feel like it's way overdone

The main character, Bishop, has no clear goal, he keeps going from one adventure to another. Which would be interesting if he were a young man with no responsibilities, but he's not. I like the fact that he's smart enough to understand that he's very lucky and that the future depends not on individual success, but on rebuilding society... but then he goes and abandons the town they have and pretty much decides to do it all on his own.

He also keeps getting caught. Luckily, by good people. Because he's lucky. Because luck.

I AM enjoying the series, but I feel like these books have the potential to be MUCH better. Instead, they feel almost a bit schizophrenic. Bishop is awesome. He doesn't have to bring down hundreds of armies for the books to be amazing.

[Clifford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good follow up book. I think it may have been rushed as it leaves off at a bad point. There are too many unanswered questions left. While it helps to sell sequels; I would rather wait longer and get a complete book instead of just pieces. Overall it does a good job in character introduction and follow through, with a reasonably believable story line. An enjoyable read, just wish it was complete.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not as good as the first one. The chapters end and begin randomly. It jumps around from character to character. The plot itself wasn't terrible. The layout however made this painful to finish. It seemed to get worse toward the end.

[Tbone · Rating 4 out of 5]

great book as part 2 of this great series that portrays what happens to the US and to a Texas military couple when society breaks completely down. These books are fictional but they really make you think. Great stuff

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the first one - but sequels are usually not - still readable still a good TEOTWAWKI book!

[Brad Theado · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, but I didnt love it like I loved the first one. The book got bogged down in the political stuff, just like the real world, too much government makes for an f'upped environment.

[Bronwyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This trilogy freaked me out a bit, but I couldn't stop reading it. I fully understand that something like this could happen, but sure as hell hope it does not.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good action in this book and can't wait to start the next in the series.

[Ruth Murphy-Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still liking the series.

[Michele Parrish]

Excellent book on survival!

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second in the series, not quite good as the first one because of a lot of political stuff (like IRL), plot still interesting. Packed with a lot of actions.
Keep going on Book 3 :-)

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the additional character development in this installment. There was a lot added to the story arc in this book and it is making this seem to be well worth the time to read.

[Tadd Gestrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read. More an action adventure tale than a tale of survival, this book was a great follow up to the first in the servies.

[Sandy Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best

[Deborah McCloskey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joe Nobody's writing is very good, but sometimes he puts a chapter at the beginning of the book that doesn't go with the story until later in the book, otherwise, it's fast-paced, action-packed, and has very good dialog between characters. You can learn a lot about self-defense and survival in any circumstance be it storm, earthquake, or other disaster