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Vigilante: Book One: Into the Darkness
VIGILANTE: BOOK ONE: INTO THE DARKNESS
by Cliff Deane
Colonel Levi Levins retires from the Army and is off on vacation before starting his new job in the civilian world. After serving all around the globe during his military career, he is ready to finally live the good life with his beloved wife, Sarah. But fate has other plans and when a solar flare knocks out the grid, Levi must not only survive, but find a way to help humanity to keep his own sanity. Since he is on vacation, Levi has no bug out bag, no hidden weapons cache, no transportation. What does he do, and how does he do it? Levi will walk us through his path to survival. Perhaps it may also be yours...
Vigilante: Into the Darkness takes us on a journey to try to stave off the New Dark Age brought on by a worldwide EMP apocalypse. Can Government survive when no food is being trucked to the masses? Can our military survive without the tons of food needed each and every meal? The answers are here. Vigilante: Into the Darkness pulls no punches when it comes to the horrific details of a worldwide grid down situation, from the effect on the food chain from ants to rats. With so many dead, how do the survivors deal with rotting corpses, diseases, and villains? Will good triumph over evil? Maybe...
EXCERPT
29 March
Defense 101
Kill Devil Hills, NC
A block from Virginia Dare Trail, Levi found a sporting goods store and thought, well, well, well, my personal little weapons depot. Of course, a Walmart Superstore would have been ideal, but none were available close by.
He entered the store and found the owner standing guard over his merchandise. “We’re closed until the power comes back on, please come back then.”
In his most polite and soothing voice Levi said, “Sir, the lights will not be coming back on for years. The entire grid is fried, as are cars, and cell phones. Didn’t you see the smoke trails from crashed planes? No one is coming to help you.
“My best advice to you is to leave, don’t lock the door and you might save the windows, as if that should ever become important. Go home, gather the family, hug them to you, and get out of town. I suggest bicycles, even though others will try to take them from you unless you are willing to shoot first.”
“Nonsense, this is just a power outage, and the power company will have it fixed soon,” the man said.
Levi looked down at the floor and said, “Sir, ok, you have been warned. Now, I have a problem that you can fix.”
The owner looked warily at Levi as he responded, “…and that would be?”
“Wonderful, now we can get down to business. I need a gun, but since you do not sell those, I would like to purchase an aluminum baseball bat. Do you have any for sale?”
“Well, yes, of course but my registers are locked.”
“Sir, I assure you that is of no concern. I will take one bat and pay you $25 cash. Is that a fair offer?”
“Well, yes, but they don’t cost that much, and I don’t have any change.”
Smiling now, Levi said, “Sir, I will pay you $25 in cash, right now,” and he reached into his back pocket retrieving his wallet and took out $30. Well, dang, I don’t have any fives, so I guess the price is now $30. Is that all right?”
“No, that’s too much, how about $20?” and with that Levi had his first weapon. He did feel sorry for the owner. Not for the price but because the man had, as yet, no inkling of the wrecking ball about to fall on his head. Oh, well.
by Cliff Deane
Colonel Levi Levins retires from the Army and is off on vacation before starting his new job in the civilian world. After serving all around the globe during his military career, he is ready to finally live the good life with his beloved wife, Sarah. But fate has other plans and when a solar flare knocks out the grid, Levi must not only survive, but find a way to help humanity to keep his own sanity. Since he is on vacation, Levi has no bug out bag, no hidden weapons cache, no transportation. What does he do, and how does he do it? Levi will walk us through his path to survival. Perhaps it may also be yours...
Vigilante: Into the Darkness takes us on a journey to try to stave off the New Dark Age brought on by a worldwide EMP apocalypse. Can Government survive when no food is being trucked to the masses? Can our military survive without the tons of food needed each and every meal? The answers are here. Vigilante: Into the Darkness pulls no punches when it comes to the horrific details of a worldwide grid down situation, from the effect on the food chain from ants to rats. With so many dead, how do the survivors deal with rotting corpses, diseases, and villains? Will good triumph over evil? Maybe...
EXCERPT
29 March
Defense 101
Kill Devil Hills, NC
A block from Virginia Dare Trail, Levi found a sporting goods store and thought, well, well, well, my personal little weapons depot. Of course, a Walmart Superstore would have been ideal, but none were available close by.
He entered the store and found the owner standing guard over his merchandise. “We’re closed until the power comes back on, please come back then.”
In his most polite and soothing voice Levi said, “Sir, the lights will not be coming back on for years. The entire grid is fried, as are cars, and cell phones. Didn’t you see the smoke trails from crashed planes? No one is coming to help you.
“My best advice to you is to leave, don’t lock the door and you might save the windows, as if that should ever become important. Go home, gather the family, hug them to you, and get out of town. I suggest bicycles, even though others will try to take them from you unless you are willing to shoot first.”
“Nonsense, this is just a power outage, and the power company will have it fixed soon,” the man said.
Levi looked down at the floor and said, “Sir, ok, you have been warned. Now, I have a problem that you can fix.”
The owner looked warily at Levi as he responded, “…and that would be?”
“Wonderful, now we can get down to business. I need a gun, but since you do not sell those, I would like to purchase an aluminum baseball bat. Do you have any for sale?”
“Well, yes, of course but my registers are locked.”
“Sir, I assure you that is of no concern. I will take one bat and pay you $25 cash. Is that a fair offer?”
“Well, yes, but they don’t cost that much, and I don’t have any change.”
Smiling now, Levi said, “Sir, I will pay you $25 in cash, right now,” and he reached into his back pocket retrieving his wallet and took out $30. Well, dang, I don’t have any fives, so I guess the price is now $30. Is that all right?”
“No, that’s too much, how about $20?” and with that Levi had his first weapon. He did feel sorry for the owner. Not for the price but because the man had, as yet, no inkling of the wrecking ball about to fall on his head. Oh, well.
231 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 25, 2019
156 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 17, 2018
Levi Levins is on a short vacation before starting his new job after just having retired from the military. What was an idyllic second honeymoon turns into a tragedy for all ages when the world is hit with a CME. Levi loses everything. The question is will he keep his humanity in these dark times?
Deane’s first book in the Vigilante series, Into the Darkness: American Post Apocalyptic EMP Thriller is an adult novel with the violence and language therein. It disappoints by being written on a seventh-grade level. While the English is impeccable it is very simplistic. What bothered me the most though were all the misplaced or missing quotation marks for conversations. That broke up the story and was distracting. There were also a couple of timeframe errors that had me going back and forth to make certain that I had not missed anything.
All in all, the story had potential but fell flat. I will not continue the series.
2 out of 5 stars.
Deane’s first book in the Vigilante series, Into the Darkness: American Post Apocalyptic EMP Thriller is an adult novel with the violence and language therein. It disappoints by being written on a seventh-grade level. While the English is impeccable it is very simplistic. What bothered me the most though were all the misplaced or missing quotation marks for conversations. That broke up the story and was distracting. There were also a couple of timeframe errors that had me going back and forth to make certain that I had not missed anything.
All in all, the story had potential but fell flat. I will not continue the series.
2 out of 5 stars.
August 8, 2017
Excellent book by this new author. The military portion of this book is spot on and believable. The addition of Katie adds a new dimension and helps soften the main character. Great read.
March 19, 2018
I am going to round up and give this a 3 for content.
I listened to "Vigilante: Into the Darkness", narrated by K. A. Rood on audible. This is a dystopian style story. The novel starts with a married couple out for a get-a-way trip together and hangs a "left at Albuquerque." Right at the start of the story it gets bad and we follow the MC through a series of events that nearly force our modern world into the abyss. What would happen if suddenly all aspects of our modern life came crashing to a halt?
Deane, nails the aspects of a post apocalyptic EMP caused future. He must have some experience in the world of "prepping" because this book almost lays out a "how to" survival guide for dealing with an 18th century style world. What do you do about food, water, health and safety? Would emergency services still continue to operate and would civility reign or would society breakdown into an every man for himself struggle? If you want an insight into the world of prepping and some ideas on what to plan for, then this story will feed your hunger.
If Deane, nails it on post EMP life, he misses it on the story telling. The characters are flat and fall into cookie cutter stereotypes. The dialogue throughout feels like a bad play with little intriguing interaction between characters. The scenarios that Deane proposes, are on the money, but our MC never struggles and the "good guys" always win. In this story all the "bad guys" are idiots that can't think or plan ahead. Lee Child is able to allow his Reacher character to succeed, but in ways that we love or feel are challenging despite knowing Reacher will always win in the end. In "Vigilante" our MC will always get a good deal, and everyone always wants to be his friend but it is way too easy.
K.A. Rood read this story and parts of it were painful. His normal reading voice is pleasant enough, but his character voices were challenging to listen to. Everything sounded sort of "vaudeville" like and over the top. I always listen at a faster speed and this caused one of his voices to sound like Screech from "Saved by the Bell." This does not happen for many of the other readers I listen to weekly. 2/5 for him because his normal voice was still pleasant.
I received this edition in exchange for an unbiased review.
I listened to "Vigilante: Into the Darkness", narrated by K. A. Rood on audible. This is a dystopian style story. The novel starts with a married couple out for a get-a-way trip together and hangs a "left at Albuquerque." Right at the start of the story it gets bad and we follow the MC through a series of events that nearly force our modern world into the abyss. What would happen if suddenly all aspects of our modern life came crashing to a halt?
Deane, nails the aspects of a post apocalyptic EMP caused future. He must have some experience in the world of "prepping" because this book almost lays out a "how to" survival guide for dealing with an 18th century style world. What do you do about food, water, health and safety? Would emergency services still continue to operate and would civility reign or would society breakdown into an every man for himself struggle? If you want an insight into the world of prepping and some ideas on what to plan for, then this story will feed your hunger.
If Deane, nails it on post EMP life, he misses it on the story telling. The characters are flat and fall into cookie cutter stereotypes. The dialogue throughout feels like a bad play with little intriguing interaction between characters. The scenarios that Deane proposes, are on the money, but our MC never struggles and the "good guys" always win. In this story all the "bad guys" are idiots that can't think or plan ahead. Lee Child is able to allow his Reacher character to succeed, but in ways that we love or feel are challenging despite knowing Reacher will always win in the end. In "Vigilante" our MC will always get a good deal, and everyone always wants to be his friend but it is way too easy.
K.A. Rood read this story and parts of it were painful. His normal reading voice is pleasant enough, but his character voices were challenging to listen to. Everything sounded sort of "vaudeville" like and over the top. I always listen at a faster speed and this caused one of his voices to sound like Screech from "Saved by the Bell." This does not happen for many of the other readers I listen to weekly. 2/5 for him because his normal voice was still pleasant.
I received this edition in exchange for an unbiased review.
April 14, 2019
I Enjoyed This Book
The summary line might surprise you if you knew the book and that I am a Progressive Liberal. The book supports Constitutional Conservatives and designs a restart after a sun corona/EMP wipes out electronics worldwide and results in the end of the USA and death of most of the citizens. It describes being thrown into a world with predominantly 1850 technology except for what they salvage in the middle coastal south. But, really, in this screwed up world it is nice to imagine being thrown into a simpler world where you can define black and white, good and bad. It doesn’t hurt to have the model numbers and calibers to be specifically specified for the weapons.
There seemed to me to be a few flaws in some of the battle strategies but that is for you to decide for yourself. But, I have to say, for people so concerned about building a culture with a long future it surprised me that they did not mention scavenging the intact libraries to get books that would help them rebuild whatever technologies they thought useful for their descendants.
The summary line might surprise you if you knew the book and that I am a Progressive Liberal. The book supports Constitutional Conservatives and designs a restart after a sun corona/EMP wipes out electronics worldwide and results in the end of the USA and death of most of the citizens. It describes being thrown into a world with predominantly 1850 technology except for what they salvage in the middle coastal south. But, really, in this screwed up world it is nice to imagine being thrown into a simpler world where you can define black and white, good and bad. It doesn’t hurt to have the model numbers and calibers to be specifically specified for the weapons.
There seemed to me to be a few flaws in some of the battle strategies but that is for you to decide for yourself. But, I have to say, for people so concerned about building a culture with a long future it surprised me that they did not mention scavenging the intact libraries to get books that would help them rebuild whatever technologies they thought useful for their descendants.
April 28, 2018
Overall, the story has good "bones," but the plot and characters were severely underdeveloped. In the end it felt like a self-indulgent Rambo fantasy being lived out through fiction. I was very excited to listen to this book, I enjoy this genre and thoroughly enjoyed John Matherson series by William Forstchen, also a post-apocalyptic EMP thriller. But this one failed to impress. There was no depth to the characters, the plot was never fully developed, and the scenes with language and gore failed to contribute anything to the plot so they ended up being more for shock value than anything else. Listening to the audiobook, the narration was above average and executed well enough to hold my attention, but could've use more flexibility when narrating a variety of characters. But I would give this narrator another shot as I also didn't feel there was much to work with...***This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.***
October 12, 2018
A massive electromagnetic pulse destroys the not only the electric grids of the world, but any machine that uses electricity to function. Darkness envelopes the world and most of mankind descends into the darkness of brutality. That is the basis for the vigilante society that is built to restore the ideals of our constitution slowly and in stages. No it will not be instantaneous. The author has din view of the majority of humans. The brutality is stark. If you want a novel filled with fighting and man’s ability to inflict pain, this is your book. It is well written, but at times it was difficult to find much difference in the hero’s tactics than in the villains that hunger and lack of community can bring. Will this really be the fate of the world if such darkness descends? You’ll have to read it and decide for yourself. There are no real women in this novel. They are the weaker, second class as their appearance is brief and for the most part they are victims.
July 27, 2018
Sample review from verified purchaser:
A Post-Apocalyptic Fiction Masterpiece!
April 23, 2018
Format: Kindle Edition
|
Verified Purchase
This is the first book of Post-Apocalyptic Fiction that I’ve read that I couldn’t put down.
The pace, the plot, the Military realism, the compelling characters…it all comes together
beautifully. The mention of a CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) as the event that causes this Post-
Apocalyptic world is real. A CME in the 1850’s (The Carrington Event) almost destroyed the only lines
that were up at the time…the Telegraph. With characters like Levi Levins…the unforgettable hero
in the setting up of the ROA, Ralph Bassett, the 1st President of the ROA, Levi’s adopted daughter,
Katie, and many others, Post-Apocalyptic America is in good hands! I’ve read books two and three
and have started Book 4. A great series! (Five Stars and Two thumbs up!)
A Post-Apocalyptic Fiction Masterpiece!
April 23, 2018
Format: Kindle Edition
|
Verified Purchase
This is the first book of Post-Apocalyptic Fiction that I’ve read that I couldn’t put down.
The pace, the plot, the Military realism, the compelling characters…it all comes together
beautifully. The mention of a CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) as the event that causes this Post-
Apocalyptic world is real. A CME in the 1850’s (The Carrington Event) almost destroyed the only lines
that were up at the time…the Telegraph. With characters like Levi Levins…the unforgettable hero
in the setting up of the ROA, Ralph Bassett, the 1st President of the ROA, Levi’s adopted daughter,
Katie, and many others, Post-Apocalyptic America is in good hands! I’ve read books two and three
and have started Book 4. A great series! (Five Stars and Two thumbs up!)
April 6, 2018
An interesting and somewhat gritty post apocalyptic EMP audiobook that makes you consider turning into a prepper. Though some of the actions and emotions in the book are a bit unrealistic, it is still an entertaining story that managed to keep my attention. The narrator did a really good job of bringing the characters to life and making the less believable parts seem realistic. An entertaining story that did manage to make me wonder just how I would survive should an EMP disaster happen.
March 27, 2018
Vigilante
Enjoyed the book. Good storyline, characters and I see the direction the author was going. It would have been easier to read if the characters spoke like "regular people" instead of English Professors. But that is my opinion.
Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
Enjoyed the book. Good storyline, characters and I see the direction the author was going. It would have been easier to read if the characters spoke like "regular people" instead of English Professors. But that is my opinion.
Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
April 8, 2018
EMP Thriller
Just finished reading the first book and couldn't put it down. This is one of the best books of this type that I have ever had the chance to read. Right from the start it's action packed and the story is fast paced and totally engrossing this is a must have if you like post apocalyptic books.
Just finished reading the first book and couldn't put it down. This is one of the best books of this type that I have ever had the chance to read. Right from the start it's action packed and the story is fast paced and totally engrossing this is a must have if you like post apocalyptic books.
March 14, 2024
A CME hits Earth and we are sent back about a hundred years technology wise, and we need to survive and rebuild. I loved the mayor and the security officer, and how many times the mayor tried to get his friend and security officer to stay even though he made it clear he was leaving after a year.
June 11, 2017
Very one dimensional
The idea is a good one but the characters are very one dimensional. Military personnel are good guys everyone else is not.
The idea is a good one but the characters are very one dimensional. Military personnel are good guys everyone else is not.
May 12, 2019
Outstanding book
Wasn't sure that this would be worth reading the way it is formatted but it is great. Not too far fetched and a great storyline.
Wasn't sure that this would be worth reading the way it is formatted but it is great. Not too far fetched and a great storyline.
July 9, 2019
Excellent Series! Recommend this series highly.
June 25, 2023
Loving this first book
Straight in, to a man that knows how to survive and is driven to help everyone survive.
Brutal at times but a real page turner.Finished in one night.Loved it.
Straight in, to a man that knows how to survive and is driven to help everyone survive.
Brutal at times but a real page turner.Finished in one night.Loved it.
November 13, 2020
I have listened to several of these and though this was a good story it was not realistic. I would love to believe people would work together like they do in this story, but in reality humans do not, everyone has their idea of how things should run. Power, Greed, Pride have a tendency to overrun good sense and then things go downhill. This is more of a Idealistic story then actual.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews