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Days of Want #1
Turbulent
In an instant, everything stops. No lights. No phones. No transportation.
When an EMP attack wipe out the nation’s power grid and communications, college freshmen, Maddie Langston, is forced to run for her life.
Stranded in a Chicago airport when the lights go out, Maddie is in a race against time. According to her father, she doesn’t have long before the city descends into chaos. She must leave the airport before it is too late.
Although she knows she must flee the Windy City, Maddie’s first battle is to overcome her fear of the violence she knows is coming. She’s a fighter; she just doesn’t know it yet.
The perilous journey out of the city becomes even more difficult when Maddie takes responsibility for an orphaned ten-year-old girl. Together, as chaos fills the streets, they must fight to survive in a Turbulent new world.
Would you have what it takes to survive?
This heart-stopping post-apocalyptic thriller is the first book in T. L. Payne's Days of Want Series.
Get it Now!
PUBLISHER’S Turbulent has recently undergone a second round of professional edits to take care of those pesky typos.
OTHER BOOKS BY BESTSELLING AUTHOR T.L. PAYNE
Days of Want SeriesHuntedTurmoilUprisingUpheavalMayhemDefiance
Gateway to Chaos SeriesSeeking SafetySeeking RefugeSeeking JusticeSeeking Hope
Fall of Houston SeriesNo Way OutNo Other ChoiceNo Turning BackNo SurrenderNo Man's Land
When an EMP attack wipe out the nation’s power grid and communications, college freshmen, Maddie Langston, is forced to run for her life.
Stranded in a Chicago airport when the lights go out, Maddie is in a race against time. According to her father, she doesn’t have long before the city descends into chaos. She must leave the airport before it is too late.
Although she knows she must flee the Windy City, Maddie’s first battle is to overcome her fear of the violence she knows is coming. She’s a fighter; she just doesn’t know it yet.
The perilous journey out of the city becomes even more difficult when Maddie takes responsibility for an orphaned ten-year-old girl. Together, as chaos fills the streets, they must fight to survive in a Turbulent new world.
Would you have what it takes to survive?
This heart-stopping post-apocalyptic thriller is the first book in T. L. Payne's Days of Want Series.
Get it Now!
PUBLISHER’S Turbulent has recently undergone a second round of professional edits to take care of those pesky typos.
OTHER BOOKS BY BESTSELLING AUTHOR T.L. PAYNE
Days of Want SeriesHuntedTurmoilUprisingUpheavalMayhemDefiance
Gateway to Chaos SeriesSeeking SafetySeeking RefugeSeeking JusticeSeeking Hope
Fall of Houston SeriesNo Way OutNo Other ChoiceNo Turning BackNo SurrenderNo Man's Land
232 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 270 reviews
February 11, 2020
If an EMP attack means I don't have to see any more of Trump's idiotic Tweets, then bring it on.
First, the good stuff. T.L. Payne has a simple, easy-to-read writing style and has edited out almost all typos and grammos (yes, I invented that word). Umm. That's about it for the good stuff.
It seems EMP attack is flavour of the month, or year. There are literally dozens of novels based around this form of apocalypse. This probably isn't the best of them. There just hasn't been enough thought (common sense thought, that is) put into this story. Too much suspension of belief required.
It's all too coincidental. Maddie's family is separated and she is alone at O'Hare airport when the EMP thing goes down. Planes falling out of the sky, is believable, but our little Maddie just happens to be a Doomsday Prepper's daughter. She just happens to have been trained for EMP attack 'cos she just happens to have her cell phone in a Faraday backpack. (How did her father know it would be an EMP attack and not straight invasion or biological warfare?) She also just happens to have her "go bag" which may or may not be the aforementioned Faraday backpack. A Go Bag being full of survival stuff that probably wouldn't be allowed on an aircraft anyway. She just happens to be a long-distance cross country runner too. Lucky for her.
Our super-girl Maddie runs to her uncle's place in Marseilles, Illinois, using side roads and trails in just TWO and a bit days. Now that's a distance of over 80 miles (130 Kms) and she has to drag along a little girl half her size and age too! Also she spends a lot of that time being unconscious, recovering in bed, shooting at people, or kidnapped too. C'MON!
Let's not forget the most important fact: why would countries (probably N. Korea) launch an EMP attack against the USA. Don't those dills know that the US has a fleet of nuclear-armed submarines ready to blow the sh*t out of anyone who'd do that. Wouldn't there be a follow-up ground invasion of the US? I wanna KNOW these things. WHY? WHY? WHY?
Lastly, when Maddie makes it to her uncle's fully self-sufficient farm in Marseilles, the lights are on at his place. HOW? Does he have a EMP-proof generator. Solar power isn't going to work. WTF?
There are five more books in this series, and while I encourage T.L. Payne to keep on writing (something I applaud in anybody), I hope more thought went into them.
First, the good stuff. T.L. Payne has a simple, easy-to-read writing style and has edited out almost all typos and grammos (yes, I invented that word). Umm. That's about it for the good stuff.
It seems EMP attack is flavour of the month, or year. There are literally dozens of novels based around this form of apocalypse. This probably isn't the best of them. There just hasn't been enough thought (common sense thought, that is) put into this story. Too much suspension of belief required.
It's all too coincidental. Maddie's family is separated and she is alone at O'Hare airport when the EMP thing goes down. Planes falling out of the sky, is believable, but our little Maddie just happens to be a Doomsday Prepper's daughter. She just happens to have been trained for EMP attack 'cos she just happens to have her cell phone in a Faraday backpack. (How did her father know it would be an EMP attack and not straight invasion or biological warfare?) She also just happens to have her "go bag" which may or may not be the aforementioned Faraday backpack. A Go Bag being full of survival stuff that probably wouldn't be allowed on an aircraft anyway. She just happens to be a long-distance cross country runner too. Lucky for her.
Our super-girl Maddie runs to her uncle's place in Marseilles, Illinois, using side roads and trails in just TWO and a bit days. Now that's a distance of over 80 miles (130 Kms) and she has to drag along a little girl half her size and age too! Also she spends a lot of that time being unconscious, recovering in bed, shooting at people, or kidnapped too. C'MON!
Let's not forget the most important fact: why would countries (probably N. Korea) launch an EMP attack against the USA. Don't those dills know that the US has a fleet of nuclear-armed submarines ready to blow the sh*t out of anyone who'd do that. Wouldn't there be a follow-up ground invasion of the US? I wanna KNOW these things. WHY? WHY? WHY?
Lastly, when Maddie makes it to her uncle's fully self-sufficient farm in Marseilles, the lights are on at his place. HOW? Does he have a EMP-proof generator. Solar power isn't going to work. WTF?
There are five more books in this series, and while I encourage T.L. Payne to keep on writing (something I applaud in anybody), I hope more thought went into them.
January 31, 2021
Great start to series!
This is my first book by the author. I definitely enjoyed it. Well written and good proofreading/editing. I how know enough about EMP's to want to learn more. It sounds like a very real threat. I am going to read the next book in the series now!
This is my first book by the author. I definitely enjoyed it. Well written and good proofreading/editing. I how know enough about EMP's to want to learn more. It sounds like a very real threat. I am going to read the next book in the series now!
September 25, 2019
Better than most...
I've read 100s of post apocalyptic novels and this is by far one of the better ones. The characters seem to have some real sense and don't go around doing stupid stuff that makes you hope things go badly for them. Looking forward to the next book in the series.
I've read 100s of post apocalyptic novels and this is by far one of the better ones. The characters seem to have some real sense and don't go around doing stupid stuff that makes you hope things go badly for them. Looking forward to the next book in the series.
July 31, 2019
While there’s not a whole lot of new ideas here the story is still really good. I read and listen to a ton of SHTF and post apocalyptic type books. One sure way to get me interested in listening to your book is have Kevin Pierce narrate it. I am on of his voice groupies.
People say oh it’s awfully convenient how the characters have survival skills. Well yes it is! That’s what the book is about. People who were somewhat prepared by a loved one to survive in this type of situation. People who aren’t prepared die quickly and then the story ends with them. Lol
I will definitely continue this story. I want to know if Emma is ever reunited with any of her family. The poor child has gone through hell! I’m very interested in this Ryan character as well. I want him to be their moms love interest. We will see if I get my wish.... I don’t care that she’s already married. They see him as a father/uncle figure.
I was voluntarily provided this review copy at no charge by the author, publisher and or narrator.
People say oh it’s awfully convenient how the characters have survival skills. Well yes it is! That’s what the book is about. People who were somewhat prepared by a loved one to survive in this type of situation. People who aren’t prepared die quickly and then the story ends with them. Lol
I will definitely continue this story. I want to know if Emma is ever reunited with any of her family. The poor child has gone through hell! I’m very interested in this Ryan character as well. I want him to be their moms love interest. We will see if I get my wish.... I don’t care that she’s already married. They see him as a father/uncle figure.
I was voluntarily provided this review copy at no charge by the author, publisher and or narrator.
November 18, 2021
Be aware that the reading level for this book is for an eleven year old.
May 19, 2019
Turbulent review
Turbulent is the first excellent post apocalyptic survival book in the Days of Want series written by author T. L. Payne.
Turbulent is the first excellent post apocalyptic survival book in the Days of Want series written by author T. L. Payne.
June 21, 2026
I read this book in one day. It is the first in a series so the story isn't concluded, it's on-going. It is very relatable and plausible in today's political climate. However, it wasn't deep enough for me to get invested in the story line or characters. It's classified as an adult read, but seems more like a young adult.
January 21, 2020
It was a decent series.
The characters likeable to a degree I kept reading. Yet I didn’t really connect with them. Their problems were like a faded and long used bubble gum on repeat. The romance in the end not authentic.
It didn’t deliver much creativity and uniqueness in this genre and the characters weren’t outstanding either.
In the end the author forgot to complete the plot threat of why the EMP happened and how the rest of the world acted and reacted. The book instead focuses mainly and completely about Maddie and her close circle of family and friends. And still manages to delivery only superficial work.
The main prepper part is constructed on a diseased man and the story and their characters profit from it through the whole story. Yet, the salvation in starting from scratch appears almost at the end, when the plan of Maddies dad show their first cracks by unforeseen weather phenomenons.
Too late.
The characters likeable to a degree I kept reading. Yet I didn’t really connect with them. Their problems were like a faded and long used bubble gum on repeat. The romance in the end not authentic.
It didn’t deliver much creativity and uniqueness in this genre and the characters weren’t outstanding either.
In the end the author forgot to complete the plot threat of why the EMP happened and how the rest of the world acted and reacted. The book instead focuses mainly and completely about Maddie and her close circle of family and friends. And still manages to delivery only superficial work.
The main prepper part is constructed on a diseased man and the story and their characters profit from it through the whole story. Yet, the salvation in starting from scratch appears almost at the end, when the plan of Maddies dad show their first cracks by unforeseen weather phenomenons.
Too late.
June 28, 2020
Overall a good read, I'm glad to see a female lead in a post-apocalyptic novel. The fact that a child is in the story is another big plus. I wish the MC had been on the way to/from a race as her pack would have made more sense.
Pros: female MC, no lulls in the storyline, likable enough characters, no silly/annoying female movements, well edited
Cons: no strong connection to the MC and the secondary character (little girl) rarely talks so there is no connection at all to her (I told myself she was in shock so the story worked better). I dislike being put in the POV of the bad guys frequently. I think when the inevitable bad/good conflict happened the MC would have done a lot more even if the basic storyline remained the same (trying to not give spoilers).
All that being said I ordered the next novel and am looking forward to it. I expect I will read the whole series.
Pros: female MC, no lulls in the storyline, likable enough characters, no silly/annoying female movements, well edited
Cons: no strong connection to the MC and the secondary character (little girl) rarely talks so there is no connection at all to her (I told myself she was in shock so the story worked better). I dislike being put in the POV of the bad guys frequently. I think when the inevitable bad/good conflict happened the MC would have done a lot more even if the basic storyline remained the same (trying to not give spoilers).
All that being said I ordered the next novel and am looking forward to it. I expect I will read the whole series.
July 18, 2022
TL Payne is a new discovery for me. Having not read much EMP post apocalyptic novels, this author quickly captured me into her story of a young women navigating her way out of Chicago airport after an EMP strikes the Midwest. Payne quickly produces heart thumping action as Maddie Langston struggles to get out of the city and closer to her home in St. Louis. Payne shows a great depth of knowledge on survivalist techniques, military actions and societal breakdown. I found her story engaging, entertaining and pretty accurately told from a young woman's perspective. I really enjoyed the first book and immediately clicked the next one in the series.
July 14, 2019
Compelling read.
Kept my attention throughout, with well crafted characters and a snappy pace. Has a unique plot that doesn't copy other EMP disaster novels and I've read dozens of these. Altogether an enjoyable book. I'm looking forward to the next installment and can't believe I'll have to wait until 2019 for the third. My thanks to the author!
Kept my attention throughout, with well crafted characters and a snappy pace. Has a unique plot that doesn't copy other EMP disaster novels and I've read dozens of these. Altogether an enjoyable book. I'm looking forward to the next installment and can't believe I'll have to wait until 2019 for the third. My thanks to the author!
March 22, 2025
DNF
Into doomsday prep? This book is for you. It’s written by someone who looks down on the rest of us.
It is a bit insulting. In a matter of hours of a power outage, masses of people are violently raiding and looting? I’ve experienced power outages for days … and the level of panic and stupidity is nowhere near as portrayed here.
Into doomsday prep? This book is for you. It’s written by someone who looks down on the rest of us.
It is a bit insulting. In a matter of hours of a power outage, masses of people are violently raiding and looting? I’ve experienced power outages for days … and the level of panic and stupidity is nowhere near as portrayed here.
July 21, 2019
It was ok
I've read better than this , these all seem to follow the exact same pattern... far fetched, they start out good but rapidly turn rubbish
I've read better than this , these all seem to follow the exact same pattern... far fetched, they start out good but rapidly turn rubbish
September 19, 2022
This book is hard to put down and I was hooked after the first one. I kept wanting to know more about what was happening to the characters.
November 27, 2022
not for me
This book came up recommended based on my reading. I love apocalyptic fiction but the profanity and sexual content wasn’t what I wanted to read.
This book came up recommended based on my reading. I love apocalyptic fiction but the profanity and sexual content wasn’t what I wanted to read.
June 7, 2026
I would probably go 3.5 if the ratings would allow that. Imagine a time when at a split second, everything and everyway you typically live, gets flipped upside down. No electricity, no cell service, no nothing. At first, things are calm, but as time goes by, things become very crazy really fast. It's a fight for survival. The world becomes a dog eat dog, stealing, looting, murdering place. If you are a prepper, you may survive longer, if not, good luck lasting a day. This book is not far from what really could happen. The world is not our friend and wishes evil harm to us. Be prepared, be ready, people will go to great lengths to save their families and themselves
October 30, 2019
Too much back and forth between charade for my liking
June 23, 2024
A quick read. Post apocalyptic. EMP. Interesting factoids. Not the best writing style. Not likely to read further
July 26, 2026
Decent story with at least one too many pov’s. The editing needs serious attention, too. The editing gets better in the last few books.
July 16, 2019
I have read what seems like a hundred post apocalyptic novels from various authors. Some of them seem to be aimed at younger teenagers and this is one of them.
May 16, 2023
My overall impression of this book is “abrupt”. There is zero buildup to the event. It occurs on page 3, and society descends rapidly into complete anarchy. Based on my personal experiences throughout Covid, I don’t think society crumbles that quickly. It does crumble, but not within a few hours.
From minute one, Maddie seems exceedingly prepared for the event. She’s only 18, but she’s apparently a marathon runner who overpacks sports gels and energy beans when she travels for a race. And she packs her doomsday backpack as part of her carryon luggage.
She meets up with a couple and their 10yo daughter even though she can travel farther and faster on her own, and she ends up playing guardian to the kid for the rest of the book. At least this girl is the only one in the history of children who doesn’t complain. I have an 8yo and a 12yo, and they would have started complaining 30 minutes in, but Emma apparently doesn’t complain while keeping pace with a marathon runner. Okay.
There are multiple characters who are introduced who have absolutely no impact on the storyline. The book would not have missed them. I can only assume they’re being added in book 1 so they can be referenced in future books. But book 1 in a series should be a stand-alone that leaves you wanting more, not a book with weird filler that leaves you with questions that you don’t care to have answered.
I think the problem with this book is that it reads as though it was self-published. The author needed someone to go through and redline various parts, question why things were there, and be asked to flesh some things out. And it has to be said because it was driving me crazy, the overuse and capitalization of “That’d” was distracting.
The idea of this story was better than its execution. I will not be reading book 2.
From minute one, Maddie seems exceedingly prepared for the event. She’s only 18, but she’s apparently a marathon runner who overpacks sports gels and energy beans when she travels for a race. And she packs her doomsday backpack as part of her carryon luggage.
She meets up with a couple and their 10yo daughter even though she can travel farther and faster on her own, and she ends up playing guardian to the kid for the rest of the book. At least this girl is the only one in the history of children who doesn’t complain. I have an 8yo and a 12yo, and they would have started complaining 30 minutes in, but Emma apparently doesn’t complain while keeping pace with a marathon runner. Okay.
There are multiple characters who are introduced who have absolutely no impact on the storyline. The book would not have missed them. I can only assume they’re being added in book 1 so they can be referenced in future books. But book 1 in a series should be a stand-alone that leaves you wanting more, not a book with weird filler that leaves you with questions that you don’t care to have answered.
I think the problem with this book is that it reads as though it was self-published. The author needed someone to go through and redline various parts, question why things were there, and be asked to flesh some things out. And it has to be said because it was driving me crazy, the overuse and capitalization of “That’d” was distracting.
The idea of this story was better than its execution. I will not be reading book 2.
February 2, 2020
I tried really hard, but I couldn’t bring myself to suspend reality long enough to finish more than half of the book. Setting aside the scientific impossibility of what happened, or the psychological issues that would have arisen and hindered the characters if they had witnessed all that they had seen, I truly hope that our society isn’t as intellectually, emotionally, and morally stunted, such that this book could be even a tiny bit plausible. I am sure that similar events could take place, but I think that the author would do well to do some research into this subject, in order to build a more plausible scenario and consider the psychological and sociological impact that these kind of events would have, so that the characters could be given a more realistic timeline, along with the depth and possibilities that the characters deserve.
July 17, 2021
For a self published book, this is rather interesting. There are some typos and uncapitalized sentences, but overall that did not distract from the story. In the early chapters, I found the tedious detail a bit hard to take, but that improved as the book went on.
The story is about an EMP over the United States. At the time it strikes, the family at the center of the story are all in different places in the country. Mom is away taking care of her sick mother, the girl, Maddie, is in the Chicago airport and the son Zach was on a field trip with his high school class. Each of them attempts to get to a save haven as chaos breaks out in the cities. Just by chance, their father was a prepper and taught the kids terrific survival skills. In a situation like this one, those skills come in very handy. Still, I liked the book and plan to buy the next one in the series.
The story is about an EMP over the United States. At the time it strikes, the family at the center of the story are all in different places in the country. Mom is away taking care of her sick mother, the girl, Maddie, is in the Chicago airport and the son Zach was on a field trip with his high school class. Each of them attempts to get to a save haven as chaos breaks out in the cities. Just by chance, their father was a prepper and taught the kids terrific survival skills. In a situation like this one, those skills come in very handy. Still, I liked the book and plan to buy the next one in the series.
March 16, 2022
Could’ve Been Good
This could have been very good. The setting and the plot sparked my interest, but unfortunately, there were way too many points of view jumping around. Also, the main protagonists form of speech changed. Things like going from “I am not” to “ain’t”, as if suddenly acquiring an accent that didn’t exist in previous chapters. It’s the sort of thing that throws you out of the story. There are other books in the series and perhaps the author has more confidence during this progression, but for this first book I found the writing to be sloppy and annoying.
This could have been very good. The setting and the plot sparked my interest, but unfortunately, there were way too many points of view jumping around. Also, the main protagonists form of speech changed. Things like going from “I am not” to “ain’t”, as if suddenly acquiring an accent that didn’t exist in previous chapters. It’s the sort of thing that throws you out of the story. There are other books in the series and perhaps the author has more confidence during this progression, but for this first book I found the writing to be sloppy and annoying.
August 4, 2019
This story fits the formula for dystopian fiction, including the cliffhanger ending. Kevin Pierce performs as expected, but I simply cannot evaluate an unfinished story.
Note: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Note: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
December 21, 2020
Disappointing
I was looking forward to this book to read scenarios of what could potentially happen someday. The reason I did not finish it and gave it one star was the foul language. In my opinion that does not improve a book but takes away from it
I was looking forward to this book to read scenarios of what could potentially happen someday. The reason I did not finish it and gave it one star was the foul language. In my opinion that does not improve a book but takes away from it
October 25, 2021
So So
I didn’t feel like the author explored the characters enough for me to get to know them better. I also felt like the situations were “blunt”. I would of liked more details. Like when Emma’s parents were killed. Um, one paragraph?
I didn’t feel like the author explored the characters enough for me to get to know them better. I also felt like the situations were “blunt”. I would of liked more details. Like when Emma’s parents were killed. Um, one paragraph?
November 13, 2019
Doesn't make sense
Considering this book is about an emp, how can vehicles, televisions, etc be working? Glad I did pay for it.
Considering this book is about an emp, how can vehicles, televisions, etc be working? Glad I did pay for it.
February 28, 2022
Seriously went out and bought a "Get Home Bag"
Displaying 1 - 30 of 270 reviews