Rules of Survival

Survival Rules #1

by Jack Hunt

He hated the rules until the power grid failed.Tyler Ford is a tour guide, a brother, and the son of a prepper from Whitefish, Montana. Robbed of a childhood and forced to learn his father’s stringent rules of survival for every kind of apocalypse, he couldn’t wait to leave home, but when an EMP obliterates the United States electrical grid, takes out communication and stalls vehicles, Tyler must face the past and remember what he taught him if he hopes to make it out of Vegas alive. When chaos erupts, will you know the rules to survive?Erika Lyons just wanted an evening away from the hectic world of hotel management but she got more than she expected. There’s only one thing worse than a bad date, that’s relying on them to keep you alive. Demanding guests were a challenge, desperate ones, pure hell. As food stops being delivered, vehicles clog up the streets, and society begins to unravel, sin city could be the most dangerous place in America.In a world without power, fighting to stay alive may be the only rule that matters.With no warning, no communication, and planes falling out of the sky, the Ford’s may be the only ones who know what it takes to thrive. Can Tyler, and two ordinary strangers survive the perilous journey home to Montana? Can the Ford family hold it together long enough to push back the tide of violence, looters and roving gangs? And will they help the community survive as the world is thrown into darkness?Rules of Survival is book one in Survival Rules, a post-apocalyptic EMP thriller series following the Ford family and their community as they fight to survive after an EMP destroys the nation’s power grid.

Genres: Apocalyptic, Dystopia, Survival, Fiction, Post Apocalyptic, Thriller, Science Fiction

432 pages, Paperback

Published February 22, 2019

About the author

Jack Hunt is the international bestselling author of over seventy thriller novels. He's been ranked #1 in the Amazon charts in multiple thriller, mystery, crime, and science fiction genres. He's also been named a Kindle Unlimited All-Star. He's married with two children. Jack lives on the East coast of North America.

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Reviews

[Fred Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

EMP SURVIVAL THRILLER

This is the first book and series that I have read written by Jack Hunt, and to say the least, I really enjoyed this book and have already started the second in this series.

I hope you will enjoy reading this book as much as I have.

[Misty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick read that held my attention long enough to keep turning the pages, but in the end it offered nothing particularly new or noteworthy. What is so infuriating is the number of post apocalyptic novels with myriad errors in basic punctuation—and though it may fare a tad better than some, this was no exception. When did it become acceptable to publish what reads like unedited copy? Either many authors are forgoing the editing process, or there are a significant number of editors out there making a buck for rubber stamping what they get without bothering to read it. A third possibility is that folks are hanging out an “EDITOR” shingle without any knowledge of the rules of grammar, spelling, or punctuation. In the end, fans of the genre will find this rather formulaic and without anything to distinguish it from the rest of the pack.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those who are familiar with the prepper scenarios, Jack Hunt does a great job setting up all of the elements for disaster. With the development of these elements does come the familiar actors like the son, or in this case sons, of a prepper the town dismissed as crazy, a big city that goes dark overnight and a government completely in disarray, not responsive at all and leaving countless millions to figure out their fate overnight. I'll leave the rest for others to discover, but it was a good read and I'm already on the next book in the series.

[Alisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay...

But it's a bit like all the others. The story is good, the characters are ok, and the writing is done well. I do think there should be a rule that if you're over 19 you shouldn't be allowed to try to make up new slang. Cause some of the "slang" in this book just didn't work.

[Michael Cowan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. I hate the multiple stories

I just want a book focused on some dudes fight to survive. But these books always have 10 different stories and jumping around to other viewpoints. I don't care about the back story of random criminals or some pregnant couple.

You dont need to jump all over to explain the effects of an emp. One perspective is enough. The rest is just filler.

[Elaine and Tess the Springer. I won’t be on GR for a bit. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great.

A very enjoyable read as usual from Jack Hunt and I really liked the characters that were meant to be liked. A book that is easy to read and a storyline that makes you turn the pages.

[Pam Shelton-Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is a fairly standard and common plot with good guy far from home, really bad guys on the loose, but the characters in this are a little better than average. I like Tyler, though it is slow to get to know him and he has a great bug-out bag and really great aunt and uncle. The bad guys, at least one of them, even though he is a really bad person, has a plan, a code and is a little less one dimensional than other villains in similar plots. Erika is very annoying for the most part, though I suspect she is meant to be and she does change a bit as the story progresses. She is like that person who in a real disaster is used to being in charge and getting his or her way so when the situation is out of their control, they just stomp their foot and yell. Nate is a bit of a mystery as the the neer-do-well but can step up. I was a little disappointed that we didn't see anything about the journey from Midway, Utah to Whitefish. I've driven from Salt Lake City to Glacier NP a number of times and it is a long distance. Surely something happened to that Vegas to Whitefish group on the trip.

[Bertha Ivins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good prepper book I just bought the rest of the series so I can continue with it.

[Teal Wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

This book delivered everything I wanted it to, everything it promised. Good story, interesting characters, and everything that makes me want to read the next book.

[Cory Greenfield · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is pissing me off. There are too many characters. The prisoners could have been left out of the book or at least nothing about them until way later. Cory seems like a idiot by blatantly disregarding his father. Cory even knows what is happening but he still wants to look for the plane crash. Are you freaking kidding me. Now he even knows it’s a plane of prisoners that crashed. This story needs to be cleaned up a bit. I don’t believe anyone would ever look for a plane crash full of prisoners. I’m getting super kissed about this book. I spent 15$ on a story line that contains the most willfully ignorant characters I’ve ever read. This needs to hurry up. Damn it. I was hoping this was gonna be good. Insert irate emoji

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad at all. Story revolves around two brothers, living in different states out west, who grew up under a strict, hardcore survivalist father. Both had grown to hate him and his constant lessons and tests; only to find out that all the hardship and instruction had actually came in handy. Getting out of Vegas and attempting to save the girl whom his date with just prior to the lights going out, which had gone horribly wrong, was much harder than merely looking out for himself.

The book makes an interesting though experiment as to the pros and cons of either ignoring everyone else and optimizing time to ensure your own survival, or taking the time and energy to help others.

[Amanda Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Horrible FLC

If I could vote on a FLC that I would absolutely take great joy in abandoning without supplies or protection in an apocalypse it would be Erika. There's not even a close runner up. Also, Tyler is a weak, sniveling sorry excuse of a hero. I only hung in there bc I liked the storyline.

[Kay Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was a quick read. I liked that it had a few plots from a few characters that came together. It made it a quicker read because it was suspenseful in having a few stories coming together. I don't know how to explain it. Instead of getting tired of one drama, you switch between them and it gets less exhausting. Even if a story is really good, sometimes going on focusing on one topic can get emotionally draining so it's good to break it up.

I liked how he described the mind set and opinions of all the characters when he was focused on them.

This story have me a lot to think about. Are you safe anywhere when society collapses? I would think the suburbs and the wilderness would be safer, but there can be danger anywhere. I would think I don't feel comfortable with protection, but we might need it after all.

My criticisms are is that he didn't describe visuals enough for me. The book I read before this one described the scenery way too much. Do I feel like Goldy locks. Too much, too little.

Sometimes things were explained in a summary way. It makes things feel less intense or emotional.

He was good at describing action scenes. However, the way the visual setup of what was happening confused me in a few scenes. I feel it needed to be described better.

One character was supposed to be very upset at someone, and the author wrote a bit about their negative experiences, however, to me it didn't seem that bad. I think the author needed to do a better job at describing the hurt because I wasn't feeling it.

I'm just giving a few critiques, but overall the book was an entertaining and quick read that was well pieced together. I know it's a part of a series. This book is the first book in the series.

[Ahw · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another post EMP disaster novel from the same author. Quite a niche.
I could almost duplicate my review.
It is okay. If you like this kind of thing (I do).
It has some of the same problem. At one time the father is described as a health nut survivalist. He looked 10 years younger than he was because he didn't smoke or drink ... yet many, many other times he was described as having a drinking problem after his wife died.
Sometimes things just didn't hold up.

If ALL electronic cars are immediately disabled. The cell phones probably are too. Yes, the auther says they can't use the cell phones to make calls, but they do use the flash light app.... that app uses the microchip too. I think night vision googles use electronics too. But our hero has them.

I did like the characters (for the most part). I liked the pacing and the action and the disaster.
The author can write ok. It's just not at the level to call it a great book.

[Shanna Tidwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jack is always amazing at pulling you in and weaving a great story. I have to say please do something about Erika! She is not very likable at the moment! Uggg I want to slap her! Tyler should have abandoned her entitled ass a long time ago. She has very few redeeming qualities so far.
The story has been really good. I can understand why the brothers hated their dad. Some of the ways he taught them survival were borderline abusive. It’s going to be hard to like him too.
Solid story, great advice for anyone starting out reading this type of book and wanting to learn.
Narration was excellent by Miles Meili. I believe this is the first book I’ve listened to by him.

I was voluntarily provided this review copy at no charge by the author, publisher and or narrator.

[Ami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good world-building and although it took most of the book to accomplish the main characters except one were fairly well developed. The plot was interesting and kept me reading straight to the end. There are a few grammatical errors but I was able to overlook. There were only a couple of things I would change if I had the power, 1- the gun battle lasted way to long with far to many bullets for one or two guns. 2- remove the profanity. Otherwise, I recommend Rules of Survival to any apocalypse/dystopian fans and I definitely plan to read the next book in the series.

Read via Kindle Unlimited

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great characters

One of the things that drew me into this novel was the conflict between Tyler and his father. It felt realistic to have estranged family dynamics present in a family where such a focus on prepping took place. The journey to Whitefish is quick, which is unusual for this genre, leaving room for the focus of the story to be on the family coming together to fight off the threat that looms. I love how Jack Hunt always seems to find a new way to present his apocalyptic stories, his original visions are refreshing and truly enjoyable. Now on to book two!! I can't wait to see how this plays out!!!!

[Cindy Ploesser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing

Action packed. Keeps you involved in what is going on. Plausible scenarios. Things like an emp are possible, either through a nuclear burst or in another firm from the sun's occasional increased activity. Think about what would occur if that happened. Delivery of necessities would stop. Government would collapse. Humanity would fall into lawlessness. People who can't provide for themselves and their families would either become lawless or they would die. Mother nature would eliminate the weak. It would throw the world back into the 1700's. Like where this story might be headed. Interesting to see how authors roll with this sort line.

[John R. Harley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great Fantasy book - Even stretching my imagination, I cannot find any realism in it. As an example, the escaped convicts had access to only a few guns yet when Cody has the shoot out with Marcus, the convict was able to fire many many rounds - so many that Cody had a very difficult time reacting. Another example is where Erica is firing her weapon many many times even after the statement was made that they were low on ammo because two backpacks had been stolen earlier.
Inconsistencies like this ruin what could be a good story.

[Maryjane · Rating 3 out of 5]

FRUSTRATING

The story was well written, the world recognizable, the characters relatable and the plot exciting if post-apocalyptic books are you thing. BUT, the fact that 90% of the book was split in a 4 way monologue and the main female character was annoying nearly ruined the book for me. In fact I told my husband I wasn’t going to read any of the others. However, towards the very end it seemed her character was in transition and the 4 way monologues had converged so since it’s a free read I’m going to it check out. Maybe the next one is more to my liking.

[Bill Moses · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable Read

So many books on this subject are written so unrealistically, populated by characters who are unable or unwilling to accept how things will change if/when this happens. These characters rush from chaotic situation to chaotic situation, never Learning from their mistakes. This book was a breath of fresh air, the characters seemed to actually learn as the storyline progressed. I enjoyed this book and will actually read a second book in this series. Thank you for writing a thoroughly interesting book, Later!

[Nancy Portz · Rating 5 out of 5]

An action packed read

One of the most chilling parts of this story is it could have been caused by the sun. Our sun has been quite active lately and has been estimated to stay that way for a good part of 2024. It wouldn't even take a nuclear explosion above us to take out our electricity. Our sun, our beloved source of warmth and comfort, could very well be the end of us. Jack Hunt does a great job of showing us how ordinary people would probably react, should such an event occur. I love how he draws us into the story.

[Jinnie Lettkeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Book, But the Lists...

Great story, and the author has done his homework. Spot on with the emergency management stuff. The only negative I really have is that there would be a bunch of things named (like the contents of Tyler’s bugout bag) and it would be like a page long! That happened 3 or 4 times. I wonder what kind of lists we’ll get in the next book. Worth the read though. I recommend.

[Ian Denner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointed

I am a little disappointed with this book. Normally I judge a good book on a few key points, and this book failed one of the major ones. In the first few chapters the author introduced us to too many different characters without "fleshing out" the main character. If and when that happens I tend to lose interest very quick and sadly that is what happened here. Too many different characters, too many different plot points.

[Lana Mccall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

This is an interesting beginning of a good story, going on a blind date. There is intrigue and action. Enemies become friends, exs become enemies and they must stick together if they want to survive.

I was a little disappointed the writer skipped over the trip from Midway to Whitefish. There was so much promise of more adventure in the trip, oh well. Missed opportunities.

Overall it was a ood book.

[Cynthia S Bonczynski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Realistic and full of great information

Jack's characters are so realistic it's like it's a real-life story. The lessons they've learned throughout their lives either haunt them or help them. The situation they're thrown into is such a real threat and how each of them responds and adapts or fails makes for a great tale. I found this book so hard to put down and when I had to if find myself longing to be come immersed once again as soon as possible. Great job Mr. Hunt

[TomP · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it

Pretty good story so far. Only negatives I see are that they never seem to run out of bullets and the long lists made when describing things. For example: the description if the trip wires named every item that they used. Wire, battery, tape, battery holder , lightbulb, bulb holder, on and on. Pretty unnecessary detail. Also some language and grammar issues. Past tense of weave is not weaved, but wove. The story does get better as it progresses.

[Ronald D. Kline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow start

I think this is going to be a good series but it had to grow on me a little. It felt like there were too many groups and their individual stories introduced which made it difficult as a reader to really settle in and let the story take me. Jack Hunt is an amazing writer so I’m guessing since all of that is out of the way, he’ll. Ow get down to business and let the story unfold. I can’t wait to finish this review so I can start on the next book:)

[Glenn LaRue · Rating 5 out of 5]

A scary future

Reading about an EMP makes one think about how they would survive, if possible, in that type of world. The author’s writing is taunt and makes the reader want to know how they would react in such a situation. I might just consider buying a vehicle that does not all that fancy electronic gizmos just to have a backup vehicle. Can not wait to read book two in the series. Recommended

[RE Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot here is definitely intriguing, and I enjoyed it. The main reason I didn't give this a higher rating is because of the characterization and some moments where the writing felt a little clunky to me. This mostly showed up in Tyler, Nate, and Erica. They felt like college-aged kids to me, and every time their ages were pointed out, it was jarring.

Still, this is fast-paced and interesting, and I picked up the second book, as well.