Lights Out

Surviving the EMP #1

by Ryan Casey

When the lights go out, how far will you go to survive?

When an EMP devastates the nation's power supply, it doesn't take long for society to spiral out of control. There is no government to guide people. There is no power and no order. Only chaos and panic.

In the immediate aftermath of the devastation, five survivors--a self-sufficient survivalist, a university student, a plane crash survivor, a young girl, and an escaped prisoner--all face a dangerous, treacherous journey towards safety.

But as the day goes on and tensions reach breaking point, our survivors soon realise this solar event is far more dangerous than they could ever have imagined...

Lights Out is the first book in the Surviving the EMP post apocalyptic series chronicling five very different survivors and the way they handle disaster. If you enjoy stories of ordinary people thrown into devastating new circumstances, you'll love Lights Out.

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

295 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 22, 2019

About the author

Ryan Casey is the author of over a dozen novels and a highly successful serial. He writes gritty post-apocalyptic fiction, throwing normal people into devastating situations and exploring how they react and adapt. He has also written several detective mysteries and thrillers. Across all genres, Casey's work is renowned for its rapid pacing, unforgettably complex characters, and knockout twists.

Casey lives in the United Kingdom. He has a BA degree in English with Creative Writing from the University of Birmingham, and has been writing stories for as long as he can remember. In his spare time, he can be spotted walking his West Highland White Terrier, has a passion for cinema and television, and probably spends a little bit too much time in the pub.

For more information on Ryan's books, visit http://ryancaseybooks.com/

Want to be notified about new releases? Sign up for the new release mailing list & get free books and other goodies!
http://ryancaseybooks.com/fanclub

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Right off, I have to say I am baffled why a book that is written by someone from the UK, with obvious British terms and colloquialisms, would have an american narrator?! It doesn't fit at all, and creates dissonance for the reader/listener. I have read/listened to so many great books with British narrators, I am just at a loss.

In terms of the book content itself, this was a superficial, and barely developed story-line. The characters were not believable because they had no depth. The one guy messes around on his girlfriend, has never been able to settle, but suddenly realizes (for no known reason) in the midst of an apocalypse, that she is all that is really important in the whole world...oh, and Aunt Jean's cat. Come on. Oh, and everyone 'deals' with the whole world coming to a stop over the period of...an hour? It was painful. I can barely finish it. For someone who loves science fiction and especially dystopian fiction...I'm disappointed.

[Bernie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lights Out review

Lights Out is the first fast paced post apocalyptic survival book in the Surviving the EMP series written by author Ryan Casey.

[Britt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes yes yes yes yes. This is EXACTLY the apocalyptic fiction I’ve been looking for. No flowery, religious anecdotes, unrealistically long spans where the characters have time to reflect on the philosophy of the situation, and most importantly- no cheesy romance!

That’s not to say I hate all of those things, but when it comes to an apocalypse, especially an EMP (as in this series), there is no time for any of that. It’s about survival and the present moment. I want the nitty, gritty, realistic action, no matter how heart or gut wrenching. I want characters to show us what it takes to keep powering through these situations on their own or in small groups; I really think that the whole “our town/large group is coming together to survive!” plot is just not realistic, especially at the start of something like this. It’s going to be every man for themselves for quite a while.

The characters were realistic and I liked the variety of personalities and situations. At first it was a little hard to keep up with who was who, but I got used to it about halfway through. I also could have done without some of the emotional thoughts about ~who they are~ towards the end.

I also always love a book that takes place in one day. You feel so much more connected to the characters and more equipped to handle whatever the books situation is if you follow along with them through the entirety. I actually plan to work on an EMP-apocalypse series too some day, and I’ll definitely also make the first book take place just in the first day. I think you just have to for this kind of story.

I devoured this audiobook in 2 days! Never got sick of it. Sadly I have to wait until Sept. 1st to listen to the next one, as my Hoopla monthly quota is out. Womp womp. Will definitely figure out how to read more series from this author as well (as you’ll see if you follow me I rarely actually buy books, and when I do they’re used).

4 stars from me! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Sherron Wahrheit · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stories that unintentionally piss me off ALSO deserve one star and one finger. And you know which finger I mean!

Stuff in the book that grated on my nerves:

The characters are introduced “amongst” a smorgasbord of British terminology, which annoys me. But that’s actually my bad: I had assumed the story takes place in the United States, like 99 percent of all the post apocalyptic survival stories I’ve read, but—the story doesn’t take place in the United States at all. So then why did the publisher hire an American narrator who sounds JUST LIKE Mr Rogers? I realize that the author didn’t select the audiobook narrator, but I just have to mention it. A survival story narrated by Mr Rogers? That’s as unimaginable as Bob Ross painting some happy little clouds on Guernica.

But really, the major thing that pissed me off is the writing: a layering of appositives and repetitions, over and over again. The sentence fragments. That restate the same thing over and over again, so that a sentence worth of experience gets dragged out to occupy an entire chapter. I don’t know. Maybe that is actually an admirable writing style? After all, the narrative in The Hatchet (sorry-no embedded link) flows in similar chunks of repetition, and it won a Newbery Honor award. But speaking of children’s lit, I’ve chatted with elementary school children capable of more depth, complexity, dignity, and sensitively nuanced language than is in this book.

Even though the narrative prose put me off so much, I did check to see how the author handled the ending. I don’t like this current trend of authors ending a book with a manipulative “Hey you gotta buy the next book” cliffhanger. Which, of course, is how he ended the book.

[Kathi · Rating 1 out of 5]

So there are five people here.

a thirteen year old girl who has been not so nice to the people around her and now on this one day of the apocalypse realizes she needs to let people in.
and then there is this other girl who was mean to people around her and on this one day of the apocalypse realizes she needs to be nicer to people and to let them in.
and then there is the survivalist who hasnt been nice to people for a long time, but on this day he realizes he can be nicer to people.
and then there is the useless college student who hasnt been the nicest guy around, but he realizes why that is and is trying to do better on this day of the apocalypse.
and lastly the escaped prisoner who has always been bad to people and has a temper and he realizes that now he can be better.

...

then there is also the case that everyone gets knocked out at least twice or even more times and is kind of fine? They are all walking away from it.

Then there is the not really hidden "the young generation is useless"-rant and the young generation reacts to that bullshit with "oh okay I will stay and reform"

And lastly... the girl tells him to stay away and *another girl* tells him he cannot believe her and HAS to go after her. THAT is how stalker behaviour or worse starts. No thank you.
Suffice to say I am not even curious what happens from now on, which is sad bc it looked really promising at the beginning.

[Tsun Tsun · Rating 1 out of 5]

Started bad, got progressively worse, ended extremely cringe

[Nat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, here goes. I don't review a lot of books, but I can't get this one off my mind, so I am writing it all out. This book wasn't terrible. It flowed relatively well. Easy to follow and interesting and engaging enough to do so. The author, who I presume lives in the UK, really seems to be forcing that point. Not just with the setting and normal variances in phrases and words, but with a seemingly forced way of pushing as much evidence that this is occurring in England as possible, but though exposition-type lingo. Here's my problem; it feels like the author is that kid who did a study abroad or mission trip to another country and then suddenly the first 20 years of linguistic training and practice are shoved aside by the more exotic, novel lingo. "Does anyone want a burrrrrito? Oh, sorry, while I was in México on Spring break, I really assimilated to the culture there and now I just naturally roll that double 'r' or 'erre' as we call it." I don't know anything about the author, so he may be native to England, and if so, he has a knack for inserting every conceivable proof of it, but my bet would be that he is from somewhere else, like the US, but at some point moved to England and is trying really hard to make sure everyone knows he lives in England. Could be totally wrong, but it totally seemed forced.

The characters....they are all the same person. I know they aren't really, but tell me if this sounds familiar: "I live a certain way based on bad/traumatic experiences from my past, but now that the EMP happened, I have learned in this single day that I need to be who I truly am, not who I was pretending to be." Guess whose story that is...you're right, all the main characters'.

One thing that was done really well was that he made me hate the antagonists, such as the cops, store owner, escaped psych patients, etc., but I felt like a little reason or logical explanations from the protagonists could have solved a lot of problems, but the antagonists that are so annoying and easy to hate are so dense that it might have been futile to try to actually clearly explain anything to them. Either way, the author put in some ridiculous ways to get into or out of trouble, which made it impossible for the antagonists to see the simple facts and use common sense.

There wasn't a whole lot of depth to the characters, but I realize this is really just a set-up for the next books, but then maybe this should have just been the first part of a bigger book.

The book is set in pretty modern times, and I felt like that was casually placed in there without trying to hard to make it obvious or relying on some overt exposition, so, well done there.

Overall, not a bad story, just not a great one. I like post-apocalyptic themes because it's kind of fun to think about what we would have to figure out if all our basic conveniences were unavailable. The same story could basically have happened with a handful of other scenarios (not exactly, but the basic story), so there wasn't a whole lot of exploration into the scenario, but I'm sure that will happen in further books, too. Go ahead and read it if you want. It's not very long, so there's little investment for an adequate return.

I may come back and review my review, but for now, those are my thoughts.

[Pam Shelton-Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fairly standard EMP type story. Everyone surprised, people separated from loved ones, violent prisoners on the streets. Society in this story deteriorated within a few hours of the event, including a shopkeeper who became immediately sadistic and violent. That did not seem to be too realistic to me. I struggled with most of the characters all of whom had some prominent flaws, including their ability to make safe decisions and it made me hope that I would not ever run into people like them if a real disaster occurred. Even the "prepared" character allowed himself to be constantly drawn away from the issues at hand, though I'm glad he "woke" to his better human instincts. The writing is decent overall but the story just seemed rather disjointed and I struggled to connect with it. I may read book 2 to see what happens and if it improves.

[Kathleen Seiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story

This author did a wonderful job of interweaving the different characters in this apocalyptic tale. It is a surprisingly upbeat story of the end of the world as we know. I would like to read more stories by this author.

[Already Overbooked · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glad this book had so many preppers to explain what was going on

[Sarahtar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have not ever read British post apoc fic

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

An EMP of unknown origins hits England and completely knocks out the power and anything electrically powdered for much of the nation as far as anyone can tell. When the EMP hits, cars crashed, trains slammed Into one another and planes dropped from the sky. Much of the country is devastated. With the loss of communication, even the military, police and Government are out of commission. People are left to deal with the chaos in the best way possible. The story follows 5 different main characters as they try to navigate these treacherous circumstances.
I’m having mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand I really enjoyed the multiple characters with multiple points of view. Each of the characters experiencing the EMP in a different way. One was in a plane crash. One was in a train crash . One was in prison. One was on a bus trying to escape school. One is just in his car but he is a survival nut, is aware of what an EMP is, and is assuming, pretty accurately, what is going to happen next. I really found it interesting that the book covers such a very short timeframe. It’s only a half a day. There’s already a lot of chaos going on.
Another thing I am surprised about was even though there are five main characters with each character having supporting characters around them I don’t feel overwhelmed by the amount of characters that there are. Each of the main characters are unique and interesting. Well actually, two of the girls are kind of blending a little bit and I’m having a hard time telling the difference between the two of them but the other main characters stand out and they are already starting to grow, even in the first installment of the series.
The thing that I didn’t like and didn’t enjoy as much is this series is a bit more gritty than most books that I regularly read. It is very realistic but more geared towards a negative aspects of humanity and life. For instance several escaped prisoners try to kidnap a young teenage girl and it was implied that they weren’t going to do anything nice to her. Luckily she’s rescued by one of the other main characters. Three other prisoners kidnapped another main character and a boy she is taking care of. A bunch of other traumatic stuff happens to these two as well. I didn’t really enjoy those aspects of the story. There is a lot of violence that feels very real. The various accidents felt very real. People are breaking bones and suffering other major injuries. There’s no ambulances, no hospitals to take the injured to. Instead there’s just people on the street trying to help each other. While all of this violence and chaos was very well written I did not enjoy it. I do not like books that are dark in this way. I want my books to be an escape and not to be mired in the more negative aspects of humanity.

Triggers and Rating
Triggers- It is implied that a girl may be raped. Stabbing. Hitting people with things like bats, clubs and hammers. People lose teeth. A dog is injured. A young boy is kidnapped and threatened with a knife.

Rating -
R - There Violence is prolific and graphic. There is a lot of it. There is a lot of swearing. Simmer if it is British swear words.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cheese is well-aged and stinky. There's so much wrong with this story. I had trouble following all of the stories. They eventually all connect in really impossible ways, mostly by chance walks down farm lanes. The dialogue is painful. Why do people have baseball bats in England? There were at least two that made an appearance. I absolutely love the apocalyptic genre. This series was so bad, I had to listen to all three books. Some storylines just kind of ended. I know I missed it, but what happened to Timmy? What happened to the girl in the plane crash? I forget her name. The last book focuses on Jack vs. Logan. Other crazies get looped into the story. It's just so disjointed. As I write this, I'm realizing I should give it one star. All of the main characters have problems "letting people in" whatever that means.

Off to my next apocalyptic survivor series.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Almost quit a couple chapters in…but the potential story intrigued me…alas, the writing was awful.
Characters repeated themselves constantly…I just have to get home…I have always been selfish…I am always trying to please others and look for approval…Each character had a nonstop inner monologue of what they saw as their greatest faults. So tedious and forced.
Then the descriptions of what they saw and felt were very repetitive also: the air smelled like blood, so much blood everywhere, all the trauma of the day…this book took place over the course of one day and the story itself never grabbed me. You had stories of several selfish individuals and I didn’t really care about any of them. One Second After is a MUCH better book with same premise.
One star is for narrator of the audiobook and one star for the effort it must have taken to find a publisher-

[Elizabeth Ziegler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the tremendous 180 degree personal growth and profound epiphanies every character experienced in the timespan of a single day to be pretty unbelievable. Honestly, this ruined the book for me. I am a fan of multiple plot lines in books, but in this instance it felt like none of the plot lines were ever really developed.

[Jay Beatrice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Read a bit. Not too impressed with the characters. Moving on.

[Kelani · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible book. It had the potential to be great.... But characters were all the same. Their stories all seemed rushed. Ugh. So not recommended. Second one was better than the first.

[Ali Kerr]

Audio - Meh. Stopped after 1st hour - too many characters, too much background info, distracted from the events happening.

[Monique · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tedious. Everyone ended up sorely injured, and made too many bloody mistakes. I really don't care enough to find out what happens to them in book two.

[Bruce Cline · Rating 2 out of 5]

OMG! This is the most boring book I’ve read in years. This first volume is (must be) an introduction to later books in the series, but those are volumes I’ll never get to.

[Wendi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

[Karen (reading.while.caffeinated) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate the author isn’t as wildly sexist as many other authors of this genre, but I had some concerns tbh. If a woman says don’t follow her… you don’t follow her. I realize the story will likely be written in a way that has a positive ending but he cheated on her for YEARS, an apocalypse happened, and she STILL said ‘don’t follow me and please let me live my life’ and the dude decides he’s going to be a creep and ignore that? Nope. Really not okay. She has every right to say ‘no and leave me the heck alone’.
Furthermore why does every female in the book seem to need a male to tell them what to do? One college girl just walks all over the city following a stranger and his cat rather than go back to her assumedly safe house that is nearby? Another woman only helps people in need after a male doctor tells her she is selfish. And what teenage girl in an emergency situation walks through the woods alone? It would not happen.
And sorry but… if a road has so much traffic there were many major accidents why the heck would everyone just hang out in the street for hours and hours? Why wouldn’t they walk to the nearby town (as with that much traffic there would be a town nearby). Additionally there is zero chance out of the whole crowd of people only one single person would understand that an emp or solar flare was likely. If everything electrical suddenly stops I would guess at least 50% of the population would quickly have an idea what was going on. Anyone over 20 & under 80 would quickly realize there was a major issue.

Anyways, the characters were interesting. I liked the con & teen combo though he quickly seemed obsessed with her which was concerning.

Oh and the cat!! If the cat is under your feet and won’t let you walk A LEASH WOULDN’T SOLVE THAT. It would only keep it under your feet. Also there is zero chance a cat would walk on a leash through a whole city with strangers.

The injury scenes were more realistic than most novels, impressively so. Awful, but thorough and well written.

[Jennifer Jensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you can leave a series unfinished I recommend you only read the first two books. Book 3 ruins everything.

Spoilers





I was skeptical of all the gratuitous violence. All the constant horrific things that kept happening. It was too much. More than could be believable. But book 2 ends on a reasonable enough high note considering what happenned next...

Then book 3 happenned. I'll be direct. Sorry. Jack and Logan end up in a war over the death of one of Logan's people. We find out that Logan has been lying to himself about the circumstances of his imprisonment. The false narrative really pissed me off! As the reader you are convinced that Logan is on a Redemption Journey or at the very least was wrongfully imprisoned. Wrong! He killed them, he murdered the wife and the daughter in front of the husband before he killed him. And then he just decided to convince himself that he didn't do it. I really don't like that the author manipulated his readers this way. Jack utilizes some really bad guys to try and get Logan killed simply because Logan refuses to give up his revenge. And then Jack and his family lose the farm. Logan shoots Wayne and then Wayne dies. Logan gets shot in the chest and still can't let s*** go. So of course, Logan decides to shoot Jack in the chest. Emma Frisch's Logan to the ground and Jack ends up stabbing Logan in the throat. Logan dies. The bad guys took over the farm are convinced to help keep Jack alive. The book ends with Jack and his ex-wife and the girls walking off for greener pastures. This book was awful. I gave it three stars because I actually liked book 1 and 2.
It doesn't help that Logan and Wayne were my favorite characters. Just saying

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m eating my way through the entire post-apocalyptic genre. No joke. So there are some series I’ll finish just because they exist on audiobook form. This is probably one of those series, and here’s why: For a book set in the UK is makes no sense to me why on earth it has an American narrator. Every (and I do mean EVERY) main character has an unbelievable paradigm shift simply because some other character says something that the main characters take so much to heart that they must now operate with that as their guiding principle. So many characters experience what should be debilitating injuries, yet it seems like they walk it off or act pretty much normally after the fact. (Walking off multiple teeth punched out by blunt trauma? Walking off multiple stab wounds? Really?) Lastly, if you’re familiar with the theory of Chekov’s gun, there are several too-cute-to-be-believed interconnections. The characters are in a CITY after all with a presumptive population of thousands. And yet… I’m curious to know if the “this person meets that” was simply a poorly done setup for book 2. Ans that brings me to my biggest peeve of all. Book one appears to exist as merely the pilot episode for a tv show, and does not really stand on its own as a cohesive book, complete with an actual plot other than a 7-hr audiobook of meet-cutes. And that’s a darn shame given the rich tapestry of what could have transpired on day one of an EMP.

[Emma Maher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the characters, although this was a work of fiction & I don't think some of It can be real, the author had an interesting imagination. I personally think If people were in such horrid & very severe crashes, whether Its a car; bus; or train accident, no one can just go on their merry way like some of these characters did. You wouldn't be on the hunt for your ex girlfriend If a real EMP were to happen. I liked the compassion, friendship & camaraderie in this book. I think such happenings of such lawlessness & society breaking down is a huge reality as Its starting to happen already in some ways, but I think this book also didn't show the severity of the situation. I think things like money not meaning anything, cellphones & any battery operated devices failing or becoming disfunctional are very possible but some of these people were badly injured but they were on a journey with severe wounds, dizzyness & pain, but yet they got up & It seemed It was normal to go on as though they wouldn't have consequences or negative affects after such severe happenings. I am glad that the characters emphasised things in life that they could change, or realising that life is short, people who were against them & saw the worst in them actually could be good people & people who should of feared or rejected you, helped you despite what rumours were being spread, people's thoughts were or what you had or hadn't done.

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the world goes dark, survival isn’t just about finding food and shelter—it’s about facing the worst in others and yourself. When the Lights Go Out throws its characters into an unforgiving new reality, where lawlessness sets in almost immediately. Each survivor—whether a self-reliant prepper, a lost university student, or an escaped prisoner—must decide how far they’re willing to go to make it through the first harrowing hours of society’s collapse.

The novel wastes no time plunging into the chaos, delivering tension-filled encounters and tough moral choices. Ryan Casey doesn’t sugarcoat the brutality of an EMP disaster, making every moment feel unpredictable. The characters’ diverse perspectives add depth to the unfolding crisis, showing just how differently people react when the rules no longer apply.

However, the dialogue can sometimes feel forced, as if characters are preaching ideas rather than speaking naturally. Some lines read more like the author’s commentary than genuine conversation, which can pull you out of the immersion. Additionally, while the relentless pacing keeps the pages turning, some character arcs could have used more development.

Despite these drawbacks, the novel delivers a high-stakes survival story that will leave you wondering just how prepared you’d be if the lights went out for good.

[Amanda Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars but uprated for Goodreads

I really enjoyed Lights Out. I love a good dystopian story, and this one delivered exactly what I wanted. It’s a short, sharp read that throws you straight into the chaos of a sudden EMP outage and doesn’t let up. I actually listened to it for free on Audible, but I’m tempted to pick up the rest of the series just to see what happens next.

The story follows several different characters—ranging from a survivalist and a student to a crash survivor, a young girl, and an escaped prisoner—each dealing with the first frantic day after the power goes out. Despite its short length and multiple perspectives, it never felt like anything was missing. The pacing is tight, the concept is intriguing, and the characters feel believable under pressure.

Some readers have mentioned that parts of the plot are predictable or a little rushed, and I can see that, but for me it worked. This is a survival story, not a slow-burn character study, and the immediacy of it kept me hooked. The only slight mismatch was the American narration for a British-set story, which might stand out if you’re particular about accents.

Overall, Lights Out is lean, energetic, and addictive—perfect if you want a gritty, fast-paced survival read without a lot of filler. I’ll definitely be checking out the next in the series.

[TP · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book revolves around several very interesting characters and their journey after an EMP hit.
Their emotional struggle.
And I liked it.
But after three quarter into the book it just got too much. And I had to force myself to keep reading.
The problem of so many characters, their POVs, and the switching back and forth, leaves the impression that the story is slow paced and I was sitting here wishing it to increase its pace. For them to finally come together but those individual stories seem to find no end and go on forever. And then those self finding moments, those life changing self awareness moments. A bit over the top but bearable. Could have done without it or if maybe not the whole cast would have had one at the same time.
And it doesn’t do the characters justice. To loose focus on their personal struggles, even skipping a sentence here and there because it was too much. The same inner epiphany and adventure packed threat into one characters story.

Let’s see what’s next in the following book.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wish I hadn’t started this. I finished it, but half way through I kept wondering should I just shut this audiobook off. The narrator did a good job, but like others have mentioned they absolutely should have had someone from the UK read the story. It was just offputting having an American use British slang in an American accent. I don’t know how to say it, there was no real depth to the characters, they seemed very shallow. Their characters were way too dramatic and we don’t care about the things they seem to care about. The author repeats their past over and over and over without any real depth to their drama. Everything in the book happened way too fast, several characters went from hating another character to some crazy tight bond within what seemed like minutes. It’s just a strange book that has potential but is poorly executed.

[Turtle Wingate · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.8 Stars - SPOILERS
This audio book has been surprisingly engaging so far. While it started off a bit slow, it definitely gained momentum as it progressed. I appreciate the way the chapters are structured, allowing us to explore multiple story lines. It's great to see the characters develop and get to know them a bit before the EMP event, and now we’re witnessing their reactions in a crisis. I’m looking forward to how their paths will eventually intersect. I also like that the narrative doesn’t shy away from the reality of death, portraying it authentically along with the characters' responses. Learning about Wayne and his father Jack added a nice touch to the story. I’m about to dive into the next audio book, "After the Fall," and I’m really excited to see what lies ahead for this group in their new reality.