Compound Fracture: Book Three in The Locker Nine Series

Locker Nine #3

by Franklin Horton

The long-awaited third installment in a series that has become a classic in family preparedness.When Robert Hardwick's daughter, Grace, was struggling to reach home because the nation was collapsing, he couldn't wait. He went after her, finally finding her at one of the safe houses he'd arranged along her route home, a friend's survival compound in the mountains of northern Georgia. A chance encounter at the compound gave Grace the opportunity to hitch a ride home in a chopper while Robert chose to wait for an injured friend to heal up. Before he could begin his own journey home, the compound came under siege from a corrupt congressman and his private army, determined to take the property for themselves.In a bid to save the compound and reach his family, Robert comes up with a bold and dangerous plan that just might deter the invading army, if it doesn't get him killed first.

Genres: Post Apocalyptic, Fiction, Adventure, Dystopia, Action, Audiobook, Thriller

296 pages, Paperback

Published May 29, 2019

About the author

Franklin Horton lives and writes in the mountains of southwestern Virginia. He attended Virginia Intermont College and Virginia Commonwealth University. In his spare time he pursues outdoor adventures with his wife and two children. His interests include camping, kayaking, backpacking, mountain biking, and shooting.

Reviews

[Rain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked up right where book 2 left off. Robert is a character that came across much more competent in the first two books than he did in this one. He makes a lot of mistakes here, which does make him a more authentic character, but it was not necessarily fun to read.

I would describe this book as lots and lots of tromping around in the woods, planning violence, and acting out violence.

Post Apocalyptic America
Multi POVs
Moral ambiguity
Violence/torture
Not a romance
Not a standalone

Despite my complaints, Franklin is a wonderful storyteller. He excels writing his battle scenes, but I wish he would lean more heavily into a character-focused story rather than this leap from battle to battle.

* I missed Grace's character, she is Robert’s daughter from the first two Locker Nine books.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert and Sonia really have been through it now and still have MORE FIGHT ahead of them!! I loved this one, I marathoned it all the way from start to finish and need more ASAP!!! Great story, narration...everything was awesome!!

I RECOMMEND ALL OF FRANKLIN HORTONS BOOKS, HE IS AN EXCELLENT STORY TELLER!!!

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great read

The suspense kept going with this one. For once the main character wasn’t a know it all and had his struggles and lessons to learn. The only downside was I thought this series was mostly about Grace and a good 80% of this book was not about her journey. Looking forward to the next book in the series.

[Jill Miclean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I preferred Grace's character in the first two Locker Nine series. This was about her father and he made too many mistakes for me to like him. However, the mistakes and the dilemma he faced in staying to help is friends was well done. He is, after all, a writer, not a gun fanatic, prepper. I just prefer the bad-ass characters in the other books. What I didn't like was the huge cliff hanger at the end. I'd rather this book be longer and no cliff hanger.

[Rachael Ashak-Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big baby Robert. And Jeff. And the Congressman….

Oh man.
I AM going to go on to read Book 4 of this series solely & only because the author is the writing phenom Franklin Horton.
As well as the storyline - it is compelling. And the bulk of characters are engaging.
So I have hope, my friends.
A tiny thread of hope….
That one of the central characters (who will now, in Book 4, be shoved even more to the forefront) will be less …. like himself.
I honestly am shocked. It is rare for me to meet a character I find so unlikable, unless they are one of “the bad guys,” of course.
If you’ve read this far into the series, you likely already know who I’m referring to.
Robert Hardwick, who in Book 1 when we saw him through his daughter Grace’s eyes- we believed him to be confident, capable, smart, skilled, adaptable, brave, loyal/a good friend, honest, strong…
Basically everything Grace is, & more.
Well now.
We find out quite the opposite is true, don’t we?
And Book 3 sinks us eyeballs deep into the muck & mire mess & weakness that Robert Hardwick really is.
In contrast to his highly competent & effective daughter Grace (as well as ALL those surrounding him) Robert is:
weak in mind, body & emotions, whiny, ungrateful, has negative “can’t do” mindset/attitude, selfish & self centered to the extreme, has barely any outdoor skills, fighting skills, or common sense … *sigh*
Unfortunately, the list just goes on.
To include grown-up-baby-man temper tantrums. Often.
Which his good friend Sonyea tries her best to help him with. Heck! ALL his friends do!
The unfortunate friends he’s taking out his cranky, “things aren’t going MY way so I’m going to take it out on everyone around me,” mood on.
It’s. Painful. To. Read.
If this was real life, every one of his friends would be saints!
Because, you already know, before & after his poor Big Baby behavior - they help him. And his family.
And not only do his friends help Robert, they pull in favors from others to help him!
(And Robert even goes so far as to ask people he doesn’t even know, to do MORE for him. After they’ve already completed their original favor. Urgh. Pitiful.)
Robert absolutely does not deserve such friends.
Thankfully he played just one of the main roles in Book 3.
Yet, Horton seemed to feel the need to load the deck in this particular story with emotionally immature men. This includes the Congressman & his son Jeff.
Lotta cryin’ from the two of them as well.
As we move on to Book 4, & the story takes a turn toward being all about Robert & his family…
I can only hope Horton uses his good judgement & fast moving lead is attracted to this incredibly annoying character early on.
As — his poor family.
Robert will only be a hindrance to them. (And I cannot stomach an entire book with Debbie Downer as the main voice.)
So … off to Book 4.
I just, honestly, cannot wait at this point to finish this series. It’s really fantastic overall.
But I’m looking forward to a reread of The Mad Mick series, & to get to the newly released books in that series!
Franklin Horton is one of the of greatest writer’s of the apocalyptic genre.
But Locker Nine, thus far, has been a disappointment, characterwize.

[Daniel Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all of the Franklin Horton books I have read, this one gave me the most anxiety throughout the entire book. It seems like our heroes are in constant unending danger. Even when they think they are safe you just know they have made some stupid decisions that they will pay for later in the book. You do not know until almost the last page what will happen to them. I was on the edge of my seat and consumed this in a single day. I have found some really edge of the seat books this year but this one literally not figuratively had me on the edge!

If you are even remotely considering this series you wont be disappointed. I was both pulled to them and kind of worried they would be terrible because of the covers. Lets be honest we ALL judge books by their covers. When I saw these they looked both awesome and cheesy at the same time. I was seriously worried these would be like a book I picked up when my family was on a road trip, we were in a truck stop and I saw the coolest (to my 13 year old self anyway) cover. This guy had a rifle and he was standing outside a van looking through the optic. It looked so cool. It sucked so bad. That made me worried about this book. I had nothing to worry about!

I have started to have the theory that the publishing companies put more effort into covers for books that they know are really good and that since we all judge books by the cover they should make them more attractive to our eyes. However I see a lot of classics with terrible covers so I could be wrong. But maybe they do not think its worth the money since no matter what it wont sell in numbers like a new book from a current author will. I read something from an author who had changed the covers to her books because she felt that she needed to convey what the book was in one quick image and that her old covers did not do that. She was talking about this as they were releasing the new cover so I do not know if it affected sales. Anyway sorry for the off topic rant lol.

I have now read all but the final book in this overlapping set of books with the Borrowed World, Mad Mick and Locker Nine books. I am probably going to go through withdrawal when I finish these. They are that good.

#lockernine
#franklinhorton
#postapocalypse

[Shawn Fahy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished “Compound Fracture” by Franklin Horton (2019), book three in the Locker Nine series. This book looks away from Grace, the protagonist in the previous two novels in this series, and instead focuses on her father, Robert, and the residents of a survival compound where he and another traveling companion, Sonyea, wound up staying longer than intended on their way to Robert’s house. The compound is under siege by a band of former military and police, led by a former congressman who learned about the compound and decided that, if society were to collapse, he would show up with some hired guns to overtake the facility by force and then weather the storm there.

The story is a little confusing at times and Horton has done a better job of describing action scenes in his other books, in my opinion. The story also contains a trope from Hollywood that I find eye-rolly and infuriating: a prisoner repeatedly proving himself to be devious and dangerous to his captors who, in turn, gets repeatedly treated with a blasé attitude by said captors, allowing the prisoner to constantly escape, harm his captors, or signal for help. At one point I was thinking “in this situation, I would…” and a moment later I was reading a development that would have been stopped by the solution that I thought of, off the cuff. I felt that the characters should have been more switched on than they were, at least after getting bested the first time.

Overall, the book was a decent read and I plan to start on the final book in the series next.

[Chessy The Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Hardwick feels like a caged animal waiting to go home from his friend’s compound in north Georgia. A greedy congressman has waged war against the compound with the intent of overtaking it and occupying it. During the current stalemate, Robert has an idea that might get the congressman to leave them alone. But, at what cost to Robert and his friends?

Horton’s third novel in The Locker Nine series, Compound Fracture see Grace and her friend, Tom have made it to Robert’s compound where they are awaiting his return. Robert declined to leave with Grace so that Sonyea had time to heal enough to travel. Now, with Author’s compound in lockdown, there seem to be limited options for them to leave.

This fast-paced book is full of surprises. There’s betrayal and new found resolve. The true meaning of friendship is tested. Family dynamics are examined. There’s a little bit of something for everyone.

5 out of 5 stars.

[Lettie Loo · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Compound Fracture, we focus mostly on Robert and Sonyea down at Arthur's compound. In Book 1, they found out the compound was surrounded when they unsuccessfully tried to leave twice, coming under fire each time they left the grounds.
It turns out a congressman Arthur met has been keeping his eye on Bridges Survival School, and made his own "bug out plan" to take over the compound for himself and his people.
Robert is in crisis mode - he wants nothing more than to get home and is blind to the fact that it is a death wish under the current circumstances. He seems to forget he isn't the only one on the compound with family on the outside; Sonyea blatantly reminds him of that fact along with what it means to be a "good friend."
The two of them undergo a mission to undermine the congressman's plans. Will it work? Will Robert and Sonyea get back to his home where their families are waiting?
I don't know...I'll have to read Book #4 to find out!

[Cherye Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Robert and Sonyea show

Robert is like a Timex watch. Takes a licking and keeps on ticking. What I enjoy about this book is it is about regular people. They make mistakes. They don't always think before they do things. Arthur's group have prepared....over the top prepared. Robert he is like us, he thinks he has prepared but it is far from it. But that's not going to stop him.

EXCELLENT read. I am definitely going to enjoy Book Four.


Things I learned from reading this book.
1. Don't announce that you are getting ready for a SHTF moment. You are a target.
2. The best laid plans don't always work.
3. In high stress situations, most of us will probably mess up.
4. Plan for every scenario in your head BEFORE you do anything.
5. Get in shape. Take self defense exercises.
6. Situational awareness is important.

[Matt Egan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing ever goes to plan...

Compound Fracture: Book 3 in the Locker 9 series focuses on Robert's struggle at the compound surrounded by the men of a crooked congressman who is preventing Robert and Sonyea from reuniting with their families. A plan to dissuade the congressman from attempting to take the heavily armed compound, and Robert's errors come at great personal cost. At the conclusion of the conflict, the book ends with Robert finding out his own family's compound might at risk, quite the cliffhanger ending. The book is fast paced and action packed, with the flawless writing I have come to expect from anything Horton writes. Highly recommended for survival thriller fans! 5/5 stars!

[Brenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was horrible. It’s like the characters from the first two books had a complete personality change and their IQs dropped several degrees. Robert, the survivalist genius, who thought out and planned every possible scenario in the first 2 books now can’t even think 15 minutes ahead. And Sonyea, independent survivor, able to protect her farm with booby traps etc can’t even plan a knife attack. It’s like tweedle dee and dum playing the 2 Stooges. Add on to that this farcical plot of a Congressman able to amass an army over the years doesn’t think to build his own compound instead. Can we have some semblance of reality? It’s like these characters are from a totally different series. So disappointing!

[dennis barron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compound Fracture Franklin Horton

In a world gone crazy, berserk, a nightmare. Survival of the fittest. People in the cities, small towns have already turned on each other. Robert is trying to reunite with his family, his wife, daughter and son. With all the obstacles he has encountered along the way, he has met friend's willing to help him. A heavy price is being paid. Some will not survive. Throw in a crooked self serving egotistical politician into the mix Robert and his friends number one enemy. This is an extremely fast paced riveting action thriller. A believable scenario. My highest recommendation!!

[James Maxon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed continuing this adventure. Instead of following Grace as we did in the first two books, this one [mostly] tracks her father, Robert. There were some twists I didn’t expect, but I did find myself questioning the logic behind Robert’s mission considering the unreliability of their trump card (trying not to give away too many spoilers). I was also a little disappointed we didn’t come across any charters from his other stories as we did in the first two novels (no Borrowed World people). That said, I still really enjoyed this book and plan to read the 4th soon--which, based on the ending of the 3rd, sounds like will have both Grace and Robert this time.

[Raine McLeod · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still a ton happening in this installment. I'm impressed with this series; it scratches a post-apocalyptic itch and moves quickly enough that there's no slog in the middle.

One TINY complaint: Robert Hardwick has been writing survivalist novels for decades and raised his daughter into a total badass. He has his home totally kitted out. And yet, his actual skills come and go as plot requires, and I understand WHY he makes some of the dummy decisions he does, I just thing they're a bit past my suspension of disbelief. You're telling me he took the kneepads out of his pants because they were uncomfy? Please.

[Brad Theado · Rating 3 out of 5]

First let me say that up to this book I’ve liked the series and I like the authors writing. That said I hate this book. It should have been called Shitty Decisions Well Prepared Preppers wouldn’t Make in a Thousand Years. Give me a break the characters in this book are idiots. Let’s see how many dumb things we can do and still stay alive. Nothing happened in this book. Nothing. The only change is the target. No one important died. No plan gets acted upon by either side. You could have told this entire store in two paragraphs.

[Robert Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third book in the Locker Nine series. At first I thought that I might not enjoy the story as Grace, the main character in the first two books, was not part of the story. Fortunately it became quickly apparent that the story could stand on it's own without Grace.

The story line centers around the struggle between the compound residents and the rogue congressman who wants to capture it. Grace's father Robert takes the spotlight as one of the main characters in the story.

Without giving anything away, I was happy to see the road paved for the fourth installment of the series.

[Fred Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS SERIES JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER WITH EACH BOOK.

"Compound Fracture" book 3 in the post-apocalyptic series THE LOCKER NINE by Franklin Horton is well written and continues to hold your interest from page one to the final page. The storyline and the action will keep you from being able to put the book down until you finish it. I really enjoyed this book as well as the previous two books and can't wait to start book 4. I hope you will enjoy this book and series as well as I am.

[Ange · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth the wait

There is nothing that I can say that you don't already know if you've read anything by Franklin Horton. The characters are lovable, the story is plausible, the writing is great, the action believable and well written, and there are well researched tidbits throughout. (I loved the ranger roll!)
He is Easily one of my favorite writers of this genre, and his Locker 9 series one of the best family prepping books that are available.

[Karen L. Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Locker Nine

Every time Frank Horton comes out with the next sequel I could kick myself for not waiting for the follow up to start reading it. His books are so captivating that waiting for the next in the series is pure torture. I need to see what is happening in book 4 of the Locker Nine Series YESTERDAY. Please tell us how long we are going to have to wait. Frank Horton books are so good you can’t possibly put it down.

[Ami · Rating 4 out of 5]

High tension, apocalyptic thriller!

This, book 3 in The Locker Nine series, is action-packed and has loads of dramatic events. I’ve become invested in the MC’s and am looking forward to book 4 to see what happens next. I especially am amazed and extremely pleased that the talented author, Franklin Horton, managed to write such a great story without the need for near constant cursing as found in many books of this genre, kudos!

Kindle Unlimited

[Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

The storyline moves forward in a believable manner, and at a good pace. Franklin Horton was able to tie up loose ends while still opening up a path for the next book in the series. This is borderline post apocalyptic, the main pert of the story is the interpersonal drama between well written characters with strengths and flaws exposed in a dramatic manner.

[Lana Mccall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting

the book in this intriguing series is action packed filled with twists and turns, double cross and loyalty rolled in.

The compound that Robert an Sonyea are staying is under siege by none other than a crooked congressman and his immoral henchmen.

I will not spoil the ending but I want to plead the author to hurry up with the next book, Please.

[Andrea Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

Compound Fracture is Book Three in The Locker Nine series. They should definitely be read in order.

As everything written by Mr. Horton, this was a great book. Action-packed, fast-paced and full of characters you love or hate, I REALLY enjoyed this book.

I would absolutely recommend it and anything he's written!

[Donald Amer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tense, action-packed post-apocalyptic thriller, this third installment of the Locker Nine series follows Robert and Sonyea holed up in a survivalist compound that’s suddenly besieged by a corrupt congressman’s private militia. As they fight to protect their makeshift home and rescue Robert’s family, the duo races against time in a high-stakes battle of loyalty, survival, and sacrifice

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best so far

After a disappointing book 2, at least in my mind, I debated leaving for something else but so glad I didn’t. Of course book 2 was a setup for what was to come. This installment kept me turning pages, anxious to see who survived. No hesitation this time! I’m on to Book 4. Can it get more intense? I hope so.

[Vicky Rowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, lots of suspense

OMG, the suspense is killing me! I blew through this book way too fast, and now I can’t wait for book 4! Nice work. The characters continue to develop, and I so wanted to smack the crap out of Robert for several chapters, he was being so clueless.

[Kate Paparazzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Series!

Trapped away from his family, Robert comes to terms with helping his friends rather than bolting for home. But at what cost? Society has collapsed and some have planned their survival by taking from those who had the forethought to prepare.

[Chris Truman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read

Once again Mr. Horton has written a WINNER! Fast paced, exciting story of Robert trying to get home to his family. By helping his friend, he takes an adventure that almost ends him.

[Adam Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good entry in Franklin Horton's "Locker Nine" series, although I kind of wish it focused more on Robert and his family rather than the characters it does. That's just me though; I enjoyed the book regardless. Hopefully the next book in the series is Robert back with his family.