Unprepared

The Scourge #1

by Tom Abrahams

A mutating plague is spreading.  It's killing two of every three people on Earth. And Mike Crenshaw is totally unprepared.

From the world of The Traveler Series comes a new cast of characters, new obstacles, and the same devastating, world-altering virus which plunges society into the depth of a dystopian hell.

UNPREPARED begins in the hours before The Scourge takes hold.  As if ripped from today's headlines, governments react too slowly and the disease spreads too fast.  Quarantines don't work.  Infrastructure fails.  People die.

Follow Mike and his friends as they try to survive this new landscape and find out how the world in which The Traveler Series was set came into being.  It's a thrill ride that will keep you up at night with the lights on and the doors locked.

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

315 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 28, 2020

About the author

Tom Abrahams is an Emmy and Edward R. Murrow award winning television journalist and member of International Thriller Writers.

He is also a Kindle Unlimited All-Star, an Audible 5 Star Favorite, and author of more than forty novels.

He writes in several genres including dystopian, sci-fi techno-thriller, post-apocalyptic, and political thrillers.

The dramatic rights for his "A Dark World" trilogy are optioned for television and film.

He's married with two children and lives in Southeast Texas.

Reviews

[John Merrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok. It was refreshing to read the story of an everyday Joe rather than an ex special forces, special agent, senator's son, rich prepper, prepper warrior group etc. However, the protagonist does some really stupid things that are out of character for him. And, also, I can't remember if this happens at the end of the first book or beginning of the second book, but *SPOILER ALERT, WARNING, SPOILER. The story quickly turns into the same old story we get from many other authors: Protagonist finds a big house with generator, automatic security shutters, armed allies, million dollar luxury boat, sneaky enemies, gov't plot--and it just continues. I would like, for once, to read a realistic apocalyptic thriller. I am an ex special agent (Treasury) and well armed and trained but I'm almost 60, out of shape, bad eyes, have few armed or prepared friends, no redoubt, few preps. I often think what would I do in such a case? Probably shelter in place, go thru withdrawals after I run out of scotch--HAHA!--shoot looters and leave their bodies in the yard, sneak down to the canal at night to throw in a trot line, try to put together a group of friendlies in case we have to bug out etc. I certainly wouldn't expect to find or rely on finding stockpiles of preps, redoubts, working luxury boats, cars etc. Keep it real. The Road is a good example but is an extreme case.

[Ebony Irby · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of the book is nice, but it didn't follow through. 2/3 of the population dies, and there's hardly ANY dead bodies mentioned! Where are all the dead? The book was more about the survivors, and less about the Scourge itself.

[Kelly Cross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good start

This was a good first book of a series. It kept my interest and was well written. Great dialogue and characters.

[Ron Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grinding

It took a long time to get there and I hope book2 gets into meat and potatoes. This has been all the salad I want.

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

I had read and enjoyed the Traveler series and was excited to read this first book which occurs at the very start of the pandemic. This does not have a strong central character that hits the ground running like we had with Marcus Battle. It does detail the growing horror of a few truly unprepared people as the virus spreads and the effect it has on society. The weakest character for me is Kandy. She is struggling with the waning of her news career but is also very one dimensional. Mike is my favorite. He is an average guy who has wondered how he would react in a crisis and he consistently steps up to help. As with his other books, this one is well edited for the most part. I look forward to the next book in the series.

[Sytse Algera · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing read and almost too realistic

Especially with covid-19 spreading this book is an excellent read. the author has a gift with great characters. a normal guy, a tv reporter and a doctor all caught up by the fast spreading of a deadly decease. the scourge is almost too realistic in these days with covid spreading rapidly. starting book two now... can. t wait to see hoe it continues

[Chessy The Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mike Crenshaw is an ordinary young man who does his best to stay away from confrontation. When a fast-moving plague grips the world, he becomes the unlikely hero. Unprepared for any type of crisis Mike and his coworker friend, Brice search for anything that or anyone who can help them survive.

Abrahams first novel in The Scourge series, Unprepared is set in the early days of the outbreak within the US. It is the same world as The Traveler Series. Some of the same characters show up in their much younger version. This helps provide their backstory.

It’s a heart-wrenching tale that brings out the true nature of the characters. There’s no place to hide from this plague.

5 out of 5 stars.

[Landpomeranze (so much to read - so little time) · Rating 3 out of 5]

[3,5 stars] Okay, this was a very slow one. But then again: even Covid-19 started out at a very leisurely pace. The whole book covers just the outbreak and day one of the scourge, the plague. But I liked the writing and to me it was not boring at all. Although not that much happened aside from meeting some of the survivors. Let's see how the stories continues.

[Vikki Vaught · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Musings

Great start and whY an amazing and perilous journey! Love the characters and how some of them come together and join forces. I can't wait to read the next one in this series. Happy ☺reading 📚!

[dennis barron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unprepared. Tom Abrahams

The world is in chaos. Thousands are sick, dying. It's being called the scourge. Similar to the bubonic plague. Scientists, researchers, the WHO are in a state of shock, denial. POTUS declares martial law. Civil unrest is widespread. A group of survivors have banded together. Some are related, others new found friends. Their chances of survival are on a yacht. The journey begins. Very fast paced read. As usual with this author another excellent read!

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unprepared...

I can always count on Mr. Abraham . His books are always good reads.
His characters are nicely drawn, his storyline is one that grabs you from the first page. I like the way he has pulled his characters together. Coming from different places but joining in the end.
Very good book. I must find the next.. 👍

[Sherri Knott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't "wowed" by this book, but I will continue with the series. I realize this is a set up for the entire series and many people did not read The Traveler Series, which I really enjoyed. I'm in!

[Cherye Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very unprepared

There is a phrase people say about a good book they just finished reading "I was hooked on the first page". This is one of those books. Normally I am a speed reader. I slowed my speed and savored every word, every sentence, every page. I could close my eyes and visually see the book unfolding.

'Unprepared' is a GREAT name for this book. Basically, no one was prepared. The doctor....a cousin, it is like real life. Something bad happens, and regular people are not ready for a disaster beyond tomorrow. The characters were real. There was no 'super prepper' who has every weapon, all of the knowledge, money to buy them anything they need to survive. There were no super heroes. This was a great read that mirrors our life today.

What I enjoyed about this book. Giving recognition to a author, Michael Crichton.
Killing off the audible voice of apocalyptic fiction, Kevin Pierce and mentioning author's who have written both apocalyptic books and Westerns which to me is the ultimate guide for living off 'the grid' . Definitely recommend this book and this author. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I

[Vicky Rowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good tale, well told and scarily close to reality

Far too close to reality just now! It was good getting to see the genesis of the Scourge. I was quickly drawn in to the characters stories, and an glad to see they'll be continuing. I'm intrigued by the CDC side, and honestly am finding Gwendolyn to be a character I love to dislike. Getting the next book!

[Michael Keller · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Traveler begins with a devastating plague decimating the world's population

The Scourge ended overpopulation and left the U.S. in the hands of whichever strongman wants to enforce his brand of order on whatever area he can control. The United States has become the Broken States of America. No unity, just guns and violence.
Great characters (and a few cameo appearances from Travelers) bring this new series to life! I can't wait for the second book to drop (already preordered)!

[jboyg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here We Go Again: Another Apocalyptic Peek Into The Abyss.

Pretty good look at the beginning of a pandemic sweeping over the world, told from multiple viewpoints. The central idea seems well on its way to becoming a complete and well populated SF genre of its own. How does this one measure up? Good characters, realistic situation and plotting, propulsive action. I'll probably start volume 2 and if it's as good as this one, will no doubt finish it.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why is it that so many fiction novels that feature pandemics also feature "the government" as some sort of super competent malicious entity responsible for it? I don't get it. I'm always strongly reminded of the comment from Merlin Mann: "My gut is that most conspiracy theorists have never been project managers. Their optimism is adorable." Faking - or even maliciously taking advantage - of a pandemic in this way would require much more secretiveness than any large group would be able to manage and a small group wouldn't be able to pull it off (too many people would question orders that didn't make sense and actively made the situation worse). This is a tired old trope that completely breaks suspension of disbelief for me. Unfortunately, it's what this book is based on.

Unprepared is a prequel to The Traveler series, also by this author, which I have not read. I almost put the book down upon hearing that in the introduction, but was assured that The Scourge, of which this is book one, could be read and understood as a standalone series. With that in mind, I proceeded. Unprepared follows two groups of people - Mike and his coincidental group as well as Candy and her boyfriend - as they try to find their way across a rapidly devolving Florida to a shared cousin who has a yacht. Along they way the encounter riots, ambushes, roadblocks, and the beginnings of martial law after the OC president makes a power grab by deliberately panicking people and calling off elections. At the penultimate moment, Mike offers for he and his friend to stay behind, as they are not family and are basically strangers to the rich cousin. This makes him look good in their eyes and they offer for him to come, though he notably doesn't mention the most important piece of information that should factor into their decision: Mike and his friend were both exposed to the highly contagious airborne illness when a coworker coughed up bloody sputum in the same room as them for an hour before an ambulance arrived earlier that day. The book ends as everyone is about board the yacht and shove off to wait out the pandemic at sea.

I did not like this book. I will not read the next installments in the series and I will return my copy of Unprepared.

[Ahw · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok.
I was disappointed that it didn't really feel like a complete book. It was an Amazon Prime free read and there look like there are a bunch of sequels that aren't free. There wasn't enough to make me want to read the rest.
The writing was decent, but dry. The action sequences were pretty good and kept me interested but the rest of the story seemed slow? There are multiple characters in the book and each one is followed for a while and it bounces between them. But one character, Mike, seems to be the main character. I guess I wanted more ... story. Many things happen but it all takes place over just a couple of days. The compactness of it seems wrong.
And it seems really odd that American civilization collapses to every man for himself over like 24 hours.
Some character actions seem a little off. Social situations. Just a little off.
It seemed .... lazy? The writer seemed to understand that normal people won't just accept a stranger, because the writer mentions it .... but then glosses over the problem because "You just seem like a nice guy, I'll let you in." That isn't a direct quote from a character but it's close enough.

Again, if you're looking for end of civilization action this is probably good enough. I bet there is a lot of entertaining story like that in this book and the sequels. The action is decently written. It's polished. It just doesn't flow well.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This work has earned one of my rare 5 star reviews. I enjoy this genre of fiction and this novel stands above most of the rest of the books in this genre.

There was nothing new about the story line. What was new was the characters and their development. The title says it all. Everyone in the novel was unprepared. That is unusual for these types of works. You always seem to have that one guy or group prepared for whatever the world or mankind throws in the way and the story builds around them while never mentioning their neighbors, friends, or co-workers become so hungry, cannibalism sets in after killing the pets. Not this story, no one is prepared, and society does not disappoint. There was no cannibalism in this story, but I do have hope in book 2 and 3.

The book is based on a story line that could be ripped out of the newspaper, if you could find one. The disease spread and traveled just as COVID did. The response by the government was exactly what would happen if a highly contagious disease with a high mortality rate did occur. There is little doubt in my mind that you could use this book as a source for a future event and it plays out as this novel is written.

There is no swearing in this novel and no sex even of a gracious kind. That in itself is refreshing given the dark nature of the work. I read this book over a period of two late nights. It's a good read, fast paced, and humanly written as to how people would respond.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

An average guy caught unprepared in the apocalypse. In a genre filled with preppers, soldiers, and others totally prepared for the apocalypse it was good to find someone who wasn't ready.

The author's strongest attribute is his attention to detail, but that attention to detail is also what drags the story down. I really don't need to read two paragraphs describing a doctor washing their hands, for example. That just slows the book to a crawl.

About three quarters of the way through the protagonist does something that seems way out of character (if you've read it, it involves the Jeep and a roadblock), and that made my belief take a step back. The reactions of the secondary characters to this act didn't seem very realistic, either.

My true rating is three and a half stars, but I either had to round up or down. Unprepared is too well written and the characters are too multidimensional for me to round it down to a three. Fingers crossed that the sequel makes me glad I gave it the benefit of doubt.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good if somewhat slow start

The author is a good writer and is very good at character development. Whereas others may leave the reader wondering about details of the characters' lives this author fills in every possible detail of his multiple characters. Though an overall positive, the end result is that it takes a lot of time for the book to "take off." Just as I was about to throw in the towel over the ongoing background information there finally became enough action to captivate me in the last five pages or so. Perhaps this was what the author intended to sell the second book, but it was a bit if a gamble on his part. Nevertheless, now I am at the end and the character arcs have all merged and it looks like something is finally going to happen I expect I will read the second installment.

[Marie (IfCatsCouldRead) · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are just my notes to read before reading the next in the series.
Well written, well produced (audio). Great characters escaping from a large city in Florida. Mike is one main character with Bryce and Miriam (who they just met). Meet up at Miriam's cousin who has a boat. Phil who is dating Candy (a TV news personality) also meet up at Miriam's cousin's. Phil is related (?) All are going out onto a 60' yacht to survive the Scurge. Other character was a virologist in Kiev? where virus started. She was flown back to US, got picked to help the gov deal with the crisis. She wasn't in much of the end of the story. People are panicking, fighting, stealing.

[Kate Rhoads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written as far as grammar, syntax, form and editing are concerned but again, minutia drove the story. Details of ordinary movements. Almost too much, but so well written, I kept at it. Maybe too many characters to keep track of for me, could have ditched the unlikable ones, but I see how he was setting it up for future books in the series. Did I mention I'm not a fan of series? Usually the second or third book kills it for me as things are drug out. I will read the next one, cus I like his writing, but I'm hoping it measures up and doesn't drivel.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I definitely appreciated the story beginning just before the outbreak in the US. I always much rather prefer to hear about the characters' actions during the disaster, than starting out after all the drama cools down. I'd have to say, this is one of the better Abrahams works in my opinion. I also enjoyed the little Easter egg about Kevin Pierce and how he should be an audiobook narrator. I'm amazed Kevin could read that little bit without the laughter showing up in his voice. The man is a staple in the disaster audiobook genre, though.

[Ralph Wark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good dystopian story

In a crowded field, this is well written and has possibilities for a series. The author does a nice job with the basic background - a bubonic type plague with no cure or treatment starts decimating t u e earth's population.

Several disparate people are slowly and skillfully brought together to a boat in Florida, where the story continues in book 2. No gore, no zombies, some good build up to the hysteria and horror that would follow such an event.

Makes you glad Covid wasn't worse.

[Cora · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book in a series, which is also a prequel to another series. The first series was written in 2019. This series was released in April, May and June of 2020.

"Unprepared" takes place at the beginning of a world wide pandemic. Martial law has just been declared. We follow three groups of people who ultimately cross paths in the end. This book is action packed, but it is just a build up to the next book in the series. You will get no closure after reading this book, so just put the other two on your "to read" list.

[Steve Olive · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow start but seems to be building well

This book is a slow start to the series but I can see the story building. I’m just not sure about a couple of the characters actually believability of functioning in the world before The Scourge actually starts. It’s a long read for what is actually only a couple of days of The Scourge hitting the US. I’m buying the second book to see if this can develop into a faster pace apocalypse survival.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve read several of the Abrahams books and they aren’t bad, by any stretch, but I find myself getting antsy mid way through this book. It definitely could be me, but I need a little more action to maintain my attention. I know the “villain” in the book is the scourge itself, but I think I need more of a real bad guy for our heroes to confront. So this book was probably just a bad choice on my part.

[Kathy Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unprepared is a good read. As Tom builds the characters up in the book I get anxious to read more. The Dr. that has been working in Ukraine to find a vaccine, and now is in the under marshall law has got me intrigued. I can't wait to read more. Is there a conspiracy going on, is the virus man made, it keeps me guessing.

[Coralee Malinich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful start to a new series

A start or a flashback? If you’ve read “The traveler series”, this is looking back in time. If you haven’t read it yet, this is the beginning of the Scourge. Interesting characters again, drawing us into a new mindset about the plague. Here is the backstory about the why and when of the plague. Scary!