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The Borrowed World #4-6
The Borrowed World Box Set, Volume Two: Books 4-6
This special box set edition of The Borrowed World Series contains books 4-6 of the bestselling post-apocalyptic survival thriller No Time For Mourning, Valley Of Vengeance, And Switched On. Across audio, paperback, and ebook this series has garnered thousands of 4 and 5 star reviews.
What sets The Borrowed World apart in the genre of post-apocalyptic thrillers?
The characters.
You'll meet people you'll love like family and hate like they've personally wronged you. You'll experience their highs and lows, their triumphs and their failures. You'll find yourself invested in their survival because they could be you.
Downloaded hundreds of thousands of times, The Borrowed World is a series that readers find themselves coming back to over and over again.
What sets The Borrowed World apart in the genre of post-apocalyptic thrillers?
The characters.
You'll meet people you'll love like family and hate like they've personally wronged you. You'll experience their highs and lows, their triumphs and their failures. You'll find yourself invested in their survival because they could be you.
Downloaded hundreds of thousands of times, The Borrowed World is a series that readers find themselves coming back to over and over again.
919 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 5, 2022
About the author
Franklin Horton
177 books408 followersFranklin 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.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 16, 2026
Among the very best post-apocalyptic series I’ve ever read. By a good measure.
Books 4–6 don’t just maintain the momentum; they tighten it. The tribe deepens. The threats escalate. The moral lines sharpen. And Horton keeps proving that this isn’t just survival fiction: it’s character-driven collapse at its finest.
No Time for Mourning
The magic is back. Fully.
Jim’s water system plan. Pete’s insistence on call signs. Randi’s family drama…
The Cross family: full-blown meth psychopath chaos.
Glenwall’s affluent golf-course fortress: Baxter, Valentine, Lester…escalating madness.
Jim remains a capable, competent asshole—and I mean that as the highest compliment. His anarchist streak is intact. No committees. No bureaucracy. Just survival.
Randi and Tommy step up in ways that shift the weight of the narrative. It’s no longer just Jim carrying the story, and that balance works beautifully.
The shorter chapters give this one a sharp thriller cadence. Threads weave cleanly. The copperheads, the intruders, the tech, the guns…it’s all dialed in.
Solid ending.
Valley of Vengeance
“I’m saying that the people who plan are the people who live, and we need to plan for everything.”
…and it gets even better.
Alice returns, but she’s not the same woman who left. She’s hardened. Brutal. Changed. Watching her son Charlie struggle to reconcile that evolution adds emotional weight.
Back in The Valley, the tribe dynamics tighten. Found Family, forged in blood and fire.
Randi’s decision regarding Lila Cross…with Buddy’s help… 🔪🩸 Brutally satisfying.
The superstore compound. Deserting cops. Barnes. The diesel tanker. Hugh on the radio.
While Alice’s early POVs aren’t as strong as Jim’s or Randi’s, the payoff is worth it.
All the threads converge. Violent. Inevitable. Controlled.
This is apocalyptic storytelling at its sharpest.
Switched On
“You can have your guns or your electricity, but you can’t have both.”
Winter in The Valley: Snow. No power. Stir-crazy tension.
This one feels mission-centric early on—but don’t be fooled. It evolves into something bigger.
Hugh’s radio intel. Deputy Ford and the weapons cache.
Charlie Watkins stepping into leadership with Pete. The next generation forming before our eyes.
And then the loss at the cemetery… 😭
Jim’s self-analysis here is welcome. He’s not just reacting anymore; he’s calculating legacy.
The coal plant. Carbo. Recon missions. Foreign soldiers. “Comfort camps” at the fairgrounds.
The NATO “recovery.” Boss and crew, savage as ever. Scott and the freedom fighters.
The operations in this book are insanely good. Tactical. Logical. Clean.
And that ending? Phenomenal.
“Dark Freedom” isn’t just a plan: it’s a statement.
Books 4–6 don’t just maintain the momentum; they tighten it. The tribe deepens. The threats escalate. The moral lines sharpen. And Horton keeps proving that this isn’t just survival fiction: it’s character-driven collapse at its finest.
No Time for Mourning
The magic is back. Fully.
Jim’s water system plan. Pete’s insistence on call signs. Randi’s family drama…
The Cross family: full-blown meth psychopath chaos.
Glenwall’s affluent golf-course fortress: Baxter, Valentine, Lester…escalating madness.
Jim remains a capable, competent asshole—and I mean that as the highest compliment. His anarchist streak is intact. No committees. No bureaucracy. Just survival.
Randi and Tommy step up in ways that shift the weight of the narrative. It’s no longer just Jim carrying the story, and that balance works beautifully.
The shorter chapters give this one a sharp thriller cadence. Threads weave cleanly. The copperheads, the intruders, the tech, the guns…it’s all dialed in.
Solid ending.
Valley of Vengeance
“I’m saying that the people who plan are the people who live, and we need to plan for everything.”
…and it gets even better.
Alice returns, but she’s not the same woman who left. She’s hardened. Brutal. Changed. Watching her son Charlie struggle to reconcile that evolution adds emotional weight.
Back in The Valley, the tribe dynamics tighten. Found Family, forged in blood and fire.
Randi’s decision regarding Lila Cross…with Buddy’s help… 🔪🩸 Brutally satisfying.
The superstore compound. Deserting cops. Barnes. The diesel tanker. Hugh on the radio.
While Alice’s early POVs aren’t as strong as Jim’s or Randi’s, the payoff is worth it.
All the threads converge. Violent. Inevitable. Controlled.
This is apocalyptic storytelling at its sharpest.
Switched On
“You can have your guns or your electricity, but you can’t have both.”
Winter in The Valley: Snow. No power. Stir-crazy tension.
This one feels mission-centric early on—but don’t be fooled. It evolves into something bigger.
Hugh’s radio intel. Deputy Ford and the weapons cache.
Charlie Watkins stepping into leadership with Pete. The next generation forming before our eyes.
And then the loss at the cemetery… 😭
Jim’s self-analysis here is welcome. He’s not just reacting anymore; he’s calculating legacy.
The coal plant. Carbo. Recon missions. Foreign soldiers. “Comfort camps” at the fairgrounds.
The NATO “recovery.” Boss and crew, savage as ever. Scott and the freedom fighters.
The operations in this book are insanely good. Tactical. Logical. Clean.
And that ending? Phenomenal.
“Dark Freedom” isn’t just a plan: it’s a statement.
April 12, 2024
An Enjoyable Read
While it’s a series and you would think by book 6 where it’s been 7 months that people would have grown with the apocalypse I found myself becoming frustrated with how stupid people remained. While I’m sure living without electricity would be hard, they are in a community having a much easier time than many others, I don’t understand how one of them would think they’d be better off giving up their guns to go into a camp that is an unknown variable.
The absolute stupidity of some of these characters really annoyed me but the story telling is so good I kept going. I also bought the audio narration which is absolutely worth getting and the narrator is fantastic - I found his voice easy to listen to.
Worth reading - or listening to.
While it’s a series and you would think by book 6 where it’s been 7 months that people would have grown with the apocalypse I found myself becoming frustrated with how stupid people remained. While I’m sure living without electricity would be hard, they are in a community having a much easier time than many others, I don’t understand how one of them would think they’d be better off giving up their guns to go into a camp that is an unknown variable.
The absolute stupidity of some of these characters really annoyed me but the story telling is so good I kept going. I also bought the audio narration which is absolutely worth getting and the narrator is fantastic - I found his voice easy to listen to.
Worth reading - or listening to.
July 29, 2026
Compared to the first few books, this franchise becomes more of an action fantasy genre than a grounded prepper book set in the apocalypse. It's still good, but no longer great. The evolution was inevitable I guess because the author obviously needs new storylines. It reminds me of the arc of the Walking Dead crew. Just as Rick and his gang moved from being shrewd survivors to actively seeking out unnecessary conflict (like attacking the Saviors), Jim and his crew become less risk averse. A few spare redshirts are sacrificed here and there but the semi-grounded realism really gives way for some pretty incredulous encounters and outcomes. The ending of book 6 laid the obvious groundwork for book 7 and sealed the deal for me. I won't be continuing onward but I enjoyed it while it lasted.
May 11, 2025
Excellent saga lots of action
This brutal tale brings out the the best and the worst of the human drama. it would make a great movie..
I would like to had area maps and dates on the story.
This brutal tale brings out the the best and the worst of the human drama. it would make a great movie..
I would like to had area maps and dates on the story.
June 29, 2024
Still enjoying this series
March 8, 2026
Action!
The story was action filled from the very beginning. The characters were interesting and I liked the continuation of the story.
The story was action filled from the very beginning. The characters were interesting and I liked the continuation of the story.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews