I thought the day my younger brother waltzed back into my life was the day everything changed. I couldn’t have been more wrong. That didn’t happen until the night of July 4th, 2016. That was the night the lights went out and stayed out. That fateful night was only the beginning of 10 months and 1,200 miles through hell. Jason Sterling, my brother, told you his story. My name is Braden Sterling. It’s my turn to tell you the tale of our journey from a tiny town in Kansas to Elko, Nevada, and The Ranch.
EXCERPT “I asked you a question, boy!” the voice croaked. “I….. Uh….. We don’t have any weapons, sir,” I finally choked out the words. Alex and I both had our hands in the air. “That’s my problem?” the door creaked open a few more inches to reveal the wrinkled face and wild, Einsteinian white hair of an old man who couldn’t have stood more than five and a half feet tall. His clothes hung on his skeletal form, but the shotgun never wavered in the slightest. “No, sir. It’s, well…..” “Out with it, boy!” “We stumbled across your cabin. We’re not looking for trouble,” I was trying to calm my voice and heart rate. “As I already asked, just how is this my problem?” “We’re wondering, we’re hoping you could help us.” “A couple of young bucks like y’all? Boy, I ought to just blast yer ass off this porch right here and now!” I could see him tighten his grip on the scattergun. “Whoa! Please! We’ll just go! We got families out there!” I took another step back. The old man seemed to consider this for a moment. “Families?” “Yeah. Our wives and daughters are on the other side of the clearing. Please, we’ll just leave…..” “Tell ‘em to step out where I can see ‘em!” he ordered. I was frozen in fear, but Alex half-turned and waved everyone forward. After a few seconds, the man’s gaze broke from mine. He was squinting over the top of the shotgun to see them coming out of the trees and brush. He kept an eye on them as they slowly came across the clearing, and he watched them until they stood at the bottom of the stairs. “We’re not looking for trouble, sir. We can just keep moving,” I offered again. “Boy, you may not have been lookin' for trouble, but it looks like it found you and chewed half yer asses off. Where is y’all comin' from?”
I love this series, every single one of the books have captivated me from start to finish and I’m NOT real cool about this being the last one. Maybe it won’t be.. I grew up in the area this book took place and the topography is accurate, the people of the area small towns, might not be.. the people in the large city towns.. possibly. Good and evil exists, those small towns know it! Good, is the side those small towns will pull together and fight on. Hard people in a harsh environment, will band together and support one another and survive. Good people with good intentions will be welcome and bad people with nefarious intent, will be dealt with accordingly. This book series is fantastic and couldn’t have been any better. Underdogs and heroes are the best people.
The beginning of The Ranch Saga—told from Braden’s perspective.
Braden Sterling lives on the family farm with wife Megan and daughters Kalin and Allison.
It’s great to see more on-page moments of both the brothers’ angst—and how they end up reconnecting.
Chaos in town. The tornado. 🌪️
The Perez family joins the Sterlings on their venture out of Kansas: Alex Perez, Sr. (Alex’s dad, from the previous books), wife Erica, daughter Molly. Seven travelers.
Jetmore. Escape from the hospital.
Good chase and action scenes.
Bicycles. 🚲
Thomas and his men—hunting Juan “The Butcher” Hagen, a vicious gang leader.
Braden’s nice…he just gives major beta vibes throughout.
Towner, Colorado: Father Diego. 😈 🔪 🩸
The FEMA camp—run by Midway Security. 😳 ⚠️
Rescue (again) by Thomas. The duffle bag. (He’s a fantastic side character—far and away the strongest. He steals the show every time he’s on page.)
The last 10% is quite rushed…
…But the ending is priceless.
We’ve grown to love these characters; seeing different sides of them, and different experiences, is the kind of fan service we deserve.
This novel covered BRANDON and Alex's travels from Kansas to Nevada. This was different from the previous stories of his brother Jason and his family. Needless to say though, the Ranch, Book 7, was, like it's predecessors, an exciting and excellent story. Having finished the series now, and coming back and finishing all of the reviews, all of the stories have been quite a read. Except for a couple of books with typos, it has been one of the best end of time series out there. I definitely look forward to any of Sean Liscom's future novels!
This was just as good as all the rest. I have read eight of your books and find them to be well written. The question of brothers, who grew apart and heated each other for so long, to come to an understanding and find friendship is good writing. But I think something was missed in the journey. Something about a community leader wanted to have the wives as his own, I may be wrong, but I remember something like that in the other books. I look forward to more of your books, thank you for the good writing and stories.
This book covers the story of Braden Sterling, Jason's older brother and his family as well as the Perez family traveling to the Elko Ranch after the EMP. Sean Liscom covered it briefly in an earlier volume but not in detail. While I will have go back and read the earlier description of the trek because so didn't sound familiar. It was still an excellent story and a page turner. I believe this will be the last of the series even though Mr. Liscom has hinted at that other books about other characters could possibly come out. I hope so because it was a terrific series.
I have read every single one ,l hated that they had to end.l could continue reading these forever. I love the sterling family and bye the end l thought of them as my family. I do hope there are more like them in our future. You are an excellent writer, y there is everything in these book. So reader if you haven't read them, then now is a good time to start. Well well done !!!!!
Mr. Liscom was able to describe not only the physical strain but also the psychological strain and effects of the two families' journey. Toward the end, he moves a bit fast and quickly covers significant periods of time. All in all, a book and a series I would recommend to.others.
After reading this complete series, I'm still thinking about each one of the characters. These people could be your neighbors, your friends and family. This is a well thought out story and pretty believable. It could happen tomorrow. Don't miss out on reading about the Sterling Ranch! Kudos to you Sean Liscom!!
A truly well written story of how Jason's brother, family and friends made it to the ranch. After reading the series, this a a great way to know how they made the almost impossible trip. Wonderful characters and a truly heart warming ending.
I didn’t know I wanted to hear Braden’s story. But apparently I really did. A great rollercoaster ride! Hopefully Sean will follow with the events at the other ranches!
As with all books of this Series the writer knows what he is writing about and communicates it well. Outstanding character development and interaction. If you don't read this series it is your loss.
I started this series and have lost lots of sleep because I could not put the books down. I fell in love with the characters and the whole story. I highly recommend this series to everyone!
This, book #7, brought depth and substance to the plight and overland journey of the Kansas portion of the family to the Ranch. Written with a good pace to the story, plenty of detail without gratuitous violence and gore.
What a great read! I just love the post apocalyptic genre! This book and the whole series completely delivers! Don't take my word for it....read it! Thanks Sean for an outstanding story!!! Can't wait for more stories about "The Ranch"!!!
A real world adventure during an end of world an EVent. I'm afraid we are in a collision course of such events. A good read. I enjoyed this series. I wish you would think about going back and doing a finale of where this leads to
I was so happy that you told us what happened Brandon & Alex and their family. I was wondering and imagine all kinds of things. Some things were shocking. Others were predictable. They all grew stronger, and protected each other.
So unexpected after the ending of book 6. But ever so fascinating to read about the travels of brother Braden and his clan. I’ll say again, I didn’t expect to enjoy the first one but every book captured me and kept me entertained. Read this series. And then reflect where we are as a country.
What a great and readable series. Very believable. Very logically written. The characters do what is what they should do with the occasional screw up just like real people. Sorry the series is over.
My favorite of favorites Well done to the author for such a captivating series I can’t wait to see what happens next Hopefully there will be another book in the series ( PLEASE!!!)
As always sean liscom delivered! The story line from Braden's point of view was unexpected but very welcomed to my library. And once again I can't wait for the next!