BOOK REVIEW Edge of Madness: A Post -Apocalyptic EMP Survival Thriller (Edge of Collapse Book 2)

Noah is a small town police officer whose wife disappeared five years ago. He is spending a father-son day on the slopes with young Milo when the ski lifts just stop. Expecting to be rescued, the group of people on that section of the lift wait until they can wait no longer. If they are able to return to Fall Creek the struggle for survival will continue.

Author Kyla Stone had me hooked with Book 1 of in the Edge of Collapse series. A woman named Hannah had been held hostage in a remote cabin for years and is suddenly released when an attack on the United States causes the collapse of the power grid. The door pops open. Traumatized and permenately injured, Hannah is determined to find her way home despite the winter blizzard. She is fighting for her life and her freedom and is determined to return to her husband and son.

Edge of Madness: A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Survival Thriller (Edge of Collapse Book 2)

Edge of Madness: A Post -Apocalyptic EMP Survival Thriller (Edge of Collapse Book 2)

Noah and his young son Milo survived being trapped and forgotten on the ski lift when the nation's power grid goes down and the snowstorm begins. Noah finds a way to get them and others down from the lift and the three of them are able to return to Fall Creek.

The town is in chaos. With no way to communicate with the outside world, the little town hunkers down and tries to find the best way through this disaster. Many of the residents are without sufficient food, medicines, water, and heat and they depend on the town council to provide for them. The battle for limited resources begins.

Quinn is a 16 year old girl that was also stranded on the ski lift when the grid went down. Quinn is a bristling, snarky teen who really doesn't care for many people outside of Gramps and Gran. She recognizes the cop. And she remembers his wife, the lady who went missing all those years ago. The lady seemed nice when Quinn saw her in the neighborhood. Quinn warms up to, and begins to trust and love, Noah and Milo.

My thoughts

The story is told from Noah and Quinn's alternating point of view. Author Kyla Stone does this beautifully. More of my thoughts about Author Kyla Stone's writing in my Book Review: Edge of Collapse: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller. I binge-read the entire 7 book series and have found a new favorite author.

Some who reviewed this series complain of the sudden ending of Book 1. While it was a little jarring, I now think it was brilliant. Hannah is still battling for her life and trying to get home. Noah, Milo and the other residents of Fall Creek are trying to survive this sudden and complete power grid shut down. Everyone is suddenly and completely cut off from anyone outside of their physical location. I was engrossed in the immediate battle for survival happening in Fall Creek with Hannah still in the back of my mind. 

on Amazon

on Amazon

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Book Review: Edge of Collapse: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller by Kyla Stone

The Edge of Collapse series is a binge-worthy, 7 book set in the post-apocalyptic genre. After the attack on the US, knocking out the power grid, communications, planes, vehicles, and most everything that is modernized, the big picture focus for everyone is to shake off the confusion and try to survive. Edge of Collapse Book One narrows in on a much more personal level. This national crisis presents Hannah a slim opportunity to escape her captor years after her abduction. Hannah's broken, pregnant body is no match for the sociopathic predator but her need to return to her son is strong. This moment is her only chance to return home.

Hannah is a devoted mother to a beautiful 3 year old son and was living a good life in a small Southwest Michigan town. She loved her husband, Noah, but they had been having some minor bumpy spots in their marriage. Then Hannah suddenly disappears.  Of course, everyone had their theories. Maybe her husband murdered her. Maybe she just ran away. Perhaps she was dead. People who knew her well knew that she would have never left her child. Regardless, the years passed without her return.

Now. Maimed and nearing the end of her pregnancy, the locked door of her basement prison unlatches. Hannah has tried to mark the days, months, and years in chalk marks on the wall but she is not sure of what month it is. She is sure that it is winter and brutally cold outside. Trying to push past her physical difficulties, paranoia, and panic attacks she intends to leave. Doing so means entering the forested area during a snowstorm with no idea where she is and how to get back home.

Edge of Collapse series Book One by Kyla Stone on Amazon

Gavin Pike is a hunter. A hunter of humans. Shortly after he put her in the basement, and during the time she was still trying to actively defend herself, he brought a photo to her on his next visit. A photo of her son and her husband in his Fall Creek patrolman uniform, standing in front of their home. This monster knew where her family lived. And knew her husband enough to obtain a current photo. With that unspoken threat, Gavin Pike had effectively ended her desire to physically fight back. A county correctional officer, Gavin wore a uniform and carried a badge that he often used to obtain things, power, and women. 

Liam is a sullen, loner Veteran who lives in an isolated cabin in the forests of Michigan. He had been visiting his twin brother and pregnant sister-in-law when the attack occurred.  With cars crashing and planes falling from the sky, Lincoln and Jessa die. Liam's sole focus is to return to his cabin as soon as possible.  During his trek toward home, in a remote wooded area, he encounters a pregnant women who hysterically screams at him to stay away from her. Liam is initially relieved to obey her and continue on his journey alone.  

But Liam is a good guy despite his stoney exterior. And he returns to retrieve her. Which places him directly in a predators sights. A predator who views killing others as a game which he always wins.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention the dog. The monster, Gavin Pike, keeps a large guard dog chained up at the cabin. Presumably to keep Hannah from being discovered in the rare event someone would come to the remote cabin. Terrified of being bitten, but empathetic, Hannah releases the huge Great Pyrenees from it's own prison. And, as guardian dogs do, this dog decides to actively protects his family. 

Author Kyla Stone paints a vivid picture of the conditions and the risk. The chapters are written in the voice of each individual character, telling their own version of the events. She does this beautifully.  Other reviewers use phrases such as "unputdownable", "intense", and "nonstop action". These phrases are often over-used in book reviews but in this case, the praise fits.  I have difficulties feeling as though I adequately describe the really good writing of others. If you are at all curious, I hope you will consider reading the reviews others have written about Edge of Collapse: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller, Book One. If this isn't your usual genre, don't be put off. This story was more Silence of the Lambs with Buffalo Bill than a doomsday prepper's guide to beans, band-aids, and bullets. 

One final thought, fans of the Reacher series on Amazon and of the author will enjoy these characters; flawed good guys fighting against bad guys. If you aren't familiar with Reacher, you might want to take a peek at my Reviewing Reacher The Book and the Amazon Series  

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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