The only good thing about this selection was that I didn’t spend any credits to listen to it. Even as a freebie, however, it was unbearable.
Other reviewers have said all that needs to be said about the narrator’s lethargic and ponderous reading style. It was made somewhat better by increasing the playback speed.
Now for the substance. Or lack of substance. The main problem is the overabundance of books in the apocalyptic, end-of-the-world genre. The present book could have been written by an AI application. Just fill in the blanks. The world goes to hell because of (1) EMP, (2) solar flares, (3) zombies, (4) financial collapse. The main character is (1) former military SF guy, (2) police officer, (3) clueless computer nerd whose uncle/neighbor/co-worker is a prepper. Arrange those elements around a lackluster plot and, voila, there’s your book.
To write a *good* book, however, requires more, like an engaging plot, well-developed characters, a defined literary style. There are reasons that we can read and re-read works like Alas, Babylon or Cold Mountain.
This book was so artificial. So contrived. It was as if the main character had read all the EMP fiction, beginning with One Second After and immediately knew what was going on when planes started crashing and cars stopped working. I was waiting for the zombies to show up. That might have made for a more interesting read.