GF looked at me last night and said: You have been reading a lot, this was while she was looking at the Amazon Kindle account information. I asked, how many books? 7 she replied.
Wow! I hadn’t realized that I had been reading so much. So went back and I took a look at what I had been reading, here is a break down.
The Long Lonely Road…..The Beginning
The Long Lonely Road….. Part Two, TimberLine
The Long Lonely Road….. Book Three, Texas and Home
All by TJ Reeder
You know I was skeptical about the books storyline at first. How many ways can you talk about an EMP burst over the US and the ensuing survival story that follows? Well, Mr. Reeder has a pretty cool spin on his story. This probably for me is the first story that the main character is an older fella and not some ex-SF solider caught in between missions while posing as a civilian. Not that there is anything wrong those kind of stories, I love them. This is just a story about a laid back Texan out doing his thing, wakes up one morning and nothing works.
Now here is what really pulled me in, it was the disclaimer at the very beginning of each book.
” If you are an English professor or a journalist or even just a well schooled person and the improper use of commas, and periods. or there of bouncing from first person to third person don’t cream your twinkie you may want to pass on this tale.
Oh! And if you need chapters to read then don’t bother.”
How can you argue with that?! I typed that quote verbatim and straight out of the book. The story begins with the main character, John camping in Idaho with his dog. He wakes up and nothing works. The ensuing story chronicles his attempt to travel back to Texas without getting killed by highway men and raiders. Along the way he makes some pretty good allies, gives people some hope and stays alive. I just love the way the books are written like the character talks. I also love that there are no chapters, but the story still flows. I just dig it!
Like any SHTF book there are some parts that are hard to believe, but seeing there is no “normal” anymore who am I to judge.
The last 4 books I read are the 299 days series by Glen Tate.
I am really on the fence about this series. For a first time prepper or someone just getting started in this type of genre? probably.
Some of the things that are kind of annoying are the over explanation and multiple explanations of the tactical equipment and weapons. Ok, once or twice are cool. You can stop after that. Not sure why I need to have the whole sheep dog thing explained to me over and over again either. And ok, you have lots of preps. You’re smart.
I like the premiss of the storyline, actually I sympathize and have done some of the things the main character Grant does. Like? well buying things without telling the GF. Not that she would mind. I also like that Grant, is in the know as far as being in and around the local government and his frustrations with the whole bureaucracy. Having that knowledge allows him to move around in the storyline without bringing a lot of attention to himself and beliefs.There is a pretty heavy dose of politics and some religion interjected into the story, but that is part of the story. After all it takes place in the capital of Washington state, Olympia (I always think of beer when I hear Olympia) and like its politics the beer was shitty too.
So some good stuff. After reading the books I heard Glenn Tate on the Bob Mayne’s PodCast Today’s Survival Show. Pretty articulate guy. But here are a couple take a way’s from the books overall.
Glenn (Grant) talks a lot about building a team and teamwork. In the PodCast and the book he hammers that home pretty good.
I like that most of the books characters are based on real people. That is refreshing.
For a newbie, a good explanation of equipment and terms.
Not a bad series, I hope the remaining books clear up some of the annoying parts of the past 4 books. I just wish I could gush about the series but I can’t. As I read more and more of the books I kept hoping that some of the annoyances would just go away, you know as a writer grows the more he/she writes.
Speaking of she’s, are there any good woman/female writers in the SHFT genre?
Ad Parare 
I wish to thank you for your kind words regarding my attempts to be an author. It’s truly been a struggle due to a lack of education but leaving that aside I would still hear about it simply because I write as I speak. And that’s about it, I doubt at my age I will change. Writing the on going “Long Lonely Road” series has been a big learning experience for me in that a lot of people are following my words and that makes me try harder. LLR is now up to seven published and the eighth about to be.
Again, thank you!
TH Reeder
PS… I’d like to give a bump to a super lady in my life who is a super writer and who has several very good books on Kindle. They aren’t in the same venue as mine but I think they carry a much better message of surviving thru becoming better human beings. She is the Sheri in my books 🙂
Give her a look at
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Sheri+Dixon