This is book three of this EMP Post Apocalyptic Survival series and continues with the main character Ben Riker and his family, who are now living at the remote fire training centre, outside of Ashville, after terrorists burned down their town and home, as well as the other survivors staying there with them. Ben was a firefighter and life-long prepper, having trained his oldest child Sarah and his wife Liz, how to look after themselves and be prepared for lots of different scenarios. There are only about twelve adults in the group and three of them are from the infamous Percy family, Jane, Lester and their son Gray, the Riker’s former neighbours and a family he has had a long-term feud with, after the grandfather was responsible for killing his parents in a car accident when Ben was a child, and was imprisoned. Leaving him alone in the world apart from an older brother, who basically left soon after, unable to cope. He and his wife Liz are trying to keep the group working together, after the Percy’s brought violence to the centre.

They now know that the unknown enemy who set off the EMP and had groups of organised terrorists attacking infrastructure around the country, are all homegrown but pretending to be a foreign Islamic group, using Farsi on their coded radio communications. Luckily, one of the group is from an Iranian background and that is her first language. Ali is married to Marty, a fellow firefighter, and is set up listening to a ham radio one of the nearby ranchers had to speak to his grandkids. The break-in at the prison camp in Charlotte, in which Ben rescued his daughter, led to a higher up in the terror force, being called in to investigate what happen and to kill whoever it was that managed to break their lines, especially if they may have found out anything else about the camp, that they didn’t want others to know about! Even though this group are talking in code, enough of what they are discussing can be made out, when they use places names and some of their plans. The prisoner that Riker’s group managed to capture when they stopped the terrorists from blowing up the local dam, is not yet talking, having been badly injured by teenager Nancy, in a fit of anger after losing her parents.

Trying to figure out what this American born terrorist group have planned, is going to be the only way any survivors are going to be able to rebuild their lives, the way they want to, or expect to. This group started with an EMP and has much more terrifying plans still to come. They want the country to be taken back to the times of the pioneers who first built their homes on the land. They want the weak to die and only the strong to be left behind to prosper in their vision of the New World! Ben and his small group are only one small pocket of survivors, most of whom believe life will quickly get back to normal, believing the government and armed forces will sort everything out. What they don’t know, due to the lack of news or communications long distance, is that this terrorist group has people all around the country and its head has been planning for this for decades. The man sent to seek retribution against Ben and his family will bring more surprises to the storyline than anyone could have foreseen!

Parts of Ben’s group take the chance to seek out a possible ally and barter buddy at a nearby location, which could itself be a target for the terrorists. Sarah and Nancy end up on another dangerous trek, to find medication to save the life of a dangerously ill baby. Having Sarah’s biological father Cole in the fire training centre group, along with Liz’s sister Rachel, brings about a revelation that raises emotions with Liz and especially Sarah when secrets are let loose. There is nowhere to go when you want to punch someone and know you shouldn’t. A simple walk outside the gate could be deadly, when you don’t know who is out there! Lots of dangerous action, some enemies form a truce, whilst other enemies are the last person you would expect and seem to be brainwashed into their action. The younger generation are having to step up, whether they are ready or not. Some they invite into their safe zone, may be more trouble than they want. Another exciting read in this damaged new world, where destruction and chaos reign, and danger can be found around every corner. I can’t wait to see what might come next, because this story is nowhere near finished. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.