The Darkness After: A Novel (Darkness After Series Book 1)

Even though I place this story in the YA catagory, I enjoyed the read very much. Two young teenagers find themselves trying to get home to their loved ones after the grid goes down. Mitch is in New Orleans heading back to Mississippi and his family farm, April on the road to Hattiesburg to be with her young daughter and family.Mitch and April's characters are well developed, with portrayals of strengths and weaknesses. Both of them draw strength from the other in various ways, learning to trust and adapt in a world cast into chaos. Each of them are forced to take violent measures when their lives are interrupted by those who prey on the weak. Armed with the skills taught by their father's, Mitch and April team up and move toward their destination, but not without detours.One would think, by reading the description of the story, this book is about a love story. It's not...it's about two people trying to survive and get home. It does have some teenage 'feelings' presented, but nothing indepth to take away from the actual premise of the story line. Hey, it's what teenagers do, and I thought the author portrayed that part of character very well without getting carried away.This story flows quite well, with interesting tidbits of information about nature, forests and rivers. Editing was good, with only a few missing words, or where words shouldn't be...but that may have been my Kindle format. Overall, I don't regret purchasing this book, albeit, a bit over-priced. Nevertheless, when I enjoy a good read, and feel satisfied at the end, (actually, I didn't want it to end), then it becomes priceless.The ending is left open for a possible sequel. If there is, I'll read it.

This is a riveting story of loss and survival for several people who are thrown together and help each other during the colapse of civilization. It kept my interest and admiration for the people that fought to save sisters kidnapped.

This book has a very good story with very good action and believable. One thing missing I can’t put my finger on so minus one star. I am looking forward to the next book.

Not great and not terrible, just same old same old. Away from home when disaster strikes.Biggest issue is it's not a book. It's just a group of chapters with an abrupt end like so many Kindle books.

If you like shtf, electromagnetic pulse type stories, then you should probably give this one a go. It's a simple story and not as complex as the author's other novel, The Pulse, which is better, and based on the same emp scenario. It is edited properly, so you won't find the typos in many other PA self published novels. The main characters are reasonably well drawn, but there is a lot of internal monologue which gets repetitious. I also think some of the action is not believable, the main character,16 year old Mitch never fails to make a silent kill shot with his bow every time he needs it. The story turns on these events, so it feels a little wrong. I took one star off for the story issues.

This is one of those novels that sometimes you can't decide if you like or not - but it keeps you reading. There's lots of action, difficulties to overcome, solid and interesting characters, and an overall emotional feeling like you've just spent a couple of hours reading a novel in a park. Kind of calm, kind of refreshing, unusual for a novel of this genre.I loved the fact it didn't seem to shove any particular religious/political theory down my throat. I appreciated the occaisional glimpses of humor, the entire "crush" development, and the kind of hollow but joyful ending.Over all it really was one of those books that seem like you have spent a few hours with a good friend. Read it, I think you'll enjoy it.

I enjoyed this book well enough to read it straight through in one 3.5 hour sitting. The description of the region was accurate, the characters believable, and the narrative held my attention. But some of the descriptions were excessively long winded, the last few pages felt very rushed, and the ending was totally unsatisfying after spending over 280 pages watching a relationship develop.Although I feel these issues detracted from the book they were not entirely unexpected, as I had the same observations regarding The Pulse. I did prefer this book to The Pulse, as it seems that Williams is improving as an author. I just hope that he provides a more satisfying conclusion when he writes the inevitable sequels.

I enjoyed this book, even though it is aimed at YAs and I am far from that. My only reason for not giving it five stars was that the ending was abrupt and a bit unsatisfying. I noticed the same thing in the second book, which I also enjoyed. I got a charge out of Mitch and April, as unlikely as they would be to meet up in the real world. Mitch seems like a "super kid", with skills beyond what most outdoorsmen would have.

the ending seemed open to follow up stories, so here's hoping more on the way.

would recommend