Greetings Otherworld travelers, and welcome to a new stop along our literary adventures. Hold on tight, because today we’re experiencing some turbulence—or that might just be the powerful presence of Linda Naughton’s new sci-fi experience, Blackout Trail: A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Survival Thriller. Read on to learn more about this excellent tale.
Linda Naughton has been creating and expanding on worlds for decades now, and may have even wrote some of the content in some of your favorite tabletop and video games. These days, however, she’s flexing her sizable writing muscles and using them for her own projects, and to great effect. One such project is the post-apocalyptic survival thriller, Blackout Trail. On top of an explosive story filled with fantastic events that keep readers on the edge of their seats, Naughton populates her narrative with strong, dynamic characters, who don’t feel like dialog slapped onto a page, but rather rich, intelligent, and most importantly, human elements that add an emotional element to her work. They don’t fit a preconceived notion of what a character should be, but are unique and nuanced.
Doctor Anna Hastings is no stranger to disasters, having spent much of her career as an aid worker in conflict zones around the world. Yet when an electrical phenomenon known as an EMP brings down the power grid, Anna faces catastrophe on a scale she never imagined. She must learn what it means to be a doctor in a world deprived of almost all technology.
As the blackout causes planes to fall from the sky, Anna crosses paths with devoted father Mark Ryan in the chaos at the airport. Mark convinces Anna to travel with him and his seven-year-old daughter Lily to their family’s cabin in remote Maine. There Mark hopes to reunite with his wife, and find a safe refuge from a society on the brink of collapse.
Journeying across a thousand miles of backcountry trails, they will face a daily struggle against nature. Their biggest peril, though, may come from their fellow survivors. As Anna grows closer to Mark and Lily, she resolves to see them safely home. But can she hold onto her humanity in a world gone mad?
Right from the first page of Blackout Trail, readers will be glued to the book, except when they hastily turn the page to see what happens next. Each chapter is well-paced and snappy, as Naughton carefully balances action, detailed descriptions, and involved character moments. Everything feels steeped in reality, and it is clear that the author did plentiful research to keep the story true to itself. Naughton, who is clearly passionate about the knowledge she’s amassed over her lifetime, finds no difficulties immersing her readers into this world. Don’t wait until the power goes out on a rainy day. Check out Blackout Trail: A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Survival Thriller on Amazon today!
