Dark Retreat: EMP Lodge Series, Volume 1 : EMP Lodge

3.5 out of 5 stars

The story follows a mom and her daughter in the days and weeks following a devastating CME. They are forced to make hard decisions and the daughter is even in great danger as she is seemingly getting sicker and sicker.

The story itself (outside of what I write to finish this review) was an enjoyable one and one that not a lot of authors write. Most of the time they write about escaping to a comfortable place with love and family — not the struggles of a single mom and a sick daughter (I’m not giving away too much here). I like that the story revolved around Megan and her daughter Caitlin.

There was some atypical (or typical depending on the stories that you normally read) romance involved in the book that, in the beginning, felt out of place, but as the book continued, felt a little more in place. Sometimes I think that the romance is “too easy” in situations like this, but then again I’ve never been thrown into a situation like this, so who knows.

Megan as a character was pretty likable. She has some character flaws that made her believable, but there were some of them that felt like Hamilton was trying to make sure that we as readers understood. While there’s nothing wrong with pushing a point — some of them felt a little overdone.

The story had a nice arc though and I felt like I was getting an enjoyable (and slightly different) story out of the book. It’s one thing to have strong female characters written in novels, it’s made even better that she wasn’t totally helpless. Sure Megan had to learn other survival techniques, but she was better off than most people (men included) would be in this sort of situation. Things felt a little too easy for them and the story kept going back towards being an almost post-apocalyptic romance tale.

Honestly, I don’t always write about the bad in a book because I am really good at putting on what I call my “movie goggles” and letting a story take me away. There was a part in the intro of this story (and in the series title) where it talks about an EMP. But when Hamilton writes what happened it sounds like it was really a CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) caused by the sun. These two things are not the same and should not be written as the same. I can understand having both of some sorts (a CME by the sun and an EMP by a country we are at war with). But calling a CME an EMP really brought me out of this book. BUT if you can look past that (which I did) this book is full of the typical post-apocalyptic fillings that will make most PA fans happy.

This is my first Andrew Tell book in a while and I’m really glad he narrated it. He has such an easy to listen to voice that makes any story flow.

I received a free copy of this book. It has not affected my review of my opinion.

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What do you get when you add an EMP, a Dash of romance, a pinch preparedness, and added in scented old-fashioned values, an con man. YOU get a great story with a fluffy dog in it as well.
I read a lot of WSHTF books, though I love them, they are all the same.. good but all the same.
Well this is book is different.. it has a great storyline, and great tips in it as well. The characters are well-developed; and I was ever in the situation, this is the family I would want to find. Narration was amazing. I would recommend this book to anyone that loves apocalypse books that is looking for something lighter with a tad bit of romance in it.
and NO cliff hangers!

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.