The Pulse: A Novel of Surviving the Collapse of the Grid

Written by Scott B. Williams

Narrated by Mike Vendetti

Survival in the United States is thrown into doubt when an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) destroys the power grid in this riveting thriller set in the sweltering and chaotic South.

The electric age comes to a sudden and violent end. As massive solar flares bombard the Earth, an intense electromagnetic pulse instantly destroys the power grid throughout North America. Within hours, desperate citizens panic and anarchy descends. Surrounded by chaos, Casey Drager, a student at Tulane University, must save herself from the havoc in the streets of New Orleans. Casey and two of her friends bug out to the dangerous backwaters of Mississippi where they are forced to use their survival skills to seek refuge and fight for their lives.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, Casey’s father, Artie, finds himself cut off and stranded. His Caribbean sailing vacation has turned into every parent’s nightmare. Warding off pirates and tackling storms, Artie uses the stars to guide him toward his daughter.

The Pulse is a compelling action-adventure novel that reveals what it would take to survive in a world lit only by firelight, where all the rules have changed and each person must fend for himself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Everand Productions
• Release date: Oct 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781094427003

Scott B. Williams

Scott B. Williams is a sea kayaker, sailor, boat builder, and writer with a passion for exploring and outdoor adventures on land and sea. He has written five books and continues to write for magazines in addition to maintaining various blogs on boat building, sailing, and outdoor survival.

Reviews for The Pulse

[Terri · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This could have been a GREAT book, but the narration and ending made it mediocre at best. There are nail-biting sections of this book, but there was no change in narration tone. Mostly monotone which was disappointing during the scary, terrifying, anticipation, and happy sections. The end of the book is so bad. The story line should not end with the main characters still stuck with a long, possible tragic or terrifying journey to safety. Too bad

[John Buttram · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked the book, but the narration did not flow well.

[Vicki Chaney · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this book!! It kept me interested all of the way thru. It did end too simply, but I still loved it!

[Ruby Wilson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really liked the first 3/4 of this book but it really seems as though the end was just an afterthought and I kinda wished I hadn’t wasted my time:/

[robert.lewter1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A wonderful tale of high adventure, nail biting action, and southern geography. There are also tons of information about sailing and tropical islands.

[andrew splendorio · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Flat , no character building.. premise showed promise but not much else

[Joshua Connell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is possibly the best book I’ve read in a while and has sparked my sense of adventure again. Great story line.

[Deedra Winey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this book.It was good!Narration was good also.looking forward to book 2 if there is one!

[John W Bjerk · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The story and characters aren’t really strong. A lot of people standing around explaining things to each other.

But the nautical and survival aspects seem to be founded on a lot of real personal knowledge, so if that is what you want, this book has got it.

[Amanda C · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I thought it was a very good book very intuitive I thought it was captive and I would suggest it to anybody to read or listen

[Jes Taylor · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Holy crap I loved it! Accidentally came across this and I am happy I did. Definitely eye opening. Gives an idea of what would happen if the grid actually failed.

[Shaun · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is not scifi. It is weak premise for a book about an improbable boating trip. It started to explore some aspects other than boating, but each instance just faded away.

[Robert · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It is quite good and well enough written. It ends a little abrupt though, but I think that on such a vast subject you have to have an end to the story before you get too deep into it. The three stars instead of five... well I would expect some more details about the scene surrounding the caracters and about the effects of such a cataclysm... and also, even if I am not a fan of sad endings, in the event something like this happends it is impossible to have a completely happy ending. But in the end, even if it feels a little rushed, I enjoyed the story and it is worth the time to listen to this book.

[Robin Hall · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Different setting and characters than a lot if EMP books

[Sandy Selby · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Good book, really enjoyed the story line. Looking forward to the rest is the series.

[Sherry Barnes · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow! Kept me engaged the entire time! With the length of the book I was thinking of passing it up. Glad I didn’t

[Rachel Heard · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A good story of a posable scenario of a solar flare, good page turner

[Kari Gray Zapata · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not a bad book overall, actually I quite liked it. Am I the only one who really wanted them to go back and get the deer that had just been killed the day before? Lol

[willsnw · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is one of those books that gives the impression that the author pretty much gave up at the end.

[Diane Johnson Plevelich · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Nice change from the extreme horrors of other dystopian novels though there were enough of those to feel authentic. The story line was way too coincidental of the things these characters did and had available to them. But all in all very enjoyable. Lots of reviews were negative about the narration. Maybe because it was reminiscent of all the stories read to me through my childhood. He was real, unlike some narrators that you can tell they edited so it sounded perfect. It didnt hurt that his voice reminded me of Dateline’s Kieth Morrison. I found this narrator was good to listen to and those that didn’t finish because he was deemed “bad” well they missed a good story.

[My World · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The description has the names mixed up I think casey is Artie’s daughter. The narrator only works for Artie & Larry. It’s horrid for Scully, Casey and Jessica.

[Juan Justo · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Slow, boring. People who read this type of book know about human nature and know what happens when humans go into collective survival mode. This is PG13.

[Adam Lewis · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Pretty generic and overall uneventful plot. You can tell it was written by a boy scout.

[Tim · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good take on an apocalyptic story. Ending is way too neat and clean.

[Cassandra Chavez · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fantastic book full of knowledge and information, provided in a passive way. I stopped several times to read up further on things that interested me and i love how much I learned. That said, the book ends happily but with not much conclusion. It is very open ended and while their primary goals are addressed, there is SO much left unknown at the end.

[Erin Tatge · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I didn’t get that far into it. Too much “oh, I’m just a girl, I don’t understand electronics. Good thing there’s a boy here to explain it to me!” Ugh.

[Christopher Frishmuth · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The end of this book feels like the author realized his pen was running out of ink and he had X number of words remaining to wrap up the story. The coincidences and good fortune stretch and ultimately break believability. In some places in the book you can tell the author is leaning a bit clumsily on those topics that are too near to his heart perhaps..interrupting the flow of the story. Great book concept but not the greatest storytelling.

[gaby dickson · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

A rather boring sailing lesson, read in a stumbling, halting manner. Sorry, just not for me

[vecharo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The book I thought was pretty good. I like the premise however, what killed it for me was the reader. He took breaths at the wrong time leaving you hanging and then continue the sentence. He had zero inflection and I thought was pretty much mono tone.

[Taryn Hoehn · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The book maybe ok but I couldn’t get past the awful narrator.