Anne's Review of PULSE (Pulse Effex, # 1) by L.R. Burkard

Published August 3rd 2015 by Lilliput Press

Kindle Edition, 275 pages

Author(s):

L.R. Burkard

 About the Book

What do you do when the whole world stops?
When everything you've come to depend upon--transportation, grocery shopping, cell phones, the internet--comes to a sudden, crashing halt?
Welcome to PULSE.

Three teenage girls and their families must survive when America's worst nightmare actually occurs: The failure of the electric grid due to an electromagnetic pulse.

To outsiders, Andrea Patterson has the American dream house and family. But when the unthinkable happens and life is forever different, the dream looks more like a nightmare--one from which she and her family may not wake up alive.

Lexie Martin's farm family has never been cool like Andrea's, but they've been prepping for disaster for years. For them, the world didn't stop; it just slowed down. The one thing they didn't prepare for? A psycho school bus driver who wants what they've got.

Sarah Weaver, friend of Andrea and Lexie, lives on the top floor of a ten-story apartment building. When things went black, she thought it could be romantic--like living in the time of Jane Austen.

She was wrong.

Has the world collapsed forever?
Who will survive when technology fails? Or perhaps the right question is, Who will get to eat?

Anne's Review

In a fictional account written in diary form, three teenage girls tell their story of what happens after an EMP (electro-magnetic pulse) occurs. PULSE is a Science Fiction/Young Adult targeted narrative filled with intrigue and suspense. Parts of the story seem hard to believe, but in actuality could happen. You don’t have to be a ‘prepper’ to know that if something catastrophic occurred and all electronics went down for an extended amount of time, towns, cities, our entire country would be in one big heap of trouble. It’s bad enough when the electricity goes out for a few hours or days during a bad storm. Imagine what it would be like if it lasted for weeks or months. 

Burkard’s writing from a teen POV is pretty convincing. I could easily picture the scenes and that caused me to think about what I might have felt in the same situation as a teenager. PULSE is an absorbing story but I was often compelled to stop and tell my husband about a particular scene taking place. We had some interesting conversations about the story line.

There are some disturbing scenes that take place but they are written with the utmost care. Emotions run high at times and fairly leap off the page. The faith element is strong throughout and the author does not sugar coat her views. Character growth is paramount in any story, and in PULSE, Burkard knocks that element out of the ballpark. Bravo!

PULSE is outside my usual genre of fiction but I enjoyed reading it. It certainly makes one think about readiness in the event of a disaster, whether short term or long. 

The author sent me an electronic copy for review purposes. I was not required to write a positive review, only my honest opinion of the book. No compensation has been received.