FRACTURED STATE: A POST-APOCALYPTIC THRILLER (Rogue State Series #1) (audiobook) by Steven Konkoly



Published by Brilliance Audio in 2016
Read by Timothy Andres Pabon
Duration: 10 hours, 9 minutes
Unabridged

In the year 2035 America is almost unrecognizable. Environmental collapse due the abuse of aquifers and mountain run-off in the West has caused the governments of many Western states to practically collapse. The highway systems have become "No Man's Land" and the Arizona border has practically been overrun by drug cartels who often act as a brutal de facto government in some areas.

California has escaped this fate due to a strict resource protection regimen that limits travel, and strictly watches how much water and electricity each household consumes. The relationship between the strict (yet successful) government of California and the often ineffectual federal government is strained to the point that there is an open and active movement that is pushing for California to secede.

Political assassinations and the sabotaging of a critical power plant make the political situation all the more tense. This is where the main character, Nathan Fisher, stumbles into the story. He is on a public beach loading sea water into big water bottles. He does this frequently because he owns a personal desalinization unit so he is able to augment his family's official water allotment.

But, while he is loading up his water bottles he sees something he shouldn't see - he sees the military unit that attacked the power plant and he realizes that the official story is not the truth. And, he realizes that they know that he saw them and they are coming for him and his family in order to shut him up...

The author, Konkoly, slowly gives out the bits and pieces that make up the political backdrop of this story. But, he quickly gets into the exciting cat and mouse chase as Nathan Fisher and his family try to figure out who they can trust and where they can go.

The audio version of this book was read by Timothy Andres Pabon, a veteran actor and prolific readers of audiobooks. It was quite good except for an occasional mispronounced word. The author uses the word chassis several times and the Pabon mispronounced it every time (he pronounced it like it is spelled rather than "chassee"). It struck me as weird every time.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Fractured State.

 See my review of Book 2 in this series here: Rogue State.

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