How to Survive Against the Odds: Tales and Tips for Animal Attacks and Natural Disasters by Wondry

 

How to Survive Against the Odds: Tales and Tips for Animal Attacks and Natural Disasters by Wondry - 304 pages

Inspired by Wondery’s hit podcast with 1.3 million monthly listeners, Against the Odds takes you inside the stories of everyday people confronted by life-or-death situations and shows you how to survive nature’s most extreme scenarios.

In our most dire moments, humans will fight, struggle, and triumph—no matter how unlikely the chance for survival. Against the Odds transports readers into first-person accounts of real-life survivors, detailing the harrowing, moment-to-moment events that brought them to death’s door. Including dynamic illustrations, sidebars, and callouts, each story explores the physiological responses of the human body under unbearable conditions, how to counteract them, and strategies for survival from doctors and psychologists. Through these lived experiences, we see the grit, determination, and willpower needed to navigate out of a host of merciless situations.

Broken into three parts—Extreme Environments, Attacked by Animals, and Natural Disasters—these stomach-twisting stories include guidance on how to survive

ADRIFT AT  Includes info for curing turtle meat, procuring potable water, and how to survive on a life raft.MAULED BY A  Black bears? Fight back. Grizzly bears? Play dead. Polar bears? Start praying. You’ll learn how to triage wounds using the MARCH method and how to gain leverage by spotting a bear’s “bluff charge.”BURIED BY AN  There’s still hope after being buried alive. Find out how to survive the crush, maintain your sanity if trapped under the rubble, and “think away your hunger.”And many more!Conveyed through the lens of fifteen engaging and exhilarating true stories of survival that will help you remember the tips and tricks herein, this might just be the most important book you’ll ever read. Armed with the information in Against the Odds and when faced with similar threats, you may also find that you have what it takes to defy death and live to tell your story. 

This is really an interesting read.  It tells a story of someone in a life or death situation, and peppered in are notes from doctors explaining different medical conditions.  At the end of each story are tips on how to survive each situation.  Entertaining and helpful.

Edge Of Valor by Kyla Stone

 

Edge Of Valor by Kyla Stone-386 pages

Edge Of Collapse Series #7 (Final)

The final battle for Fall Creek looms......and not everyone will make it out alive.
With enemies closing in on every side, the survivors of Fall Creek find themselves facing impossible odds.

Do they flee for their lives? Or do they defend their town and risk losing it all? Some things are worth fighting for, dying for.  Liam has trained them all very well, but will it be good enough?

I was happy with the finale, sad at some who were lost.  She wrapped it all up very nicely.  I highly recommend this series.

Edge Of Survival by Kyla Stone

 

Edge Of Survival by Kyla Stone-396 pages

Edge Of Collapse Series #6

Three months after an EMP attack destroys the U.S. power grid, starvation, disease, and the brutal cold have killed millions. With the end of winter finally in sight, the town balances on the edge of collapse.

They have suffered and sacrificed. But to forge a future worth living, they will have to face the darkness within themselves. Who will survive?  Who will prove themselves a hero?  Who will be shamed?

LOVE this series.  Unbelievable what these people go up against.  Hopefully we will all have a Liam in our life if the world ever comes to this!

Edge Of Anarchy by Kyla Stone

 

Edge Of Anarchy by Kyla Stone-340 pages

Edge Of Collapse Series #4

Three weeks after the nation's power grid goes down, chaos reigns. Food supplies have dried up. Fuel is running low. And the bleak, brutal winter is relentless.

Fall Creek has forged a shaky peace, but the cost for safety proves higher than some are willing to pay. The town is a powder keg waiting to explode.

For Hannah, home is finally within reach. But it won't be anything like she expected.  Will her son Milo even remember her?

When the country goes dark, ordinary people find themselves facing the end of the world as they know it. With society collapsing before their eyes, they'll have to risk everything to protect their home and the people they love.

Edge Of Darkness by Kyla Stone

 

Edge Of Darkness by Kyla Stone-347 pages

Edge Of Collapse Series #3

Liam and Hannah continue their dangerous journey home. Ghost who is Hannah's dog and ultimate protector is always by her side.  But they're hunted by a deadly adversary who won't ever give up. Back home, Noah fights to protect both his son and the town of Juniper Springs, though someone is sabotaging his efforts.

Love the character development.  Excellent series.

Edge of Madness by Kyla Stone

 

 

Edge of Madness by Kyla Stone-311 pages

Edge of Collapse Series #2

On the five-year anniversary of his wife Hannah's disappearance, small-town deputy Noah  takes his young son Milo to a local ski resort for some much needed father-son time. In a blink, the power grid goes out. So do the resort's brand new generators. Noah and Milo find themselves trapped on a chairlift thirty feet above the ground.
 
Help is not on the way. Night is coming, and with it the killing cold. Getting down before hypothermia sets in is only the beginning. When an impending blizzard cuts off the town from the rest of civilization, it'll take everything Noah has to keep his family and friends alive. The only things more dangerous than mother nature's wrath are the desperate people willing to do anything to survive.

Continuing to LOVE this series...highly recommended!

 

Edge Of Collapse by Kyla Stone

 

Edge Of Collapse by Kyla Stone-314 pages

Edge of Collapse Series #1

In the dead of winter, an EMP attack destroys the U.S. power grid. No electricity. No cars or phones. The country is plunged into instant chaos.

But for Hannah, it's the best day of her life. For the last five years, she's been the captive of a sadistic psychopath--until the EMP releases the lock of her prison. Battered but not broken, she emerges from her underground cell into a hostile winter wilderness with nothing but her determination to survive.

Reclusive ex-soldier Liam is headed nowhere fast. He believed he was prepared for any disaster, until the EMP took everything he'd ever cared about in a matter of seconds.  By a twist of fate Liam finds Hannah near death in the forest. Two hundred frozen, perilous miles stand between them and their destination in rural Michigan. But the killing cold isn't the only threat, for Hannah's captor isn't about to let her go...

Edge of your seat suspense...LOVED it.

Into the Fire by Kyla Stone

 

Into the Fire by Kyla Stone-329 pages

Nuclear Dawn Series-Book 4                                                                                                                  

After fleeing the radioactive ruins of Miami, Dakota and Logan finally reach their destination--a cabin deep in the Everglades, surrounded by a million acres of sawgrass rivers, cypress forests, and gator-infested swampland.

It was supposed to be safe. It's not. Now, Dakota and Logan must fight to save the place that was supposed to save them. It's not only their home, it's their future.

But something much larger and more insidious lurks, waiting and watching, preparing to destroy America for good...and here is a hint...it's NOT alligators!  LOVE this series.

From the Ashes by Kyla Stone

 

From the Ashes by Kyla Stone-287 pages

Nuclear Dawn Series-Book 3

In an instant, Miami was devastated by a nuclear bomb. Millions fled the destruction as the lethal fallout descended.  With all electronics taken out, the survivors wonder what is going on with the rest of the nation.

The entire city is a hot zone. Hundreds of thousands of citizens are homeless, hungry, and growing more desperate with every passing hour.

While the government scrambles to respond to the worst humanitarian crisis the U.S. has ever seen, Dakota and Logan flee the hot zone. But the insidious radiation can't be escaped; it's already inside them.

Their only chance to survive is to reach the nearest emergency hospital, but deadly enemies are determined to stop them. And in the background, unnoticed, a formidable enemy rears its head.

Great continuation.....

Fear the Fallout by Kyla Stone

 

Fear the Fallout by Kyla Stone-225 pages

Nuclear Dawn Series-Book 2

If the radiation doesn't kill you, the survivors will... Dakota and Logan continue their treacherous journey to rescue her sister and escape the city, but danger threatens at every turn. They must avoid uncontrollable fires, unstable buildings, and deadly fallout contamination. Dakota knows of a place to ride out the coming chaos--a safe house deep in the Everglades. If Logan helps her rescue her sister, she'll take him with her. But Dakota's past has caught up to her. Amid the radioactive ruins of Miami, someone is hunting her. And he won't stop until he has her and her sister...or they're all dead.   Great character development.

Point of Impact by Kyla Stone

 

Point of Impact by Kyla Stone-219 pages

Nuclear Dawn Series-Book 1. 

 In a matter of seconds, thirteen American cities are devastated by nuclear bombs. Entire cities are hot zones. Millions flee the destruction as the lethal fallout descends.

 

Surviving the blast is only the beginning...
Dakota Sloane, a tough-as-nails former foster kid, has spent her life running from the past. Logan Garcia, a man haunted by secrets, has only one to drink himself into oblivion.
 
They're two strangers in a bar, until the news reports nuclear bombs in New York City and D.C. Fearing Miami may be next, Dakota's first thought is to grab her little sister and get the heck out of Dodge.
 
Then everything explodes. As buildings collapse and fires rage, utter chaos erupts. Trapped in the burning city, Logan and Dakota have less than ten minutes to seek shelter before the fallout descends.
 
But Dakota's sister is still out there. To rescue her, Dakota will need Logan's help, but can she trust him? And how far is she willing to go to save the only family she has left?
 
An apocalyptic survival thriller that explores what could happen if terrorists successfully executed a coordinated nuclear attack the US, told from the perspectives of regular people determined to survive. Made up of complex characters and excellent writing.  I enjoyed this series very much.


 

 

 

 

If You Tell by Gregg Olsen

 

If You Tell by Gregg Olsen - 405 pages

After more than a decade, when sisters Nikki, Sami, and Tori Knotek hear the word mom, it claws like an eagle’s talons, triggering memories that have been their secret since childhood. Until now.

For years, behind the closed doors of their farmhouse in Raymond, Washington, their sadistic mother, Shelly, subjected her girls to unimaginable abuse, degradation, torture, and psychic terrors. Through it all, Nikki, Sami, and Tori developed a defiant bond that made them far less vulnerable than Shelly imagined. Even as others were drawn into their mother’s dark and perverse web, the sisters found the strength and courage to escape an escalating nightmare that culminated in multiple murders.

Harrowing and heartrending, If You Tell is a survivor’s story of absolute evil—and the freedom and justice that Nikki, Sami, and Tori risked their lives to fight for. Sisters forever, victims no more, they found a light in the darkness that made them the resilient women they are today—loving, loved, and moving on.

This is a heartbreaking story of torture and abuse of not only three girls but the murder of three individuals at the hands of this horrible, sadistic mother, Shelly Knotek.  She is a master manipulator and pure evil.  What these victims endured is mind boggling.  It is heartwarming that the sisters came together to put a stop to her terrible ways.   

The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin

 The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin, 328 pages

We read this for our book to movie club.  I enjoyed the book for its ability to go in depth with the characters.

The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin

 The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin-336 pages

Dr. Ben Payne and Ashley Knox take a small charter flight to beat a winter storm. However, the plane crashes and the pilot dies. Ben and Ashley must survive harsh conditions and bad injuries for weeks in uninhabitable mountains. It's not something I typically read, but it was pretty good.

The Terror by Dan Simmons

 

The Terror by Dan Simmons-766 pages

This is an older book, but I read a review and thought it sounded interesting.  That is an understatement!

This is a book about survival.  It's 1845 and two ships set out to find the Northwest Passage.  They get stranded in the Arctic circle going on three summers without any thawing.  The ice is actually crushing the two ships.  They are running out of food and coal.  Scurvy and starvation is setting in.  If that is not enough there is something huge and terrifying trying to claw its way onto the ships.  On the HMS Terror they have also taken on an Inuit woman whose tongue has been cut out.  She may actually be the link to the terror that stalks them and yet she may be their only hope of surviving if she can teach them how to hunt seals.  Captain Crozier takes command after the predator takes out the expeditions leader, Sir John Franklin.  There are many brutal deaths at not only each others hands but also by the predator.  The story comes to a surprising twist which I will not reveal...

I liked it.  Not what I was expecting at all.  I recommend reading it.

The Revolution of Ivy by Amy Engel

The Revolution of Ivy by Amy Engel -- 290 pages

Ivy Westfall is beyond the fence and she is alone. Abandoned by her family and separated from Bishop Lattimer, Ivy must find a way to survive on her own in a land filled with countless dangers, both human and natural. She has traded a more civilized type of cruelty-forced marriages and murder plots-for the bare-knuckled brutality required to survive outside Westfall's borders.

But there is hope beyond the fence, as well. And when Bishop reappears in Ivy's life, she must decide if returning to Westfall to take a final stand for what she believes is right is worth losing everything she's fought for.

Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter

Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter -- 297 pages

Bestselling author Ally Carter returns with an exciting stand-alone novel, about a girl stranded in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness with the boy who wronged her . . . as an assassin moves in.

Maddie and Logan were torn apart by a kidnapping attempt when they were young. They were only kids -- Logan's dad was POTUS and Maddie's father was the Secret Service agent meant to guard him. The kidnappers were stopped -- but Maddie was whisked off to Alaska with her father, for safety. Maddie and Logan had been inseparable . . . but then she never heard from him again.

Now it's a few years later. Maddie's a teenager, used to living a solitary life with her father. It's quiet -- until Logan is sent to join them. After all this time without a word, Maddie has nothing to say to him -- until their outpost is attacked, and Logan is taken. They won't be out of the woods until they're . . . out of the woods, and Maddie's managed to thwart the foes and reconcile with Logan.

 

Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick

Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick -- 400 pages 

Britt Pheiffer has trained to backpack the Teton Range, but she isn’t prepared when her ex-boyfriend, who still haunts her every thought, wants to join her. Before Britt can explore her feelings for Calvin, an unexpected blizzard forces her to seek shelter in a remote cabin, accepting the hospitality of its two very handsome occupants—but these men are fugitives, and they take her hostage.

Britt is forced to guide the men off the mountain, and knows she must stay alive long enough for Calvin to find her. The task is made even more complicated when Britt finds chilling evidence of a series of murders that have taken place there…and in uncovering this, she may become the killer’s next target.

But nothing is as it seems, and everyone is keeping secrets, including Mason, one of her kidnappers. His kindness is confusing Britt. Is he an enemy? Or an ally?

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

                               

                                           The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah-451 pages

Not sure what else can be said..we have all read the reviews.  Kristin Hannah is one of my top three authors.  She never disapoints.  It is written so well that the characters are brought to life in your mind.  All along you are pulling for Elsa. Even though she may be frail physically she is such a strong woman.  Her children ALWAYS take top priority.  She never complains.  There are so many lessons we can all learn from her.  I highly recommend reading this.

Red Sky in Mourning by Tami Oldham Ashcraft

Red Sky in Mourning by Tami Oldham Ashcraft
240 pages

This is the book the new movie "Adrift" is based on.  It is the story of Tami's 41-day survival in the Pacific, alone, after a hurricane swept her fiance overboard and severely damaged her sailing vessel.

What an amazing story told with honesty and vulnerability!  It's a quick read and if you like survival tales, then you'll enjoy it.  Now for the movie...