Ashes of the Unspeakable

The Borrowed World Series, Book Two

By: Franklin Horton

Narrated by: Kevin Pierce

In The Borrowed World, Franklin Horton showed us an America brought to its knees by a nationwide terror attack. The target? The American infrastructure.

Cell phone connections were sporadic. Electrical power was failing. Mortar attacks on major fuel refineries had created a gas shortage, stranding travelers throughout the country. One of those stranded travelers, Jim Powell, and his group of coworkers were frantically trying to make their way home using the gear on their backs and whatever other means they found at their disposal. It was a journey racked with violent, deadly encounters and exhausting physical demands, pushing each of them to the brink of their abilities. Meanwhile, on the other side of Virginia, Jim's family was facing its own struggle as desperate neighbors began to turn against each other with increasing brutality.

In the second book in this series, Ashes of the Unspeakable, we find Jim and his group still struggling to reach home. While just a few days have passed since the initial attack, the group finds that its country is quickly descending into a vicious, chaotic landscape where nothing comes easy. While they fight to close the distance between them and their loved ones, they cannot avoid the steadily growing number of people who have realized that they can get away with whatever they want in a world where there are no longer any legal consequences for their actions.

At home, Jim's family is basically forced into lockdown after a local jail discharges its starving inmates, leading to the arrival of a new, extremely violent presence in their valley. The stranger sets his sights on driving other families from their homes and taking what they own. As Jim races home, his wife Ellen struggles to keep her family safe, while each night a neighbor's home is burned to the ground.

©2015 Franklin Horton (P)2015 Franklin Horton

good listen

Both this book and the first were well done. the story is well researched. The performance was also well done.

Great book

Sounds similar to a few other books out there, but it's a good read. It makes me want to upgrade my get home bag.

What are we going to do

Really what are we going to do? Do we kill the prisioners in their cells, or do we let them out to pick up where they left off. Part of me thinks they should be put down, while another part of me thinks let them out. Except for the really bad ones that is.

On the journey home

This is the second book in the Borrowed World series. The story picks up where the first book left off as the main characters try to find their way home or hold down the homes they have. The story and characters continued to develop well throughout the book and the ending sets the stage nicely for the third and final book - Legion of Despair.

A page turner, but very hard to listen to at times

Would you listen to Ashes of the Unspeakable again? Why?

No. I could not stop once I started, but eventually I began to fast forward through the brutal parts. Even so, I could not stop listening. But I do not want to listen to it again.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Ashes of the Unspeakable?

The neighborhood farmers' market, where Amish and other agricultural workers/farmers traded.

Have you listened to any of Kevin Pierce’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Just the first book in this two-part series.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I wanted to, but did not have the time. I did not have the nicest of dreams in the nights between reading. I had to go to a wonderful, encouraging book after this. I chose The Jefferson Lies by David Barton.