A Journey Home in the Dark

The Prodigals, Book One

By: Milton Cantellay

Narrated by: James Lawrence

Carl Raydon knew it was coming. Disaster was only a matter of time.

The Prodigals: A Journey Home in the Dark, a post apocalyptic EMP survival thriller told through the members of the Raydon family. A close-knit group of adult children whose father foresaw the inevitable and prepared them for it.

Nuclear missiles have exploded over the West Coast, East Coast, and the Gulf of Mexico. The resulting EMP has knocked out power to 80 percent of the US. Was it North Korea, Iran, or maybe China? The enemy is uncertain. American military is still intact. The civilian infrastructure that it depends on vanished in an instant. The government is scrambling to secure the nation and prevent the next attack, but society is disintegrating.

The Raydon’s are living and raising their own families in different parts of Washington State, but once they realize what has happened, and their father’s fears have become reality, each family heads for the ranch in the remote Republic, Washington. It’s a struggle to get there against those that would take advantage of the chaos and, once there, a struggle to keep it.

The Prodigals Series is the epic tale of family loyalty, struggle, survival, and hope. In the end, their faith in each other and in God sustains them as they come to understand that the only safe place is in their father’s house.

©2021 Milton Cantellay (P)2022 Milton Cantellay

Great Story

Perfect weekend listen! Once I started it, I kept coming back to it. I loved the characters and the fast pace of the story. I highly recommend!
I hope this author continues this story!

Great book

Loved this book. Captured my interest immediately. Narration was excellent as well. I would most definitely recommend this book.

Fantastically absorbing book and narration!

I was not sure what to expect from this new book, Journey Home in the Dark, from The Prodigals series. Milton Cantellay is a new author to me as is narrator James Lawrence. I was more than pleasantly surprised, however, by both the writing and the performance. I was stunned by just how good it is. It is rare indeed with how many books I read and listen to that I find a book that is so gripping, so absorbing, so well written that I am literally looking for time to listen and I couldn't wait to be able to get to a point in my day where I could find out what happens next.

The story is of the Raydon family, with children now grown and living in different areas of Washington State. On a Tuesday morning in September, the USA is attacked by unknown (at the time) forces, and EMP blasts are set off on each coast, effectively ending the world as we know it. I am not a huge fan of post-apocalyptic books, but this one got my attention because of the storyline. I am so glad it did! It is very realistically written and performed.

The story is about the 4 grown children of Carl Raydon, equipped with special "end of the world" trunks that he had given them, and miraculously they still had. They attempt to make their way home across a state where society has splintered, chaos rains, suicide bombers are on the loose, and bombing everything where people gather, and supplies have run out. There is a barely functional network of law enforcement, the national guard, and the military. But everything else, at least around the east and west coast, is in the dark. Society devolves to anarchy in less than 2 weeks.

The reason the story is so gripping and so hard to put down is that you really get deeply involved with the characters. Carl Sr. had raised his children well, with the idea that at some point they would have to deal with a situation like this, and they are very capable of handling themselves and the tools of their survival.

Until the last few pages, there is no way to know if all of them will make it home or not, and I'm not going to tell you what happens - you listen and find out.

Milton Cantellay is extremely talented at putting together words, world-building, painting scenarios, and character development. All of his characters are extremely believable, You get really invested in them, which is some of the power of the story.

I am a very difficult man to impress, and I am very impressed with this work. I highly recommend it without reservation. The narration brings the story to life expertly, and it is immensely enjoyable. I will absolutely be looking for more books by this author, and getting them when they are available.

Hoping Audible offers the rest!

I really enjoyed this "journey" and I'm hoping that Audible will continue offering the rest of the series. This is the first book in a trilogy and the 3rd one was published in 2021.

Great story, great reader

I was hooked from the sample. Post-apocalyptic thrillers are my favorite genre, so I've read quite a few of them. This one is based on several EMP attacks that usher in TEOTWAKI (the end of the world as we know it). The protagonists are quite likeable and display a nice balance of kindness and willingness to kill as they make their way across several states to reach their father's ranch. The various antagonists are dishonorable, selfish, and mean, but the writer avoids disturbing descriptions of cruelty and brutality that taint a good story. I listened to the entire book in two of the most productive days I've had in a long time. I cleaned, I sorted, I chopped vegetables, I cooked, occasionally stopping to just listen to a particularly tense passage. This is probably a book I will listen to again, and I can hardly wait for the next two to be recorded. The narrator was engaging and made me want to just keep listening. He has a good voice and is an excellent reader. Side note: There are no zombies in this book (yayy!). There are quite a few references to praying or thanking God for His help, and there is no vulgar or profane language (yayy!).

A great listen

Very important to know the effects of this very easy to acquire and ubiquitous weapon that can totally and instantly destroy our way of life. This fictional story is a great way to get acquainted.

Gripping!

This audio book is a riveting adventure! You can't wait for each next chapter! Excellent!

Great book!

A very exciting story with compelling characters. Well thought out plot with a believable story line.

About surviving a nationwide catastrophic event

It's a good story, something I have pondered on before, especially in the nuclear and digital age. I am not a Christian so that was a drawback for me but it didn't ruin the story and was just another angle on the survivors, and might be important to the author. I would recommend this series and would like to get the next book. I thought the narrator did a fine job.

Amazing Story

I found this book captivating from the start! It’s not my usual genre, but once I started reading I knew that Milton Cantellay had opened my eyes to a whole new world. His love of God and Military background really shines throughout the whole story. I finished this book in 3 days because I couldn’t put it down. I look forward to book 2!