American Wasteland

By: Nick Cole

Narrated by: Nick Cole

Forty years after the destruction of civilization...man is reduced to salvaging the ruins of a broken world. One man’s most prized possession is an ancient novel. With the words of the classic echoing across the wasteland, the survivor of the nuclear holocaust journeys into the unknown to break a curse. What follows is an incredible tale of survival and endurance.

One man must survive the desert wilderness and mankind gone savage to live the classic struggle of man versus nature. Part Hemingway, part Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, a suspenseful odyssey into the dark heart of the post-apocalyptic American southwest.

©2011, 2019 by Nick Cole (The Old Man and the Wasteland); 2013, 2019 by Nick Cole (The Savage Boy and The Road is a River) (P)2019 Audible, Inc.

Wish I could give I 6 stars

Wish o could give it 6 stars. This story is Powerful, entertaining, had a great pace, it drew me in and got me emotionally invested.

Nick Cole is actually a great voice actor

Nick Cole can paint a picture with words. As a narrator I was surprised that he could paint a picture with his voice. I was easily able to visualize the characters as the were each uniquely portrayed by the author with all of their emotions.
The book is a post apocalyptic tale with three connected stories that take place after WWIII.
The settings are vividly described, and there is so much dangerous trekking, that I found myself going to my maps app because I had so much empathy for the Characters.

S Kaye

So glad that you are a true storyteller! My emotions went up and down! I smiled at triumphs and teared up at sad things. I felt as though I was walking in your characters shoes. We’ll done and bravo Nick Cole! Thank you for being the voice actor, superb! Blessings!

Well done.

Found this title years after the fact. Checked out the youtube reviews even before pulling the trigger on this audiobook series, which has become my favorite up there with Grendel by John Gardner(the only book I actually read cover to cover in high school).

Really very good

Well written. Good character development and nicely descriptive. A bit dark but a really great book. Nice to hear the writer be the narrator. Nice job Nick Cole

compelling world, story & characters

I put this in my top 5 books. worth it.... Thought provoking story that keeps you thinking about what you might do faced in this frighteningly realistic scenario.

Should be be essential reading

I’ve listened to the story multiple times now. It’s a compilation of three different books that all connect. The first book is an absolute classic, the second one is my favorite, and I get choked up at the end of the third book every time. If you’ve listened to it then you know what I mean.
The stories are all brilliant on their own but all together, they are a masterpiece.

A masterpiece in storytelling

Nick Cole absolutely knocked it out of the park! If you've read any of Nick's work you already know that the story is excellent and the writing spellbinding. In this audiobook, he takes it a step further and shows us a supreme archetype of the wonder that can happen when an author narrates their own story. His passion for his tale pours out into it, and takes a simple audiobook and turns it into you and some grizzled and well met fellow traveler sitting around a campfire in the cold desert air outside Tucson as he tells you tales of what was, or is, or could one day be. Follow along as he tells you about an Old Man looking for redemption, a Savage Boy looking for himself, and a journey through the wasteland as good hearted people try to make the world just a little bit better than it is. I could not be more satisfied with the time spent listening.

Excellent stories of wonderful characters!

This series inspired me to write my first review. I loved the 2 main characters! They were so well developed even though the characters were alone for much of the books. I loved hearing their thoughts, doubts, loves, fears, and hopes that kept them going!

I cannot recommend this series highly enough!

Nick Cole is a FeelSmith

I was looking for an audiobook to scratch the itch and saw there was this 21hr audiobook by Nick Cole. I really enjoy his work,.specially Strange Company series, but I saw that he narrated this one himself. I bit the bullet, and I do not regret it.

Turns out, not only is he skilful writer, is also a great story teller like any of the best audiobook narrators himself! Sir, you should consider narrating your own stories!

This story, for an American from the southwest, has a special kind of nostalgia. But its not only for the landmarks we travel to and visit, but the feeling of loss for the great things we take for granted, the amazing feats of creation our country built in the last one hundred years, and even the small pleasure of everyday life we enjoy. An all too possible future consequence of the insanity of our current society, and the cravenness of our government.

But, this is also a story of personal suffering, adversity, sacrifice and perseverance through strength of character and will against stacked odds, base human nature and the hope of a better future.

I could not find any fault with the logic and internal consistency of the story within the world it exists.

Along this journey, you will explore feelings. The content and delivery were deftly created to bring these feelings out, hence I think Nick Cole is a FeelSmith. I have noticed this rare skill in the strange company series and the forgotten ruin series, and why I can't help but look forward to the next releases and take extra time just to listen to the story with maximum attention when they do come out. I can't say this for most of other hundreds of books I've read or listened to.

Please keep 'em coming, and thank you.