Way of Dan

Sometimes the story of an apocalypse isn't one of tragedy, but one of opportunity...Dan Slaughter's life is already a slow-motion car crash. Burned out from a soulless job and still reeling from his wife's death, he gets a call that sends him cross-country to Boise. His best friend, Carl, a free-spirited musician, is dead-an alleged drug overdose that Dan absolutely refuses to believe.What starts as a solemn duty to settle an estate quickly spirals into a fight for survival. Carl's house holds more than just old guitars; it hides a dark secret, drawing Dan into a violent underworld and exposing him to Carl's dangerous associates. Then, when it seemed that things couldn't get any worse, the world goes dark. A devastating EMP strike silences engines, cripples technology, and plunges society into chaos. Trapped thousands of miles from home in a city teetering on the brink, Dan is forced to embrace the Tennessee boy he'd kept buried for most of his adult life.Now Dan finds himself on a path of unrelenting vengeance. But in a world without rules, where justice is a bullet and every step is a gamble, how far will this unlikely avenger go? And can a cynical ex-cop named Holly Turner convince him there's a life beyond settling scores, even as the city quite literally burns around them?From Franklin Horton, the bestselling author of The Borrowed World and The Mad Mick series, comes a gripping post-apocalyptic thriller about loyalty, survival, and the dark rebirth of one man's soul.

After an EMP strands Dan in Boise, he escapes to the Idaho mountains with his new friend, Holly. She's not entirely sure what she's gotten herself into. She's straight-laced, pragmatic, and comes from a law enforcement background. Dan is a vigilante who thinks murder is sometimes the best solution to a problem. He's also a weed-smoking drinker who's constantly spouting his personal philosophy, The Way of Dan. Somehow the two of them have to find a way to survive together in the close quarters of their isolated cabin. All seems idyllic at first. Everyone they meet in their new community is kind and helpful. It's almost too good to be true, like they've each found a better life in the midst of this crisis than the one they had before. Dan and Holly spend their evenings sitting in a mountain hot spring with their new friends, drinking up the inventory of the local brewery and laughing into the night.One charismatic neighbor in particular charms Dan with his larger-than-life personality, but his intensity concerns Holly. Does he have ulterior motives or is she just being suspicious? After all, everyone has their secrets, including Dan and Holly, but in such a tight-knit community can a secret stay buried forever?

Just when Dan and Holly think things can't get any stranger, a terrifying new presence arrives in their community. Faces smudged with ash. Bodies decorated with mysterious symbols. Crude hides for clothing. Weird rituals conducted in the dark of night.For the small group of refugees in the Idaho mountains, it's beginning to seem like every step forward just gives the world one more opportunity to blindside them.Things had started to look good for Dan and Holly. They had solar power and more food than they could eat in a decade. They had friends and they had each other. They'd also finalized some tough decisions that had been hanging over them, so now they had a plan.Then the weirdos crept into town like fog moving on the breeze. They looked like something that had walked out of a Neanderthal display at a museum. It might have been entertaining if not for the air of primal and unearthly menace that the visitors brought with them. Hiding was futile and threats didn't deter them because both groups were after the same thing.But with resources too precious to share, only one party can prevail.