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Breakers (Book 1) Kindle Edition

4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 3,692 ratings

In New York, Walt Lawson is about to lose his girlfriend Vanessa. In Los Angeles, Raymond and Mia James are about to lose their house. Within days, none of it will matter.

When Vanessa dies of the flu, Walt is devastated. But she isn't the last. The virus quickly kills billions, reducing New York to an open grave and LA to a chaotic wilderness of violence and fires. As Raymond and Mia hole up in an abandoned mansion, where they learn to function without electricity, running water, or neighbors, Walt begins an existential walk to LA, where Vanessa had planned to move when she left him. He expects to die along the way.

Months later, a massive vessel appears above Santa Monica Bay. Walt is attacked by a crablike monstrosity in a mountain stream. The virus that ended humanity wasn't created by humans. It was inflicted from outside. The colonists who sent it are ready to finish the job--and Earth's survivors may be too few and too weak to resist.

____

BREAKERS is the first book in the post-apocalyptic Breakers series, which is now complete.

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Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Launched in 2012, the post-apocalyptic BREAKERS series has sold 250,000 copies and counting. And now that the series is complete, dive right in without having to wait for the next book.

About the Author

Ed's books have sold over 500,000 copies worldwide, twice hit the USA Today bestseller lists, and stuck in Audible's top 100 for six months and counting. Before this, he worked in a bookstore.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B007712HM4
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ (February 6, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 6, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 804 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 299 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 3,692 ratings

About the author

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Edward W. Robertson
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Ed's finished series include the post-apocalyptic BREAKERS series and the epic fantasy trilogy THE CYCLE OF ARAWN. His books have sold over one million copies, hit the USA Today bestseller lists, been nominated for an Audie and multiple Voice Arts Awards, and have stuck in Audible's top 100 for over six months. Before that, he worked in a bookstore. Before that, he was a pile of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen waiting to be assembled into a conscious being.

If you'd like to hear about Ed's new books, you can sign up for his mailing list at http://eepurl.com/oTR6j

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
3,692 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book enjoyable and well-written. They appreciate the plausible plot and world-building. The writing quality is praised as good, with vivid descriptions and a balance between imagery and storytelling. Readers find the characters engaging and relatable. They appreciate the thought-provoking premise and dialogue. However, opinions differ on the pacing - some find it slow and others say it's fast-paced.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

586 customers mention "Enjoyment"561 positive25 negative

Customers enjoyed the book. They found the characters believable and engaging. The prose was interesting, though some felt it read like a first book. Readers enjoyed the first half of the book, especially the flu epidemic storyline.

"...And Breakers has that in spades. An outstanding book I am surprised is not more popular." Read more

"...It's Believable and Fun. Then, the aliens arrive...." Read more

"...I loved the first half of Breakers - as the flu virus moves through the country, and the world, things start to fall apart - not in a day but over a..." Read more

"I absolutely loved this book and recommend it highly...." Read more

545 customers mention "Plot"459 positive86 negative

Customers find the plot and world-building plausible. They appreciate the good story, which unfolds from two points of view. The story is well-written, with alternate chapters between Raymond's and Walt's storylines. Readers enjoy the interesting twist on an all-too-possible disease outbreak. Overall, it reads like two tales in one, making it a better post-apocalyptic novel.

"...Then Breakers does something amazing. It switches gears to an alien invasion novel complete with flying saucers, octopus like aliens, and camps for..." Read more

"...Once society does collapse, it happens quickly and it is still believable even if there is a little movie-hero-tough-guy action thrown into the mix...." Read more

"...As a sci-fi book, the plot and world-building is fairly plausible, and there's a good balance in the amount of detail about the aliens and their..." Read more

"...It actually tells two post-apocalyptic stories: the first is a virus; the second is an alien invasion...." Read more

320 customers mention "Writing quality"270 positive50 negative

Customers appreciate the writing quality. They find the characters believable, and the storytelling balanced with imagery and description. The creative details set the scene well without overdoing it. Overall, readers describe the book as engaging and well-written.

"...The good news is that Edward W Robertson. is an excellent writer, and it is very much its own style, so one gets used to them after a while like an..." Read more

"...So, overall, I liked it and I say you should read it. It's pretty well written, it's funny in parts and tense in others...." Read more

"...and world-building is fairly plausible, and there's a good balance in the amount of detail about the aliens and their technologies to satisfy pretty..." Read more

"...Darn good writing! If he keeps it up, I fully expect to be reading lots more from him!" Read more

279 customers mention "Character development"241 positive38 negative

Customers find the characters engaging and relatable. They appreciate the well-written story with two main characters in L.A. and New York. The author occasionally kills characters expected to be central to the story, but the antagonist is fair.

"...second miracle Breakers does is introduce excellent, engaging three-dimensional characters you care about in the last quarter of the book...." Read more

"...Walt was an interesting character, from a seemingly melodramatic, almost pathetic lapdog with a slightly psychotic side, through suicidal and into..." Read more

"...Otto is a wonderful character. He adds some comic relief and some tactical knowledge to the group when they decide to fight the aliens...." Read more

"...This writer is very good at character development, in my estimation, and he shows a lot of insight into human nature...." Read more

77 customers mention "Thought provoking"77 positive0 negative

Customers find the premise interesting and original. They appreciate the clever dialogue and imaginative writing style. The author does a great job of portraying chaotic times and giving a new twist to the sci-fi genre.

"...The second miracle Breakers does is introduce excellent, engaging three-dimensional characters you care about in the last quarter of the book...." Read more

"...I even enjoyed the parts about planting the garden and looking at the breakers...." Read more

"...Character development could use some work. World building is good, and his descriptions of places are well done...." Read more

"This is science fiction as it should be: original, imaginative and thought provoking. Ignore the negative reviews...." Read more

137 customers mention "Pacing"73 positive64 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the pacing of the book. Some find it smooth and well-written, with a nice flow and believable storyline. Others feel it's slow in places and takes too long to get through each scene.

"...Once society does collapse, it happens quickly and it is still believable even if there is a little movie-hero-tough-guy action thrown into the mix...." Read more

"...Overall, despite some pacing issues, I did enjoy Breakers...." Read more

"...In listening, it seemed to move smoothly and came across as a well-written book...." Read more

"...Someone said there was too much description and the book was slow in places. I disagree with those things too...." Read more

65 customers mention "Humor"42 positive23 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the humor. Some find the humor witty and entertaining, with clever observations that leave them snorting. Others feel the story is depressing, with some unintentional humor that can be distracting or awkward.

"...It's pretty well written, it's funny in parts and tense in others. It's not perfect, but then few books are...." Read more

"...are a few grammar errors, comma problems, misplaced words, a couple of bad similes, some awkward sentences, and, in one case, a homophone that does..." Read more

"...Otto is a wonderful character. He adds some comic relief and some tactical knowledge to the group when they decide to fight the aliens...." Read more

"...I love Walt's funny, exaggerated, obnoxious blathering, part of the humor-infested ego that keeps him alive...." Read more

30 customers mention "Development"14 positive16 negative

Customers have mixed views on the book's development. Some find it insightful and humorous, with subtle details that make you think back. They appreciate the survivalist trivia and smart character development. Others feel the story lacks substance and logic gaps, making it seem underdeveloped.

"...downhill, in my opinion, but it’s definitely something I felt had no real goal...." Read more

"...He adds some comic relief and some tactical knowledge to the group when they decide to fight the aliens. This is a great book...." Read more

"...You find no depth or contemplation of their situation or prospects of civilization...." Read more

"...Potent, inspirational, educational, hopeful, demanding. Smart. No glaring continuity problems between the novels, either...." Read more

Breaking Away
5 out of 5 stars
Breaking Away
The Good: The Breakers does two amazing things. First, it changes the plot themes if not actual genres halfway through the novel. It starts off as a book about a worldwide plague. And to its credit, it does an excellent job making both the disease as well as the populaces and government’s reaction to the same realistic and entertaining. As someone who just lived through a pandemic, I was in danger of finding a bunch of eye-rolling moments since Breakers was written in 2012. Instead, scenes like one of the main characters visiting dozens of drug stores looking over empty shelves for cold medication struck me as true.Then Breakers does something amazing. It switches gears to an alien invasion novel complete with flying saucers, octopus like aliens, and camps for the remaining humans. And it pulls it off seamlessly. Here I was really enjoying my post apocalypse plague tale and a flying saucer shows up. My first reaction was this is going to ruin the book. To my surprise, it made the book even better.The second miracle Breakers does is introduce excellent, engaging three-dimensional characters you care about in the last quarter of the book. Here is a pet peeve I almost didn’t realise I had. Too many books spend the first three chapters establishing the main characters and those are the only fleshed out characters for the rest of the narrative. Everyone else is what the incels might call NPC’s just there to move the plot along or create obstacles for our main characters.Breakers showed me the light. It introduces about a half dozen survivors at the end and they are not just three-dimensional but our characters’ story becomes in many ways central to the narrative. Breakers becomes a book about these new folk as much as it is about our original two couples. Partially because our main characters’ numbers have realistically dropped precipitously by then. Another realistic touch in a book about both a plague and an alien invasion.Edward W. Robertson starts the book with two couples, one on the West coast and one in Manhattan. The story jumps between the two. While it does all eventually come together, I actually found the moving between both stories in alternating chapters quite refreshing and an excellent way to tell the story.One last thing I pick on author Edward W Robertson’s writing style a bit below. But I enjoyed it. I understand it will not be everyone’s cup of tea. Though with such good plotting and characters, I doubt it will be a deal breaker.The Bad: Edward W Robertson’s style will not be for everyone. He loves his metaphors and similes, mixing them up like a peanut butter sandwich in a blender. It can get a bit much. There are a lot of them, sometimes twice a sentence, and they can overwhelm the actual story being told like June bugs at a picnic.The good news is that Edward W Robertson. is an excellent writer, and it is very much its own style, so one gets used to them after a while like an overweight cat on your lap.The Ugly: Well, the Aliens are ugly. I confess there is one scene where one of our characters rescues a bunch of people from an alien camp and kills all the aliens and then he leaves them in the desert with no clothes telling them they are on thier own.I know that these are ruthless times, but it seemed a bit out of character and strategically dubious as well. Since he just rescued them and there was an alien base filled with weapons, he could have least armed them, showed them how to use the alien guns and marched to the nearest small town to raid the abandoned building for shoes and clothes.His actions seemed both cruel and short-sighted and took me out of the story for a bit. But Edward W Robertson had earned my trust by then, so I just rolled with it.In Conclusion: Breakers is my second favorite book I have read so far this year. Pride and Prejudice beats it out overall but really who can compete with Jane Austin despite the lack of alien invasions and worldwide plagues in the Regency countryside. I grew to love the writing style of Breakers, but what really stands out is the solid character work. Excellent well thought out plotting means little if you don’t have great people to follow and care about. And Breakers has that in spades. An outstanding book I am surprised is not more popular.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2023
    The Good: The Breakers does two amazing things. First, it changes the plot themes if not actual genres halfway through the novel. It starts off as a book about a worldwide plague. And to its credit, it does an excellent job making both the disease as well as the populaces and government’s reaction to the same realistic and entertaining. As someone who just lived through a pandemic, I was in danger of finding a bunch of eye-rolling moments since Breakers was written in 2012. Instead, scenes like one of the main characters visiting dozens of drug stores looking over empty shelves for cold medication struck me as true.

    Then Breakers does something amazing. It switches gears to an alien invasion novel complete with flying saucers, octopus like aliens, and camps for the remaining humans. And it pulls it off seamlessly. Here I was really enjoying my post apocalypse plague tale and a flying saucer shows up. My first reaction was this is going to ruin the book. To my surprise, it made the book even better.

    The second miracle Breakers does is introduce excellent, engaging three-dimensional characters you care about in the last quarter of the book. Here is a pet peeve I almost didn’t realise I had. Too many books spend the first three chapters establishing the main characters and those are the only fleshed out characters for the rest of the narrative. Everyone else is what the incels might call NPC’s just there to move the plot along or create obstacles for our main characters.

    Breakers showed me the light. It introduces about a half dozen survivors at the end and they are not just three-dimensional but our characters’ story becomes in many ways central to the narrative. Breakers becomes a book about these new folk as much as it is about our original two couples. Partially because our main characters’ numbers have realistically dropped precipitously by then. Another realistic touch in a book about both a plague and an alien invasion.

    Edward W. Robertson starts the book with two couples, one on the West coast and one in Manhattan. The story jumps between the two. While it does all eventually come together, I actually found the moving between both stories in alternating chapters quite refreshing and an excellent way to tell the story.

    One last thing I pick on author Edward W Robertson’s writing style a bit below. But I enjoyed it. I understand it will not be everyone’s cup of tea. Though with such good plotting and characters, I doubt it will be a deal breaker.

    The Bad: Edward W Robertson’s style will not be for everyone. He loves his metaphors and similes, mixing them up like a peanut butter sandwich in a blender. It can get a bit much. There are a lot of them, sometimes twice a sentence, and they can overwhelm the actual story being told like June bugs at a picnic.

    The good news is that Edward W Robertson. is an excellent writer, and it is very much its own style, so one gets used to them after a while like an overweight cat on your lap.

    The Ugly: Well, the Aliens are ugly. I confess there is one scene where one of our characters rescues a bunch of people from an alien camp and kills all the aliens and then he leaves them in the desert with no clothes telling them they are on thier own.

    I know that these are ruthless times, but it seemed a bit out of character and strategically dubious as well. Since he just rescued them and there was an alien base filled with weapons, he could have least armed them, showed them how to use the alien guns and marched to the nearest small town to raid the abandoned building for shoes and clothes.

    His actions seemed both cruel and short-sighted and took me out of the story for a bit. But Edward W Robertson had earned my trust by then, so I just rolled with it.

    In Conclusion: Breakers is my second favorite book I have read so far this year. Pride and Prejudice beats it out overall but really who can compete with Jane Austin despite the lack of alien invasions and worldwide plagues in the Regency countryside. I grew to love the writing style of Breakers, but what really stands out is the solid character work. Excellent well thought out plotting means little if you don’t have great people to follow and care about. And Breakers has that in spades. An outstanding book I am surprised is not more popular.
    Customer image
    5.0 out of 5 stars Breaking Away
    Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2023
    The Good: The Breakers does two amazing things. First, it changes the plot themes if not actual genres halfway through the novel. It starts off as a book about a worldwide plague. And to its credit, it does an excellent job making both the disease as well as the populaces and government’s reaction to the same realistic and entertaining. As someone who just lived through a pandemic, I was in danger of finding a bunch of eye-rolling moments since Breakers was written in 2012. Instead, scenes like one of the main characters visiting dozens of drug stores looking over empty shelves for cold medication struck me as true.

    Then Breakers does something amazing. It switches gears to an alien invasion novel complete with flying saucers, octopus like aliens, and camps for the remaining humans. And it pulls it off seamlessly. Here I was really enjoying my post apocalypse plague tale and a flying saucer shows up. My first reaction was this is going to ruin the book. To my surprise, it made the book even better.

    The second miracle Breakers does is introduce excellent, engaging three-dimensional characters you care about in the last quarter of the book. Here is a pet peeve I almost didn’t realise I had. Too many books spend the first three chapters establishing the main characters and those are the only fleshed out characters for the rest of the narrative. Everyone else is what the incels might call NPC’s just there to move the plot along or create obstacles for our main characters.

    Breakers showed me the light. It introduces about a half dozen survivors at the end and they are not just three-dimensional but our characters’ story becomes in many ways central to the narrative. Breakers becomes a book about these new folk as much as it is about our original two couples. Partially because our main characters’ numbers have realistically dropped precipitously by then. Another realistic touch in a book about both a plague and an alien invasion.

    Edward W. Robertson starts the book with two couples, one on the West coast and one in Manhattan. The story jumps between the two. While it does all eventually come together, I actually found the moving between both stories in alternating chapters quite refreshing and an excellent way to tell the story.

    One last thing I pick on author Edward W Robertson’s writing style a bit below. But I enjoyed it. I understand it will not be everyone’s cup of tea. Though with such good plotting and characters, I doubt it will be a deal breaker.

    The Bad: Edward W Robertson’s style will not be for everyone. He loves his metaphors and similes, mixing them up like a peanut butter sandwich in a blender. It can get a bit much. There are a lot of them, sometimes twice a sentence, and they can overwhelm the actual story being told like June bugs at a picnic.

    The good news is that Edward W Robertson. is an excellent writer, and it is very much its own style, so one gets used to them after a while like an overweight cat on your lap.

    The Ugly: Well, the Aliens are ugly. I confess there is one scene where one of our characters rescues a bunch of people from an alien camp and kills all the aliens and then he leaves them in the desert with no clothes telling them they are on thier own.

    I know that these are ruthless times, but it seemed a bit out of character and strategically dubious as well. Since he just rescued them and there was an alien base filled with weapons, he could have least armed them, showed them how to use the alien guns and marched to the nearest small town to raid the abandoned building for shoes and clothes.

    His actions seemed both cruel and short-sighted and took me out of the story for a bit. But Edward W Robertson had earned my trust by then, so I just rolled with it.

    In Conclusion: Breakers is my second favorite book I have read so far this year. Pride and Prejudice beats it out overall but really who can compete with Jane Austin despite the lack of alien invasions and worldwide plagues in the Regency countryside. I grew to love the writing style of Breakers, but what really stands out is the solid character work. Excellent well thought out plotting means little if you don’t have great people to follow and care about. And Breakers has that in spades. An outstanding book I am surprised is not more popular.
    Images in this review
    Customer image
    Customer image
  • Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2012
    I stumbled across this book while playing around and window shopping. I almost didn't buy it because it was both a biological apocalypse and an alien invasion but in the end, that's also what got me to buy it. This is a sub-genre mashup I hadn't read before and felt it needed to be tried out. So, I put the book I was reading aside and started.

    It starts with some decent character building. The two main characters, Walt and Raymond are at very different points in their lives and on different sides of North America, but they both feel real. Their love interests, Mia and Vanessa are also well thought out and believable. Once the epidemic hits and starts spreading, things fall apart quickly and it's not until a significant portion of the population has died that things start really falling apart - everyone is too caught up in their day to day to panic. Once society does collapse, it happens quickly and it is still believable even if there is a little movie-hero-tough-guy action thrown into the mix. It's Believable and Fun.

    Then, the aliens arrive.

    The book becomes a very different story at this point. The pacing changes, the tension builds and characters die. The first part of the alien story is interesting as we try to figure out what's going to happen and as they start clearing away the remains of the humans in the LA basin to make way for themselves. I do like that the situations for the humans keeps deteriorating and I like that some of the characters we start to like are killed off. But, once the climax starts, the pacing changes again and it feels like a movie again.

    So, overall, I liked it and I say you should read it. It's pretty well written, it's funny in parts and tense in others. It's not perfect, but then few books are. It was good enough that I'm going to try some more of Robertson's writing - this time one of his short story collections.

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
  • Darren-ZombieKebab-Dilnott
    5.0 out of 5 stars Just a brilliantly written book.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 18, 2015
    Firstly i have to say if id have known this book was about an alien invasion, i wouldn't have given it a second look. However the virus, and downfall of mankind was so brilliantly chronicled i wasn't going to give up on it. It's a special book indeed, and the imagery that the author creates is vivid and detailed, while his characters are engaging. Left out are the gung ho hero's of other books, and instead the survivors are ordinary people with their own strengths and frailties.
    The author paints a beautiful landscape of the desolation the world becomes. Most importantly he doesn't rush it. There is so much life going on, while in the background the virus is picking up pace. Looking forward to starting on book 2.
  • Cathy S
    5.0 out of 5 stars This is a fun read
    Reviewed in Canada on May 7, 2014
    I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's an easy read, good character development, interesting story. If you like 'end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it' stories, you'll love this one.
  • Elisabeth
    5.0 out of 5 stars super
    Reviewed in Germany on August 7, 2013
    Ein Virus wütet und dann kommen die Aliens. Es gibt verschiedene Handlungsebenen, die sich irgendwann kreuzen, sehr schön geschrieben, kann das Buch nur empfehlen.
  • Kitty James
    4.0 out of 5 stars Great start!
    Reviewed in Canada on December 11, 2015
    Really enjoyed this 'end of the world series' start. Very well imagines, with characters I loved. The story was engaging, moved quickly, and was always exciting; the play between the two main groups well done.
  • Kindle Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars A good book with two different stories
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 22, 2016
    I liked this book. It is well written with good characterisation. The first half is a nicely worked description of an viral apocalypse. It shows very well how people would probably respond to such a event. Surviving by what ever need as the world falls apart around them.
    Then halfway through the book it changes suddenly. Going from apocalyptic to alien invasion. Unfortunately that's where I felt the book lost it's way a little. The events following the invasion are a bit rushed and confusing. Which it the reason I've not given this book a five star rating. If it had been either an apocalyptic book or one about an alien invasion it would have been better. Unfortunately the author tries to have both, and the book suffers as a result.

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