Peripheral Encounters

Slowpocalypse #4

by James Litherland

—An Enlightening Expedition

SENT to scout the area surrounding the FURC, what Kat and Tony find among the crumbling remnants of civilization convinces them that for all the challenges they’ve faced inside the compound, they’ve had it easy. Hoping to help some of the survivors, they encounter difficulty and danger—but the real risk they run arises from a secret aspect of their mission Tony hasn’t shared with his partner, a gambit that will put the pair in extreme peril from a ruthless enemy.

Genres: Adventure, Dystopia, Post Apocalyptic

280 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 25, 2016

About the author

I’m a graduate of the University of South Florida, and I now reside as a Virtual Hermit in the wilds of West Tennessee. I've lived various places and done a number of jobs – been an office worker and done hard manual labor, worked (briefly) in the retail and service sectors, and been an instructor. But through all that, I've always been a writer.

I’ve been a voracious reader for as long as I can remember. I cut my teeth on Nancy Drew and devoured all the pulpy adventure stories I could get my hands on before moving to genre greats like Agatha Christie and Isaac Asimov. Then in junior high I became a writer. I started studying the craft of writing – reading books and magazine articles, joining a writers’ group, and taking creative writing classes – and I wrote short stories, eventually a novel, and even some poetry. After thirty years of practice I thought I’d learned a little something, and that’s when I wrote and published my debut novel, Certain Hypothetical. And I learn a bit more with every book I write.

I’m a Christian who tries to walk the walk (and not talk much.)

Reviews

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peripheral Encounters includes the latest in the Slowpocalypse series, as well as Durable Impressions, a prequel story. Kat and Tony have been sent to the outlying areas surrounding the FURC, in order to convince those citizens of the relative safety of the FURC. Returning to the meeting point after bringing a large group to the compound, Kat is distressed to learn that Tony has gotten himself into a situation. Will she be able to figure out a way to help Tony, or will Kat wind up in trouble as well?

I like the direction that the author has taken in this book, as it was a natural progression of the series. Being that the FURC is a community the size of a small town, the series would have become stagnant had the characters not traveled outside. The potential for possible future plot lines exist, leaving one with the feeling that there is more to come.

Durable Impressions gives the reader a more detailed look into Kat, with regards to her life before become a citizen of the FURC. This snapshot shows Kat to be decisive, instinctual, intelligent, and compassionate. These "deleted scenes" help the reader to form a more complete picture of Kat, which I enjoyed because she is my favorite character.

Many thanks to the author, James Litherland, for providing me with a copy of Peripheral Encounters to read and review.

[Kimberlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The FURC community is still going strong.

After all communications from the outside world cease, Kat and Tony leave the FURC to look for any potential threats nearby and to help any survivors they run across. They find a few scattered groups, some are good people, some are not so good. Kat and Tony end up having to separate and each run into obstacles, people, who either need help or are trying to hurt them.

They hear stories about a large group of very bad men who are violent and take whatever they want, from whoever they want. Their mission, both the one Tony is keeping from Kat, and the mission she knows they are on, lead them into an exciting showdown with the enemy.

Peripheral Encounters also contains the prequel short story Durable Impressions, which was cool as I previously only had a digital copy. I have physical copies of the rest of the series and prefer the same medium throughout a set. I enjoyed this addition to the Slowpocalypse series very much, thank you James Litherland for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

[John Naylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book directly from the author.

First of all this book takes the series to where few book series go. A book 4. I think this shows the durability of the setting and the characters better than anything I can type.

The plot is mostly about Kat and Tony who (spoiler alert) are newly married and on a mission outside of FURC. They meet people who are also survivors of the Slowpocalypse. Without giving away plot points some of these people are good, some are bad and some of them have been seen before in the series.

I feel this book was slow paced and more tense than the first three in the series but that did lead to some brilliant descriptive language. The fact that all the action takes place at night helps this. I think this could be read as a stand alone novel but if you do read it that way then read Durable Impressions (which is at the back of the book I received) first for some background.

The series is developing nicely and I am sure certain scenes were added just to be played out in further novels. I hope to read future novels and I am happy to give this 5 stars.

[Brent Soderstrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book 4 of Lihterland's Slowpocalypse series and really the best so far. This one focuses on Kat and her new husband Tony as they search outside the gates of FURC to find refugees and/or eliminate the bad guys who are out there terrorizing others. Yet, is this the real reason they are out there?

They do find good people trying to survive and try to talk them into coming to FURC for a better life. They also find small and large groups of bad guys looting and killing the good people left in Florida. The chapters alternate between Kat and Tony who aren't together most of the book. This one done in the previous books with Kat and David. David is a minor character in this one.

I enjoyed the twist at the end of the book. Kat gets a lot of things explained to her regarding FURC and the people who run it including her father and mother.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

A covert assignment is given to Kat and Tony in their venturing outside the protected grounds of FURC. Having room for more people, Kat is under the assumption that the mission is to seek out survivors in the surrounding area and invite them back into their organized haven. Plus, if they are to come across any hostile, roving bands that are proving to be any form of threat, they are to take matters into their own hands and do what it takes to be dealt with. But there is something else going on in which Tony has another agenda…

A great continuation of Litherland’s SLOWPOCALYPSE series.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book through goodreads. I really enjoyed this book. A very quick and interesting read. Highly recommend.