Best Bobby Akart book by far!

I started reading this book and I couldn't get anything done. Read it in one sitting. Now THIS a book that I can see happening. Very believable. Real life characters and situations. Counting down until Book 2 comes out. 1 Rita1 review

Plenty of Info

I have already told people about the book.. most of the people don't know who you are.. I mean people I know...since I read the first book I was hooked. Couldn't stop turning the pages... I try to recommend all of them. Soo this is my 2nd time reading book 1 and ready to start book 2... I really feel you give good advice... helping people who have no idea how to plan for what may happen to us..anre most I know don't have any idea what comes next..our world is on fire...my dad spent 7yrs in several concentration camps in Germany... he's told us many stories of survival... from his stories an yours it gives me confidence that if an when something goes zonkers I will be able to survive it..thank you so much for your research and your mind... I love your books..all of them 1 Maria Trying to write my book Park751 35

Science Fiction becomes Science Fact

Behind the Gates: One, Bobby Akart's newest thriller is his most horrific yet. We have stepped over the line of Science Fiction into Science Fact and the landscape he draws is so scarily real, you will never feel safe again.


Lest you doubt the facts about political science and public policy presented in this story, please read Mr. Akart's credentials.


“Mr. Akart is a graduate of the University of Tennessee after pursuing a dual major in economics and political science. He went on to obtain his master’s degree in business administration and his doctorate degree in law at Tennessee.”


Behind the Gates is full of richly detailed characters. Dean Winchester who is a professor at Pepperdine University teaches Public Policy. More than any other, his character builds the basic, everyday facts that we take for granted into the cloud of doom that in real life, awaits us over the horizon. He says,


“THE PATH TO TYRANNY. If you scare people enough, they will willingly give up freedoms.” “The Patriot Act and the aftermath of what I consider to be one of the most overreaching laws passed in this country in modern times.”


“For decades, our policymakers have labeled everything a crisis or somehow part of a broken system.” “Fear is a great motivator, as they say. And human nature is to agree to government control and solutions because we’re essentially pack animals.”


“The public, with the aid of the media, is whipped into a hysteria in order for freedoms to be stripped away in favor of public safety or a warming planet or some other noble cause.” “The more a nation’s citizenry complies, the more authoritarian its government becomes, which leads to tyranny.”


Why all of this background? Because the disaster he portrays as coming is based on the very founding of our Constitution. The events in our country since 2001 really happened and are part of what is looming ahead.


Dean’s wife Emmy is a Daytime TV Actress, and along with 5 other residents of the Colony Woods gated community in Malibu, California, they make up what they call, The Friday Night Club. An eclectic group, they enjoy discussing daily news and deep philosophy.


Grayson McCall, a loner among the couples, is an enigmatic figure. He agreed with Dean on most things and they begin to guide the group. Living near Los Angeles County, the Malibu folks can't miss the signs of trouble. Gang warfare creeping into every neighborhood. Their own HOA becoming a dictatorship.


Along with Liza and Judson Pryce, Lee Wong and Nicole Hermann, the group is systematically tutored in how to stay safe, food, water and fuel readiness in case of a crisis.


Consider this statement from Dean to Grayson, “No doubt, buddy. This is not the America I was born into. The days of apple pie and Chevrolet. The days of baseball and Fourth of July parades. Sunday worship and the Pledge of Allegiance. That’s all gone.”


The inevitable but chilling end to Behind the Gates: One, is really just the beginning. Knowing how Bobby Akart writes, The Friday Night Club folks' lives are not going to get better. Excellent book, I highly recommend it. Will3

I am writing this review before I have finished the b0ok. The frustration I feel at this type of storytelling has compelled me to start early.

When reading most modern fiction, the plot or general direction of the story is revealed within the first thirty pages or so. Usually this is the inciting action. Its important to grab onto the reader's interest, and give them a general idea on what to expect. Not so for Behind the Gates. Akart does not reveal any plot until about 49% of the way into the first book.

I read this on kindle. If the book is 307 pages, then page 148 is when the greater plot or the inciting action is revealed to me. The first 20% is filled with related quotes and news snippets of the present day, none of which is actual story material, just a bunch of facts.

I did not purchase this book for the quotes or new snippets. I get enough of that online anyway. I want to read a good story to pass the time. And until the midway point I have no idea what this story is about.

Bobby Akart is a good writer, and does a very decent job of creating believable characters, but I'm afraid that advancing the plot is a skill that he did not apply to this particular work. I have a feeling that Akart makes his money by writing a whole series of books, and then parsing them out one by one. So the plot of the whole series is not hinted at until the midway point of the first book.

Akart is breaking down the Freytag Triangle into books, instead of writing the Freytag Triangle into each book. Book one is the inciting action. Book two the rising action. Book three is the Climax. Book four is the falling action and conclusion. Which means I have to spend more money to even see the rising action.

I have read a few of Akart's previous series. I started with the Boston Brahmin, and went through Yellowstone, but I stopped there because I could see where his storytelling was going. A slow burn/slow to build story can be done very well, but there is such a thing as too slow, and its a fine line for a writer to walk.

I don't know why this book has such a high review. Character building is awesome, but unless you advance the plot you will lose the attention of your readers. I'll stick it out to the end, but I'm not hopeful. I doubt I will finished this series when it is finally published. I dipped a finger back into the Akart pool and found it was the exact same as I had left it.

Edit: I finally finished the book. No need to change or alter my review written above. I will not be continuing the series when it comes out in piecemeal fashion. Model books after the Freytag triangle not an entire series. 3 s Michael Keller789 7

A country in peril, a neighborhood in danger

Dean Winchester has a good life. He's a tenured professor at Pepperdine and his wife is a famous daytime soap actress. They have a wonderful home in a gated community in Malibu, CA. Their friends and neighbors are close and enjoy getting together on Friday nights to share libations and conversation. Crime is rising in the wealthy neighborhood. The HOA is making some changes in security that may not suit the community. The country is politically and socially divided, mirroring the real world. There has not been such hatred and divisive rhetoric since the Civil War, but this is not North vs. South! This is neighbor vs. neighbor!

The Friday Night friends decide maybe it's time to be a Prepper and secure their homes, pick up some long-term beans, bandages and bullets. You know. Just in case! Then the lights went out.

The Author s to show his ability in prognostication, and he's often spot on! The atmosphere in the US is charged. The nation is ready to boil over and the rest of the world is watching closely. We have enough trouble in our own backyards, but some bad actors through greed or envy are sure to take advantage of our enmity. I'm suspecting trouble from many sides. The obvious choices would be China, Russia, Iran or North Korea, but who knows? Apparently, Bobby has some ideas. I'm gonna have to read more of the series to see what Mr. Wizard throws in the Country's stumbling path!

A little too much politics for me, but still a darn good read! Jackie74 1 follower

I'm torn about this one. I agree with everything the protagonist says but the book was aggravating and largely boring. It read more a survival manual with a little story thrown in as an example.

All the characters sounded they stepped off conservative news channels complete with talking points. I said I agree with it all but I would to read about characters who seem more real and relatable. Franklin Horton writes some excellent post-apocalypse fiction with characters you get to know and care about with seemingly real lives. The people in this book were rich and lived in a gated community in Malibu. The fact that they found a group of -minded conservatives in that situation is unbelievable enough, never mind the fact that they decided to go from their regular daily lives to hard-core survivalists in a matter of days just before the power goes out. It's all just too pat. Plus it ends just as the action is beginning so you have to read the next two books to get a whole story.

2 1/2 stars rounded up. I don't think I'll be reading the sequels. Milton Edgeworth58 3

Terrifying Reality

I don't horror books, movies, TV, but this was a horrifying read. Not because the writing is bad, the story unrealistic. The book is horrifying because its very premise is factually true. And the outline of what could, will happen is all too true, all too real. I was glued to the TV during the Cuban crisis terrified because my military father literally disappeared from our lives for almost a week. I watched the boys from my high school leave and never return from a war run by politicians to fill their pockets with war profits. I lived thru the 70's and saw the destruction of this country's economy and morality destroyed by politicians. Getting old is hard and painful. But not as hard and painful as watching the country I love, the country all my male relatives fought for, being destroyed by those same politicians and immoral elitists set on turning freedom into serfdom. Read the book. Bruce371

I'm feeling ripped off
Don't buy this book unless you intend to shell out for every other Collapse of America book too. This "series" is a continuous story, that is essentially a normal sized book chopped into short pieces so you have to buy it 3 times. The audiobooks are each just over 6 hours, with the same 15 minutes or so of non-story filler to make them appear longer. On top of that, each subsequent book has in-story filler, as it retells things that happened in the previous ones. That makes the entire "series" shorter than most of the other single books I read. I enjoyed it , but won't buy this author again, as I feel ripped off by his marketing tactics. I recommend you look elsewhere.

Edit: Just got to the end of book 3, and unfortunately that's not the end of the story. Even though Goodreads shows this as a 3-book series (as of May 17, 2024), apparently it continues. Prepare to have Akart drain your wallet even further. Rosanne4

I have loved all of Bobby Akart series. My favorite was Yellowstone series. This one is scary in the "it could really happen" vein. It started out slow and leaning too far into the right wing Fox news area that I almost stopped but when I got to the active shooter at Pepperdine I was hooked. It's a very realistic story and frightening. I'm not a far left leaning person, more of middle of the road. If more people were middle of the road we probably wouldn't be in the situation we are in. I'm really hoping that the author doesn't go farther to the right. Keep it relatable to both sides or I'll lose interest. Cody 413 4

Not much action

This was the setup book fo r the series . Character development and who the good vs bad are.
I've dealt with the condo and HOA commandos in Florida. So Bobby is spot on with his assessments of them. They're a microcosm of our current administration.
This book is so realistically on point, it's scary! America, as we know it, is done. And it may well happen as it does in this book, before Mr Akart even releases the next in this series.
Godspeed everyone
Adolf von Wurttemberg117 1 follower

Book Review:
"Behind The Gates 1: A Post Apocalyptic Survival Thriller (Collapse of America)" Kindle Edition
by Bobby Akart (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
Pick up your newspaper or news website; next, pick up this novel. Note how strikingly similar they are! The Zeitgeist and the Weltanschauung are the same. This is true even down to the HOA's (Homeowners' Association). I am writing this review in March of 2024 and can hardly wait for Book Two to be released on March 28th of this year. This is so real that it is scary.


Peter A.13

Mixed Feelings

I have read most of Akart’s books and d them a lot, I’m not sure about this one. For me, it’s starts slow and continues at a slow pace. There is good character development and background, but at some point the story has to kick in. Frankly, the Friday night cocktail hour was getting a little old. I also found the characters starting to do “dumb” things that would put them in harms way. Drives me crazy. All that being said, I will read the next installment. Lastly, there is no Walmart in Pasadena. Tom Hawman52

Bobby really missed the mark with this one. Watching paint dry is more exciting than the first 35 chapters. I read some of the and wondered how we both read the same book but yet somehow known only to them, they actually finished this book and enjoyed it.

I have been an Akart fan for more books than I can remember and I have no idea what made him think this was a novel worthy of his name and being released to the wild. I have never given out a 1 star rating and Bobby has written so many better books and series. I'll pass on this series, but I do look forward to his next series. Susan Robinson237 3

Very realistic. Our freedoms are being eroded as the Constitution is chipped away in the name of safety concerns and the over-reaching actions of bureaucrats. I really d the scenes played out in the classroom. It reminded me of a professor I had in college years ago. He was on the opposite side of the spectrum from me, but encouraged discussion and debate and respected the opinions of those who didn't agree with him. Ted Blackwell47 1 follower

great book

This is a good story about how society is becoming more divided and truly unprepared for difficult times. The main people in this book are living in a very upperclass neighborhood - Malibu. They have always felt safe but times are quickly changing. This is not a high action book but really keeps you going as the characters - although rich - have the same basic needs as everyone else. Read and enjoy. I am moving on to the next book. Slympicins 161 1 follower

Bobby rocks it out of the park again. First book is slow as he gets you into every one involved in the plot. Ya have to pay attention. Then... It ends. Get ready for book two. One can't help but notice everything seems to fit the times almost as if he can predict the future. Or maybe he does. Book two can make you angry with the system and don't ever think this isn't exactly how it works. After being on law enforcement for over three decades, I have seen it and glad to be retired.
Cabt wait to here from Dean again. Pam Shelton-Anderson1,783 56

I have d some of this author's books in the past ( Yellowstone series), even with his decidedly right-wing politics. I had to just stop with this one. Not only did the plot move slowly in Malibu of all places, but was just full of right-wing disinformation ( Ukraine scamming the defense funding from America). Pity as the writing itself is generally good, but this series is not for me. dnf-series post-apocalyptic-civil Tess842 3

A very scary believable read.

It's a fantastic start to a new series and absolutely worth waiting for. There are a lot of characters and they are all memorable even at this early stage in the series, you will know what I mean when you read it. I would definitely recommend this book to others. Great pace, fantastic believable story and I can't wait for the next book. green Diane192

T E R R I F F I C !

Once the groundwork gets laid in the beginning, this newest series explodes on the pages! I was SO impressed by what I read that mimics what I know or believe, how it becomes so paralleled to today’s headlines. BOBBY AKART’s books are exceptional reads.
I have already preordered this whole series and would encourage anyone to do the same. Jeff Benham1,466 7

Malibu, nice city, safe city. Even safer in a gated community. Until gangs decide Malibu is an easy target. Until the HOA president gets crazy for power, stripping rights from the home owners. Some home owners gather together to prepare for the disasters they are sure will come. And just in time. Natural disasters beget violence. Outstanding start to a new series. Linda442 9

Excellent and Realistic

This book is well written and is so realistic. The characters are facing a possible collapse in the US and trying to prepare. Not only is the story exciting and hard to put down, but it mimics the events in our world right now. Definitely a book to read that will stay on your mind long after finishing the pages. Off to read book 2.
Steve Olive21 1 follower

Setting the background for the series

This book sets the background for the series so it’s a little slow to read. It shows how tyranny begins when people get a little power & the irrational fear many people have of firearms through the rhetoric of the left wing politicians & supporters which is driven by mainstream media’s sensationalism around the world. Alkiviadis22

Horrible

This author gave us the Yellow and Nuclear winter series, great books all full of action and intrigue. So I am genuinely confused what went wrong. This book is awful, nothing happened for at least half of the book. Also full of Russian propaganda, as expected for any American leaning to the right.
Very disappointed, but I should have seen it coming. Cynthia Slaughter415 4

Survival thriller

This series takes place in a gated community in Malibu. Always a good read, Bobby Akart ties the scenario into recent and current events making it all too conceivable. His characters have different backgrounds but these obviously have wealth and prestige. Can't wait to get into the next book. Choose freedom. Bruce Tamanaha82 1 follower

Good start to a new series

Bobby Akart has written another apocalyptic survival story that is based on real life. The book sets the stage for things to come.
There is tragedy and fear. But there is hope. The families work together, prepping for the worse, with each of them supporting each other.
Enjoyed the book. Entertaining and thrilling. Amber42

Slow and political

I was enjoying the book until we took a nosedive into what is very clearly the author’s political opinions. Politics can be discussed in an unbiased way but this was clearly written as an “us (the good guys) vs them (the bad guys)” and I’m uninterested in continuing. Cynthia L. Turner1,025 5

WOW!

A group of minded friends gradually realize what is happening in the world. Slowly but surely different things start to happen. As the group of friends in an affluent community come together, things start to happen around them. This novel is just the beginning of their journey. Storter44 1 follower

Scary because it's spot on

This is a very well written book. Unfortunately so much of it is taken straight from many of the headlines today. This isn't some prepper praying for disaster book so many others around today. Just a common sense approach to what is eventually going to happen. One day the lights are going to go out. And for quite a while unfortunately. michael r hyer46 2

Behind the Gates

As usual, Bobby exceeds expectations! Behind the Gates is a thought provoking treatise on American society. It is action packed and educational at the same time. Can’t wait to see what happens in Book 2! Tierney14

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