Barbara F Seiden – författare

Full of growing suspense and surprise turns, "The End," set in the very near future, follows the winding and overlapping paths of several compelling characters as they''re forced to navigate independent, yet inter-winding paths through the turbulent waters of a post-apocalyptic planet. These men, women and children struggle to make impossible decisions and, for some, unthinkable autocracies, in the name of self-preservation. At the moment of the event, time abruptly stops, and then slowly begins again, as our heroes are and heroines are jolted out of their mundane lives and sent reeling.

This book, although ''technically'' a work of fiction, is unique because the author has actually been on-site and personally witnessed almost all of the events and narratives described in it. Dan Martin has seen some of the planet''s worst natural and man-made catastrophic events--war, devastating earthquakes, government and economic collapse, pandemics, looting, killing and kidnapping. He has personally been immersed in the chaos, destruction and collapse of cities and nations, and is able to convey those raw, often gritty, surreal experiences through the novel''s lead characters.

As the reader follows the unfolding drama, the characters assume real-life behaviors, actions and reactions with which the reader can relate and identify. You may even share some of the same tragic experiences. It is an inconceivable perspective and awareness that can only be imprinted on an individual who has actually experienced and been present during and immediately after such a horrific, life-changing event--something other post-apocalyptic authors are completely oblivious to and can only imagine.

The author, Dan Martin, in his 20''s quit an Aerospace career, got rid of his cookie-cutter suburban home, vehicles, boat, jet skies, burned his phone, computer and belongings (and wads of cash) and left society. For the next 8yrs he lived off-the-grid, 100% self-sufficient, entirely cut-off, not leaving his homestead once and not seeing or speaking with another person the entire time.

Dan grew up in Detroit when it was the homicide capital of the world. At 18, he fought in The Gulf and upon returning, prepared himself by learning everything. One day he thought: "Even though we''re born in, maybe we don''t need to continue as sheep. Maybe we could, stop... Leave." And so he split from the herd, leaving all comforts, materialism and capitalism behind. In 2010 Dan returned and moved to Mexico to form a non-profit providing relief to victims of natural and man-made catastrophes/crises. He now lives in a hand-built Castle/bunker on an animal refuge/animal arch, consulting on the subject of societal collapse for Hollywood movies and prime time TV shows like - AMC''s The Walking Dead, TNT''s Falling Skies, NatGeo''s Doomsday Preppers, Fox''s Utopia and Discovery''s The Colony.

In 2012, he published Apocalypse, How to Survive a Global Crisis, followed by Breaking The Grid, a complete guide to self-sufficiency. Dan''s been the hot topic of CNN, MSNBC, Men''s Journal, Men''s Health, The Huffington Post, Esquire and The Travel Channel. And having actually been ''boots on the ground'' in places like Haiti, New Orleans, Colombia, Japan, Detroit and Venezuela during their societal collapses, the Middle East during the war and Mexico during the cartel wars, and with 3 published books and over 100,000hrs in the field, Martin''s widely considered one of the foremost experts on the topic

He knows firsthand the ins and outs of day-to-day life in environments when humanity is at its lowest and society stops providing for us. He possesses that on-site, eyewitness account, only imprinted on someone by actually being there, seeing firsthand the trauma and chaos-induced behaviors, reactions and horrific chain of events that unfold during, and in the aftermath