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The Road to Saratin Kindle Edition

4.6 out of 5 stars 5 ratings

The world had already begun to change, in ways Carl had no idea were possible, when the voices started speaking to him on the night of his sixth birthday. When Carl’s mom contacted Dr. Emerson Sharod at the Freedom Institute, she had no idea that the time she cherished with her son would end.

Twenty-two years later, the voices urge Carl to leave the Freedom Institute after a man is slain under suspicious circumstances. He doesn’t question them and naively crosses the threshold into the city of Montford, where he knows no one. A few help him, risking their safety so he can escape the walled city and begin his trek to find his mom in Saratin.

The world outside the walls is stranger than the city, with unknown dangers at every step, though not everyone is a foe. Along the way, he meets many who help him and shares stories about what caused the changes in the world. When he reaches Base 40, he comes face to face with Astrid, who rescued him from freaks on the first day of his travels. He is worried that she will tell the baser leader, Corporal Phelps, that he’s the escapee from the Freedom Institute, but she does not.

After an uncomfortable meal with Corporal Phelps, Carl shares his story with Astrid. She agrees to take him to Saratin. Reaching the tent city outside the walls of Saratin, they search for refuge, and Kenneth, who is partially responsible for the chaos in the world, takes them in. Corporal Phelps quickly infiltrates the safe place, and they return to Base 40, where Carl witnesses the Corporal torturing Astrid. In a moment of anguish, Carl remembers something he was told, helping him put together a plan to save Astrid and himself and, unknowingly, the world.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Reviewed By Michelle Mollohan for Readers' Favorite - 5 Stars
Charles W Jones's The Road To Saratin is a gripping dystopian saga. There is a mysterious chemical attack that causes mutations in humans. Carl is a 28-year-old man who was taken to the Freedom Institute under the care of Dr. Emerson Sharod when he was just 6 years old. Carl hears mysterious voices all talking at once in a jumble that he can rarely interpret. Dr. Sharon experimented on him to try to tease the voices out. Despite Carl emphatically stating that he no longer hears the voices, Dr. Sharon does not believe him. One day the voices speak to him as one, telling him that it is time to leave. He walks out of the Institute and is shocked by the changes to the outside world over the 22 years since he has seen it. Carl is determined to travel to Saratin, the town he lived in with his mother. Along the way, he has to try to hide from the people seeking to return him to the Institute as well as from the mutated humans looking for a meal. During his travels, he is saved by Astrid, a woman doing recon for one of the bases nearby. Aided by the voices, he manages to overpower her and take her weapon. Astrid tracks him down and instead of turning him in as he feared, she joins in his journey.

I highly recommend Charles W Jones's The Road To Saratin. With the current climate of viruses and potential bioterrorism, coupled with our lack of preparedness in staving them off, this story is eerily relevant. I feel that The Road To Saratin differs from other end-of-the-world scenarios in that it gives you not only a glimpse of the good guys but also the villains' points of view, which provides a rich, detailed backstory. This is a medium-paced book full of memorable characters. The voices that Carl hears are varied and entertaining, from Milton who acts as his muscle to Miriam who hides his tracks along their journey. Carl also makes friends with people along the way. I loved Serena, the Matron of Sanctuary, a tent city. She stood her ground and refused to be intimidated or to let Astrid search within for Carl. I also enjoyed Thea, the good-humored leader of Bonneville who made Carl cut firewood she didn't need to trade for food and shelter. The conclusion of this book is immensely satisfying as it leaves no questions unanswered.

About the Author

I grew up in a small town of five hundred people in Wyoming that everyone always pronounces wrong or spells incorrectly, Shoshoni (show show knee); I swear it's a real place. My first novel, Dreamwalker: The Second Plain, is LGBTQ+ as are HOME and Daughter of Illusion. My other books include the Circus Tarot Trilogy (it's Clowns and Tarot, what's not to love), Hunger, Hydrangeas on the Lanai and Darkness is Coming. And last, but not least, I have two anthology collections, An Unnamed Acquaintance and Liaisons Macabre. Oh, yeah, I currently live with my husband of twenty-one years in Colorado with our three cats, ten crested geckos, and one saltwater fish tank. Checkout my website charleswjonesauthor.com.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08C8T5SSH
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 20, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 886 KB
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 325 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8663141215
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 5 ratings

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Charles W Jones
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I grew up in a small town of five hundred people in Wyoming that everyone always pronounces wrong or spells incorrectly, Shoshoni (show show knee); I swear it’s a real place. My first novel, Dreamwalker: The Second Plain, is LGBTQ+ as are HOME and Daughter of Illusion. My other books include the Circus Tarot Trilogy (it’s Clowns and Tarot, what’s not to love), Hunger, Hydrangeas on the Lanai and Darkness is Coming. And last, but not least, I have two anthology collections, An Unnamed Acquaintance and Liaisons Macabre. Oh, yeah, I currently live with my husband of twenty-one years in Colorado with our three cats, ten crested geckos, and one saltwater fish tank.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2021
    I enjoy a good post-apocalyptic story, and I wasn’t disappointed in “The Road to Saratin.” There’s something hopeful when humans face the worse in humanity, including greed, power, and insanity— yet survive. Something was released on the public, and cities built up their walls to keep it out. Carl was behind one of these walled cities after being taken from his mother at a young age, for reasons he didn’t understand. A couple of decades later, he was still trapped in an institution being studied. Carl was a character who won my heart with his almost childlike way of looking at a world that was foreign to him. His main goal was to find his mother in another city with help from voices that lived inside him. I love the relationship he developed with Astrid and how he finds his direction. The descriptions of the landscape and mutants made them come to life for me. It was a fast-paced science fiction tale. The ending was satisfying. I recommend this story, especially for all who love an intricate dystopian read.
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  • Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2021
    The Dystopian genre is one that I seldom read but thought I'd give THE ROAD TO SARATIN by Charles W. Jones a try. When starting the story, I found myself confused about what was actually happening and it took me a few chapters to finally figure it out. At that point, I put on my seatbelt and buckled in for the ride.

    In this future wasteland, greed and power-hungry individuals tried to take over the world, using chemicals and doing experiments on individuals to build great armies. When Carl turned six, his mother took him to the Freedom Institute for help because he constantly heard a jumble of voices in his head. The doctor at the institute prodded, probed, and experimented on the boy for the next twenty-two years. At that time, the voices finally communicated with Carl as one and convinced him to leave the institute. One day, he simply walked out.

    Carl could not believe the world was as it was, filled now with pestilence, freaks, mutants and the threat of poisoning from the atmosphere. He had to find his mother who lived in Saratin.

    The book kind of reminded me of a television series called, INTO THE BADLANDs where the leaders of the individual clans always battled one another in attempts to take over it all. In this story, there was also deceit, magic, corruption, and visions of a perfect society.

    In his quest, Carl finds that the voices in his head can physically materialize and help him on his journey. Along the way, people try to capture or kill him, others go out of their way to help him. His voices all try to protect him.

    The ending brings it all together for a final battle. Good against evil. Winner take all!

    I have to admit that this story stretched my imagination to the limits...not like SciFi, but kind of like Mad Max or Divergent; a wasteland and people trying to survive. I did not find any errors, and once I was on board, the story moved fluently until the end. Recommend to all who enjoy reading this genre.
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2021
    I had the distinct pleasure of chatting with Author Charles W Jones on this story. One of the best parts is his design of this unique yet appropriate cover. Charles brings a distinct perspective of Carl, the main character, through various stages of his life. It seems that at 6, Carl hears voices which caused his mother concern. Mom takes Carl to a psychiatrist. When Carl's dead father provides a comment during the psych evaluation, everything changes. Carl enters the Freedom Institute.

    ""Mrs. Forsythe, your son suffers what is called Tourette Syndrome," the doctor said. "And possibly Multiple Personality Disorder. Has he suffered any trauma lately? Abuse of any kind?"
    "What? No," Carl's mom said; she'd moved to stand behind her son while the doctor was speaking. The doctor moved his gaze back to Carl.

    "You're full of shit, bud," a man said, standing in front of the closed door. Carl turned in his seat to see him. He was tall with smooth, light skin, and muscles bulging the sleeves of his camouflage jacket. His dark hair and eyes were the same color as Carl's. Carl smiled at the man…"

    For the next 22 years, Carl is poked, prodded, and evaluated. At 28, the voices speak as one, instructing him to leave the Institute. The voices each interact with him to protect, guide and keep him company on his journey to his childhood home, Saratin. The frightening elements of greed, power, and control achieved by unleashing time travel, chemicals, and mutations are abhorrent. The world becomes outrageously filling with monsters and a place no longer recognizable as Carl sets out to find his mother.

    Though Carl is my favorite person, I enjoyed Astrid, who finally joins his quest. The actual people and voices each have distinct personalities as well as critical roles in this saga. Other memorable people include Serena, who assists Astrid in hunting for Carl. In some ways, this story's power reminded me of the world creation that Ayn Rand did with Atlas Shrugged circa 1957.

    This is a superbly crafted story that takes hold of a reader immediately. I found it well-written, exciting, and sadly close to our world today. The divisions are so strong, yet somewhere there is the potential for hope. I recommend this for fans of dystopian worlds that seem to be almost too real, especially at the fitting end. You don't want to miss this story or others by Author Charles W Jones.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Robert Fear
    5.0 out of 5 stars Stretched my imagination
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 25, 2020
    Dystopian fiction is not my normal genre, but this book made a refreshing read as it was so different.

    The story follows Carl, a man haunted by myriad voices in his head since the age of six. We join him twenty-two years later in the Freedom Institute. He knows little of the devastation that overtook the world not long after his incarceration, or of the freaks and mutants that roam outside the three remaining cities. His world has become limited to the doctor who “treats” him and the daily tasks he performs, but everything changes when a colleague dies and suspicion falls on Carl.

    In an intricate storyline, the voices urge him to leave his institutionalised life. They guide him along a path of twists and turns, away from the city of Montford. He aims to find his long-lost mom in another of the surviving cities, Saratin. His many encounters and adventures make for an intriguing, if sometimes disturbing, read. The ending is surreal but satisfying.

    This book is a real page-turner and stretched my imagination. It surprised me what can be achieved within this post-apocalyptic style of writing.

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