Content levels
Trigger warnings
Hero archetypes
Heroine archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Synopsis
A devastating earthquake. A fractured heartland. A family torn apart. Cassidy Mason laughs with her classmates on a Kentucky school bus, twisting through backcountry roads. In an instant, the pavement cracks like glass, and the bus tumbles into a ravine. Buried in twisted steel and screams, she claws through agony and fear, forcing herself to emerge into an unknown disaster where safety might not exist. Will Mason grips the wheel of his Ohio River tugboat, calling orders to his crew as another routine shift begins. But when the water heaves like a beast awakened, the river churns into chaos. He beaches the battered vessel amid splintering docks and rising wreckage, but with no radio signal and the world in ruins, one desperate urge consumes him: reach his wife and daughter before it's too late. Erin Mason herds excited students through a hotel lobby on a field trip, her mind half on lesson plans. Suddenly, the floor bucks, walls groan, and ceilings rain down in deadly chunks. Amid the dust and cries of the trapped teens, she battles to shield them from the collapsing city, all while terror grips her. Has the quake claimed her family hundreds of miles away? With bridges collapsed, power vanished, and aftershocks threatening more destruction, it's a brutal race to safety. Will, Cassidy, and Erin Mason must unearth raw strength to claw through the apocalypse and reunite, or die trying. Breaking Point is book one in a post-apocalyptic disaster thriller series following ordinary people struggling to survive when a massive earthquake rips through the heart of America.
Tags
Is Breaking Point: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 13 and up.
Parents should know this book depicts a catastrophic earthquake with scenes of a bus crash, building collapse, injuries, and death. Characters face life-threatening situations including being trapped in wreckage, and there's sustained peril and emotional trauma.
What to know going in
This book has moderate violence, no sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include child harm, graphic violence, death, mass death, and grief (see the full list above).
Publisher ages reflect reading level; our rating reflects content maturity — they can differ.
Who'll love this
Teens will connect with the high-stakes survival story following a family separated by disaster trying to reunite against impossible odds.