Tea KrulosRezensionen

Truly wild how some books are just....ghosts on this website. Late August ARC expiry.

The description of the book here is pretty on-point, but I have to say the subtitle of the book must have been invented by the marketing department. "Deep Underground with America's Doomsday Preppers" is pretty misleading in that there's no real underground investigation of anything under than a guided tour of an ex-missile silo that's been repurposed into multi-million dollar luxury shelters for the elite.
The book overall is better described as a survey of various people and groups throughout history from Nostradamus to the Mayans to modern day UFO gangs who thought the world was going to end. Or, if not end, then end "as we know it". Only a scant portion of the material is actually focused on preppers, and there is no "deep" dive into their real concerns or preparations beyond what one could read in the first paragraph or two of a wikipedia entry.
There's a lot about burning man style festivals of zombie movie watchers, a hike into the back country, and interviews with random people who agreed to be interviewed. (Yawn)
It also should be borne in mind by the reader that the author is an admitted liberal and while he does pay lip service to liberal preppers (whom he calls "homesteaders"), he rightly states that preppers tend to be independent, self-reliant people of a conservative mindset. The treatment of preppers starts with the presumption that they're equal in credibility to, for example, those who thought the world would end because the Mayan calendar had run out, or those who thought the world would end because of Y2k. On the contrary, every prepper has a different vision of circumstances that might impact their family's ability to live normally, from a Katrina type hurricane, all the way to civil war or even a nuclear war. And every prepper takes different steps, most of which the author doesn't mention, other than the "bug-out bag" which receives a cursory listing of possible contents that would be different for every prepper.
In short for the 7.5 hours of listening I would say there is some moderately interesting information in here but nothing groundbreaking and not much really to be worth investing the time, at least, for someone who has any knowledge of the concept of prepping. As to the notion of "Doomsday Preppers", this is just overblown hype, again probably by the marketing department. Nobody I know is predicting Doomsday. They're just trying to improve their survivability beyond the position of most Americans who make a run on bottled water anytime there's a crisis because they don't keep more than a day of food on hand.
Surely a more interesting "Deep Underground with America's Doomsday Preppers" could come from someone who actually spent a lot of time with some preppers at a compound. Or, better yet, pick up a book by James Wesley, Rawles --you'll understand prepping better and have more fun reading.

I received this book from Early Reviewers. This was an interesting read. Mr. Krulos is a free lance journalist who spends each chapter with a different group of people preparing in various ways for the end of the world. Funny, interesting and at times creepy.
The reader does a good job on this CD version. It is a fairly short read or listen and would be good for a road trip.
My only complaint would be that the author starts a couple of times to get too political. But those moments don't last long.½

This book covers the prepper lifestyle. I found it to be not very useful. It was not a book I looked forward to listen to. Maybe because there was not much new information for a person who is even slightly familiar with the topic. The book is not terrible. But at the same time it's not terribly interesting. I wish I could write a better review covering more specifics, but the book did not hold my attention. Therefore, I did not find it very memorable.

Apocollypse Now was a well researched book, but was limited to a survey of the various groups that believes mankind is set on a path of destruction and they need to be prepared. Some of the book seemed redundant - the preppers, the homesteaders, the Zombie Squad etc. all have similar beliefs and are preparing their bug out bags in similar ways. The chapter on the very expensive condos within de-activated missle silos held my attention. It was interesting to hear of the extent some very rich people are going to protect themselves for 5 years should there be a need to abandon their homes and careers to stay alive. I am glad I read this book since this is a segment of our society to which I have no exposure.½

When I requested this book on the monthly Early Reviews list I was expecting this to be a book looking only at the prepper culture - the people (often portrayed as very conservative, maybe paranoid, looking at conspiracies online) who collect food, guns, and military surplus to survive the end of the world. And while Tea Krulos does explore some of this culture, interviewing preppers in Wisconsin and New York, and looking at that culture, I was pleasantly surprised that there was so much more to this book. Tea not only explores the prepper culture, but also some of the different cultures (sub-cultures) that have cropped up with similar goals (preparing for the end of the world) but going about it in different ways. There were the members of Zombie Squad, an international group of preppers that use the hypothetical zombie apocalypse as a springboard not only for prepping, but for outreach, volunteering, and blood drives. There are the homesteaders who try to recreate and relearn the skills our ancestors had to prepare food, live off the land, and lead a simpler life. Tea interviews and immerses himself in these different groups, giving us an inside look into this culture, and maybe giving the reader a pause to think - am I ready? Maybe not to survive the end of the world, but if a serious weather event or natural disaster happened, could you survive for 3 days without access to food, electricity, and all the modern comforts we enjoy?

A good book that gets into the prepper sub-culture, exploring this world honestly and with a bit of entertainment. (The time Tea spends at the doomsday-themed Wasteland event, based primarily on the Mad Max movies was quite interesting.) Tea provides a glimpse at this world dispassionately, without judgement, providing the reader an intimate look at a group of people that are often seen as extreme.

Tea Krulos takes a deep dive into the world of doomsday preppers in this eye-opening book. Krulos explores the thinking of many different types of preppers, from those who believe in great government conspiracies, to those who simply want to return to the "simple" way of living off the land. Through Krulos's eyes, we view post-apocalyptic shelters from hidden cabins to palatial underground condominiums. We experience Mad Max style gatherings at which attendees get a head start on the end times. We participate in survival skills weekends. I came away from reading this book with a sense that preparation for a major disaster is imperative, but also with a healthy fear of the most intense preppers.

This was a fascinating audiobook -- much more than I would have expected. It's easy to dismiss survivalists/doomsday preppers as crazy extremists, but Krulos does an excellent job of making the people he interviewed relatable. And after recent events such as Hurricane Katrina, Superstorm Sandy, etc., maybe more of us should be preppers.

I have tried listening to this book several times, I don't know if it is the tone of the narrator, or the content itself, but I couldn't get past the first couple of chapters.
So far, though, it doesn't seem too bad. A lot of the times these sort of texts are far too personal/anecdotal to be much more useful than fiction, or too cold/judgemental to be trusted, and this one thus far manages to strike a balance of sorts.

A diverting collections of essays about the author's experience researching various flavors of doomsday enthusiast. Whether they be believers of Biblical prophecy, survivalists, fans of various sci-fi films, environmentalists, or even potential Martian colonists, these people have left behind their culture in answer to a unique calling. Each of them is possessed of a certain question that the rest of society has chosen to ignore - what if everything we know goes away over night?

These people have dedicated at least some portion of their lives to preparing for disaster situations. It's a fascinating way of life, no matter your own personal beliefs, and everyone can benefit from a little more preparedness.

A very well done look into the beliefs about the end times and an even better look into those who feel the need in being prepared for the worst. Tea writes well, and goes all out in researching to give a well rounded look into his topic. Many might think he's just going to write about the nut case preppers like the unibomber, but I felt he gave them a fair shake and it was pretty obvious he really enjoyed spending time with some of them while doing his research. I enjoyed this book.½

This cd/book is a very good compilation of the Prepper culture, over the years, and a look into the current culture and experiences of the Prepper community over the last number of years.
It comes across a little dry in the historical background areas, but the background with newspaper articles during the 1800s show how long the Prepper and Doomsday prophets have been out there in America.
It does open your eyes and makes you aware you should be prepared for local disasters, even if the Zombie Apocalypse is not really a probable possibility.
Floods, storms, snow, power outages can take make life miserable if you haven't made some preparations to withstand at least a couple of days without power, internet and being able to run to the store. More common sense in most cases. I don't believe I really need 2 years of food stored away. Not that I have room for it, either. But, being able to survive a week when the snow/ice storms or downed trees have made traveling tricky at best, yeah that's just making sure you can withstand life. Life is messy, make plans, and deal with it as it comes.

This audiobook is about hanging out with preppers. Well, sort of. Tea goes around talking about AI, zombie parties, apocalypse parties, and people who predict the end of the world. He doesn't really spend much time talking about actually prepping or homesteading. A bit disappointing, and some of the people are obvious nutjobs. The global warming bit had me rolling my eyes. The narrator, Eric Michael Summerer, is a great narrator.

If you every watched one of the find the monster reality television shows, this book is for you. Journalist Tea Krulos takes a serious look at what many believers are urban myth, phantasy creatures, and hocus pocus happenings. If you are looking for definitive answers, this book is not for you. However, if you like the trill of the hunt and want to know more about the hunters, this is a quick fun read.