The Gray Series

In a post-apocalyptic landscape, a young woman fights to survive...


Gray, Part I




 


A dense black cloud boiled up in the southeastern sky. It rose high and fast, like a time-lapse movie of the birth of a thunderhead. But it was no rain cloud. Wholly black, it reached up and up until it loomed over her, blocking out the sun. Somehow, she knew, it was Death coming for her.

Pre-med student Coral is on vacation in Idaho when something terrible happens. The black cloud is followed by a wildfire and searing heat that lasts for days. She survives deep in a cave but emerges days later to find the world transformed, with blackened trees, an ash-filled sky, and no living creatures stirring--except for her.

So begins her desperate journey: to find water, and food, and other survivors...and the answer to the mystery of what happened.

Gray, Part II 






   

Three months have passed since the mysterious event transformed life on Earth. The air grows colder, the days shorter, the snow deeper, and Coral and Benjamin struggle to find food enough to keep them on their feet. Moving on to warmer climes seems their only long-term hope, but travel means a terrible danger: encountering other people. The rule of law is gone, the old morality is crumbling, and Coral needs all her wits and skill to survive in this brutish new world.

Gray, Part III


 

Welcome to Idaho City

The sign was metal, the words still visible through scorching that had happened during The Event's long fire.
 

The words spoke of the old days, seven months ago, when civilization was intact and the world robustly populated. The sign looked normal--or would have, had it not been for the pair of human feet attached over the first two words. The feet had been severed from their owner, and hex bolts were jammed between the metatarsals.

Coral and Benjamin are starving as they flee from this sight. When they encounter scavengers a few days later, have they found food and salvation? Or is it another deadly trap?


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All books are linkable via their titles, above, via the cover images to your right, and are currently exclusive to Amazon and on Kindle Unlimited.

You can visit my Amazon author page here

Thank you for reading and enjoying.  I am fortunate to have the best readers around!

54 comments:

  1. Just finished listening to Gray (all 3 parts) via Audible and it is one of the best books I have listened to in a while. Will definitely be listening to it again, and looking for more by Lou Cadle.

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    1. Thank you! How kind of you to come by here and say so. My fans are the best fans.

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  2. I just finished up the Gray series on Audible. I don't have time to read, but I sure do have time to listen while I work! I loved the series and truly hope that your other books will be making their way over to Audible.

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  3. Thank you! They won't be available any time soon (as it takes a while to produce one), but I hope to have more available eventually.

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  4. I just finished listening to Gray: The Complete Series on audible. Thank you Lou Cradle for writing such an engrossing story and Lauren Fortgang's narration brought it to life. She was excellent as always.

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    1. thank you so much for dropping by and telling me! I've tweeted your comment to Lauren, who indeed did a terrific job. I feel fortunate to have had her work on the project.

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  5. Found Grey the complete series on Audible and gave it a shot. LOVED it! One of my favorite reads of the last five years! The Amish/scientologist/preppers were the best!

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    1. Thank you so much for coming by and saying so! The Audible book is 24 hours long, so I hope it made you happy for a good long while.

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  6. This was one of the all time best books/series PA novels I have read or listened to. I like Audible, so listened to this three book series. The plot and characters were developed in a most excellent manner. The narrator was simply outstanding. I look forward to the other books being released in Audible format. Additional books in the Gray series would be most welcome also.

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    1. thank you for coming by to say so. Lauren, the narrator, did do a great job. No more Gray books right now. I'm deep into my Oil Apocalypse series, which will all be published as ebooks by the end of the year, and in audio next year. Again, I appreciate your listening!

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    2. Any other books expected to appear in Audible format?

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    3. yes! looks like my Oil Apocalypse series will be! :)
      But not until 2018 :( If you want, sign up for mailing list in the upper right hand corner of this website (I don't spam or send out pix of the kids/kittens,just "new release" info), and you'll know when.

      (And I don't hand my mailing list addresses over to Facebook, as many authors do. I'm protective of my privacy and expect that others are too!)

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  7. Loved the Gray series. Listening to the triple Audible book got me through cleaning the barns, all the coops and some other annual horrible tasks. For the first time ever, I never experienced anything but total enjoyment while working and listening to the books. What a great job to both Lou Cadle and the fantastic narrator Lauren Fortang. More audible please.

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    1. I responded in the wrong box (below) but wanted to make sure you know I thank you for dropping by to say so. My Oil Apocalypse series should also be on audible in 2018. Thanks for listening, and I'm glad the barns and coops are clean without too much pain. :-)

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  8. Thank you for dropping by to say so!

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  9. Just finished the the Gray series on Audible. The plot and characters had me wishing it wouldn't end. Can't wait for the Apocalypse series to be available on Audible. Thank you!!!

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    1. I really appreciate your taking the time to come by and say so! Lauren's narration was all I could have hoped for and made the audio book that much better.

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  10. Hi Lou. I just finished audio version of Gray during a long walk in gray Seattle. Thanks for the effort - I enjoyed the hell out of it. I read a lot of apocalyptic stuff. Let me just say thank you for writing a gritty novel full of hard days and tough times and enough gore to do the scenario credit without feeling the need imagine THE MOST DISGUSTING THING POSSIBLE featuring THE WORST PEOPLE EVER. Anyway... good stuff. Glad I found you.

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    1. thanks for the note! Warning: my stand-alone post apocalyptic novel 41 Days is pretty darned bleak. (Bleak for one novel is about all I can manage.)

      My newest series, Oil Apocalypse--the end of petroleum, food shortages, climate change, and one neighborhood's fight to survive it all--is coming out from Tantor audio in 2018. Hope you enjoy that too!

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    1. Thanks for asking, Kim! No, it's not, and unless it gets made into a movie or TV show (and I can't imagine it would--what a visually gray thing that would be!), it's unlikely to be seen as a good investment by the audio book company. Audio book CDs are wildly expensive to make, so it's a matter of economics for them. I'm happy you enjoyed it enough to wish for that!

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  12. I am only on book two but I am throughly enjoying this series! I have one serious question however. Without giving any spoilers does the reader EVER find out what caused The Event? I’m insanely curious as to what could have caused such destruction.

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    1. Yes, you're almost there! But she won't know for sure it is the real answer. It's one thing I wanted to do from the start, when I got the idea in 2004. If something truly horrific and yet a surprise happened, regular people wouldn't know! They'd only have the survival challenge.

      I'm so glad you're enjoying it and appreciate your dropping by to say so.

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  13. What a great series - I'm in the home straight now on part 3 listening to the series on audible (few hours to go). Bravo for the great writing and story and also to the fantastic narrator - just wow - I'm blown away - thank you!

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    1. Thanks so much for dropping by to say so!

      Another series is just now coming out on audiobook, starting with Slashed.

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  14. Are you planning on making a follow-up novel or short story on the characters? i'd love to know what happened to them and what caused the whole mess to begin with

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  15. Hi Lou! I was wondering if you were going to write a follow-up to the series. I’d love to see what happens to the characters and find out what caused the whole mess in the first place. Thanks!

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    1. oops, I answered this, but as a post, below. In short, no plans to right now!

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  16. At this point, I don't have any plans to write more because I have so many other ideas calling to me. Oil Apocalypse will be finished in 2018, with five books. And then I want to take that same world and fast-forward 800 years, until almost all of what once was (bridges, etc) has crumbled. So the soonest I can imagine myself doing anything more with Gray is in 2020.

    I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading.

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  17. Actually re-listening to Gray right now - straight after finishing it. It's so very good, thank you!
    Also I quite like that the reader is left to imagine an ending for Coral and Benjamin, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to find out how they went along from the end of Part 3.

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    1. thanks! Like most writers, I write them the way I like them to read, and I don't like every single thread tied up.

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  18. I stumbled across the Gray series on Amazon a couple of months ago and was immediately hooked. I fell in love with the characters, and still think about them from time to time as I begin my seventh Lou Cadle book. I’m going to be sad when I’ve read them all! Keep them coming!

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    1. Thank you! What a nice thing to say. When you run out of these books, for I know readers can read them faster than I can write them, I have a fantasy book out under LC Bard and a Gothic as Rosellyn Sparks (I was trying to channel 1960s Mary Stewart/Phyllis Whitney, as my mother loved those books and I wanted to honor her--it's heavy on the ghost/mystery, light on the romance.) I plan to put out another under the Spark name this year--a historical novel based on a great-grandmother's childhood in an orphanage.

      May, there will be a Lou Cadle story collection out with a Gray story in it. I plan to write a new post-apocalyptic series next year, and I still want to write a hurricane novel (or maybe even a series!) I have loads of ideas, enjoy writing, and so you can expect more books from me.

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  20. Fantastic series, listened to all three books back to back on Audible. Great writing and narration.

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    1. thank you so much!--both for enjoying, and for dropping by to say so. :-)

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  21. Dude! Where have you been??!! Loved the Gray Series. LOVED IT. Deciding which series to start next! Bravo to you... very engaging characters, great plot lines, no dragging along waiting for the characters to get going. Just awesome storytelling. You're up on my list of Top 5: Stephen King, Dean Koontz, James Patterson, Iian Rob Wright...and now you! Thanks so much for the good words.

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  22. Just finished the Gray series. After the first part, had to continue until the last page of part 3. The stories flowed seamlessly and I became invested in the characters. Very well done, thank you

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  23. Just finished the Gray series. After the first part, had to continue until the last page of part 3. The stories flowed seamlessly and I became invested in the characters. Very well done, thank you

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  24. Hey Lou, I love this series... Im reading it a second time through. Its nerdy of me, but I like to follow books like this on a map, for the most part I can find the locations. Are all of your spots real? I can't find Mills Creek. I thought the story starts out south east of Pocatello, but Im currently on book two, feels more like it started north near Blackfoot. Either way. Well done.

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    1. Thank you for dropping by and for enjoying the series. I have a half-real Idaho. So Mills Creek does not exist, though I could vaguely point to it on a map. Other places do. The rail lines are real as of 2010. I didn't want to insult anyone, which is part of why I made up a few places and a cult, but I probably would have been safe using real places. It's confusing, I know. And I like nerdy people, so we're cool there.

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  25. Hey Lou... Great series. On reading it a second time through. Just curious how accurate are the locations? It's super nerdy of me but I like to follow books with a map if I can. For the most part I can find the spots, but not mills creek. I thought we started the journey south of Pocatello, but it feels more north east around Blackfoot.

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  26. I read a lot. For quite a while now no books could really get my attention. I don't remember how i stumbled on gray. I do remember that i read for hours and hours, captivated,is the word maybe? Great story, but especially, great writing style.less is more. i felt as if i was walking in that world. I read it twice in the past half year, not something i normally do. I find myself elaborating on the story. Maybe that is missing? A follow up on how it goes after that first Shadow they saw.
    Aside from that, i need to say that i love how your female characters are normal/strong. It was so 'normal'that i needed to read twice on and off for i had trouble believing the 'normal'was finally in a story 🙂

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    1. Thank you for the kind compliments.

      We must know the same sorts of women! Writers are admonished to write what they know, and I write the sorts of women I've known. They are neither frivolous nor superheroes in capes, just regular folks put into a nearly impossible situation, trying to figure it all out.

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  27. I have never been so hungry, so thirsty and so cold in my whole life. I hate you for this...well, not really. The narration and descriptions of situations grabed you and hit you in the gut. The evolution and changes of Coral, the main character, felt very real. May be survival books are «passés» but yours is excellent. I really really enjoyed it. I could not put it down. Thank you for those excellent entertaining moments.

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    1. thank you for coming by to say so! As an avid reader myself, I totally knew what you meant. "You rat," I say to the writer, "you made me cry!" ...when in fact that's why I love reading, to be moved and to believe in those made-up people.

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  28. This series was absolutely enthralling! The character development for Coral was absolutely perfect. I haven't read a series that had me this addicted in a long, long time. I had to come search you up to make sure I wasn't missing anything and I see you have so many other books. I can't wait to read the rest because the Gray series is just fabulous. I'm not a great reviewer of books or movies but I greatly appreciate your work!

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    1. thanks so much for dropping by to say so! If you have any friends who prefer audio books, it's also in audio, in a single book format. Hope you find others you like as well.

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  29. Thanks for the fabulous realistic survival series. Felt like watching an episode of Alone but much more compelling. Anyway the narrator was great too. I have to find apocalyptic and diatonic novels to read every so often to scratch that itch. I often imagine what a perfect apocalyptic novel might be, and yours was very close to that. I love that struggle, but not so despairing it’s hopeless. I like lots of explanation pre-event and the actual event, and I love a strong female character. Also less supernatural and more realistic. So basically you wrote the novel I would have written except way better lol. Well done.

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    1. Thank you so much for the nice words! I wrote Gray, in a shorter one-novel version, originally in 2005. No agent wanted it or thought it could sell. When self-publishing came along, I was able to get it out, and by then, I had more ideas about the world and expanded it. So that 18 years on, people are still finding it and liking it makes me very happy. (The agents were wrong, by the way. It's done okay for me, and readers like you like it, which is all I ever wanted, for it to find the people who wanted just this.)

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    2. How nice that you take the time to acknowledge your fans. Thank you :). I’m perusing your other work on audible right now lol. I would love to read one where the people know about an impending disaster and prepare, what that looks like. Then the disaster happens and how well their prep worked for them. The cult in part two intrigued me. I’ve also been a little obsessed with generation ship type novels, like Silo (on earth) and Rama. A bit more sci on the latter but i think there’s a space in the market for more Silo (or pre-bunker, post/-bunker) type novels.

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