I have a pretty broad palette for the post-apocalyptic/dystopian genre. I’ve hit this genre from all possible angles many good, a few not so good and this story definitely doesn’t disappoint. While the EMP sub-theme isn’t a new idea, it’s definitely one that hasn’t been over-written about, at least in my experience.
I WILL say that the nature of preparedness of Maddie and her brother seems a bit fanciful or far fetched. My ability to suspend disbelief is stretched pretty quickly. But then you realize ok, fine, she’s a marathon runner…and yeah, ok….their dad was a doomsday prepper so that COULD happen, them equipped with Go-Bags and runners food/drink. I cringed a little initially at how neat and convenient that was at the beginning but powered through to see where this would take us.
Maddie’s in an airport in heavily populated Chicago and her brother is coming back from a field trip in Illinois on a school bus. Their mom is in San Diego caring for her ailing mother on hospice care. Uncle Ryan who’s also a prepper is some hundred miles from Maddie presumably hunkered down during the chaos. They must get to him. Maddie begins her journey with a uppity unprepared family from the airport in tow.
The rest of the story flip flops – sometimes a little too rapidly for my ability to follow every sub-plot – between Maddie and her 10yr old companion, the brother, the mother, FEMA representatives and two degenerate junkie brothers set on using the catastrophe to their advantage.
A few details of the book went too quickly for my taste, and we jumped around a lot but for a 6hr book, you really gotta be fast paced with everything. I really liked how the author used a different writing style for Maddie with the family, the brother in his predicaments and the junkie brothers. The language was adjusted appropriately for each sub-plot. Gritty R-rated details with the junkies, subdued yet also gritty details with Maddie and the family, and so on. You’re not going to be all gore and f-bombs with a 10yr old girl and you certainly can’t sugar coat the true nature of the junkie and his deplorable plans.
Everyone keeps raving about Kevin Pierce and apparently I’ve been missing out. Despite my frequent dabbling in this genre I haven’t heard much if anything else with him as a narrator. He’s definitely got a nice voice for the genre.
All in all decent post apocalyptic thriller. I liked the cliff-hanging at the end to keep you invested in reading/listening to the next novel in the series. You just know things aren’t wrapped up neat and tidy. You gotta hear what happened to the brother on his journey. You gotta assume people will find them…and not good people….you gotta see where the mom’s story leads. How does the rest of the USA devolve? Its only been like 4 or 5 days since the event right?
Give a listen…