This book begins at the tail end of the V-Pox annihilation, most of the population already dead or dying and the survivors scrambling to find their new place in this world. With only about a 2.5% survival rate, there are still plenty of people around to make trouble. The US settles into two types of people, those ready to build a new civilization and those waiting to take it from them.
The story follows five different groups of people, just enough to keep things interesting and still allow time for character growth. I was never confused by the switch to the next group, the characters were fleshed out enough that they didn’t blend together. The stakes weren’t too high, as each group happened to contain either an expert hunter, military man, or post-apocalyptic expert, sometimes all three. This kept the survivors from making real mistakes or falling into real danger.
The narration was well done, Kevin Pierce reads with a great pace and tone, and is easy to understand. The characters hail from Ireland, Florida, and Tennessee, but he doesn’t attempt heavy accents for them.
This book doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, but there’s obviously plenty more to come for the survivors. I’m looking forward to the sequel! I received a copy of the audiobook, and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.