The first two novels in this series were quite compelling, with interesting characters in a frightening situation. Despite the author’s obsession with injecting his conservative politics into the narrative, I still found the family of Colt, Madison and Alex compelling.
But with this third novel, where the family evacuates Nashville and heads south to Shiloh, the plotting and characterization just gets tiresome. There is no character growth. No one learns anything. No one changes. The constant “we’re good, God-fearing people” refrain indicates to me that Akart doesn’t *want* his characters to change. They seem to *know* the world is black and white despite the numerous morally ambiguous decisions they make. It got so tiring that I started pulling for their antagonists. Their characterization, or lack thereof, reminds me of that old Billy Joel line, “The only people I fear are those who never have doubts.” Madison, Colton and Alex need some doubts.
The narrator, by the way, is superb.