Run by Blake Crouch on October 22, 2024
Genres: Fiction / Science Fiction / Action & Adventure, Fiction / Science Fiction / Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic, Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense
Pages: 336
Format: ARC
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5 D A Y S A G O
A rash of bizarre murders swept the country… Senseless. Brutal. Seemingly unconnected. A cop walked into a nursing home and unloaded his weapons on elderly and staff alike. A mass of school shootings. Prison riots of unprecedented brutality. Mind-boggling acts of violence in every state.
4 D A Y S A G O
The murders increased ten-fold…
3 D A Y S A G O
The President addressed the nation and begged for calm and peace…
2 D A Y S A G O
The killers began to mobilize…
Y E S T E R D A Y
All the power went out…
T O N I G H T
They’re reading the names of those to be killed on the Emergency Broadcast System. You are listening over the battery-powered radio on your kitchen table, and they’ve just read yours. Your name is Jack Colclough. You have a wife, a daughter, and a young son. You live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. People are coming to your house to kill you and your family. You don’t know why, but you don’t have time to think about that any more.
No question, this is a scary story. With next to no exposition or reader preparation, the apocalypse was released onto the normal population by the “affected” members. There were no zombies, vampires, werewolves or undead, but the affected people were transformed into murderous monsters simply by witnessing a beautiful aurora-like light display in the night sky. There wasn’t much speculation in the storyline – but then again, the characters didn’t really have time for such speculation, between avoiding these ‘affected’ people who are bent on killing anyone who isn’t affected, recovering from injuries suffered in confrontations with those people, and just trying to move on and survive in a landscape not designed for human travel. The beginning and ending were a little rushed or abrupt, but the middle 80% was compelling and very fun to read.
I rated this re-release four stars. This was a good example of skillful storytelling, just enough character development, and creative, imaginative ideation. An edge-of-seat read!
Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books publishing for the advanced re-release of this intense fast paced thriller for my honest opinions.