Tag Archives: Dystopian

Review of Infection by M.P. McDonald

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When the United States crumbles, and services stop, there’s only one thing to do…take your family and run. The countdown to the end of the world begins silently.
No one realizes there’s a deadly illness spreading like wildfire until it’s too late. With few symptoms, victims literally drop dead after a brief surge of energy. Within days, it tears through the population of the United States. Now, faced with the very real possibility of extinction of the human race, Cole Evans has only one chance to save his family and survive: a safe haven on an isolated, hard to reach island. Can he convince his brother that the danger is real and that there’s enough space for his family as well?But can they all reach the island before the lights go out for them…forever?

It’s been so long since I have read a truly great apocalypse story and the thriller aspect to this made it immensely page turning.  Infection really goes to the grass roots of this type of novel, more recently the ones I have read often feel cliched or like a parody of the genre.  From the get go this book is powerful and brings up so many “what if” scenarios.  Whilst our focal point is Cole and his quest, there are also the stories of his son Hunter, and his friend Elly which help to bring home how the infection has impacted upon both urban and rural areas. Sympatico itself is an unusual disease and the manic euphoria experience makes it a chillingly creepy one too and I like how it doesn’t fall into the more obvious route.

Cole’s history of dealing with infectious diseases makes him the perfect candidate to fully understand the impact of what is happening. The balancing act he has to play between prepping like mad and convincing his family he isn’t actually, well, mad is a difficult one for him to manage.  Asking your family to give up their jobs and homes, your child to give up school – all on a hunch? These are topics so often overlooked and I found it really refreshing to get this aspect in a story, the snapshot of time where things haven’t truly hit the fan, but something clearly isn’t right and having to make a life altering decision.  It of course always helps when the one person who can identify things in advance has a handy island bequeathed to them. But that is the focus, and hey, handy islands have to belong to someone!

Elly’s story is the more harrowing of the 3, urban areas often are though and whilst being on the 18th floor of a hotel is great for views, it runs the risk of becoming Elly’s tomb.  Whilst Hunter is on quite the adventure, being in more rural parts makes day by day survival more perilous as time goes on.  I love the juxtaposition between the 3, the inventiveness and resourcefulness they must all come to in order to make their way forward.

There are little in the way of light hearted moments and it’s right that it should be that way, the world has become a very tough place to be, especially when we are at day 1 of the disease, the sparing use of these lighter moments gives it a much truer feel of what the characters are going through.  There are some really harrowing scenes and my heart was pounding in places, really willing the story to play out the way I hoped it would – this is not a HEA though and not everything will go to plan.  The pace and flow of the book is perfect with everything unravelling at a believable pace, great care has been taken to get these things right and it really pays off.

It looks like this is book one of a trilogy and it does round off in a satisfying way whilst also being open ended for book 2.  If you like your apocalypse books to be from Day 1 with a real life feel, you will love Infection!

5*

Bookish Ramblings: June TBR

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As I hinted at in an earlier ramblings I’m going to be making June a month for all the books which are currently on my kindle TBR.  These are a real mix of books that I either picked up when they were on sale or free via newletters and from giveaways, I want to try and get these cleared so I can go into the second half of the year with a clean slate!  There will not be a particular order that I will read them in, but if there are any which you like the look of, keep checking back to see my reviews! They all go back to the heart of the blog in that they mainly lie in Dystopian, so for those that have been a little disappointed by all the fantasy going on, this will be a month for you!

Into the outside by Lynda Engler: When the mutants’ survival is threatened, will Isabella risk it all for the man she hardly knows or stay underground protected? 
Fifty years ago the Earth died. The Earth is now a fertile but dangerous jungle world. Wildlife has prospered although often in oddly altered forms. Survivors live in underground shelters waiting generations for the environment to become safe enough to emerge. Above ground, the radiation and poison has mutated the few humans that are left, but they do their best to survive for the 20 to 22 years they might live before the toxic planet or disease kills them.
16-year-old Isabella has grown up believing mutants are sub-human, stupid and would eat every shelter person if they had the chance, until she spies a wandering mutant tribe through the glass bottom swimming pool that is her shelter’s only light source. Isabella is fascinated by them, but it’s their 17-year-old leader, Malcolm, who truly captivates her – ebony skin, straw-colored hair, rippling muscles, four fingers on one hand and six on the other. Night after night she sneaks out of her shelter to watch the tribe, dressed in her grandfather’s chemical/radiation suit. When Malcolm discovers her, they are wary of each other at first but eventually become friends and then lovers. Isabella finally leaves the safety of her shelter to follow Malcolm into the perilous Outside. 
Isabella knows the government plans to exterminate the mutants once it is safe for the shelter-folk to come Outside, and she expects radiation and disease, but no one in the tribe is prepared for cannibals!
Isabella’s family mourns for their lost daughter, knowing that she will die Outside, but Grandfather refuses to search for her. Even if they found her, he knows that she will not return without the mutants, and he will not allow them into the shelter. But everything changes when her brother, Luke, learns of Colonel Ericssen’s deadly plan for the mutants. Luke defies their grandfather and leaves the shelter to track down Isabella and warn her of the threat she knows nothing about. But he is no more prepared for the dangers Outside than she is. Hunted and finally captured by the military, Luke must escape their grasp, find Isabella, and save her life.
Battling the cannibal Eaters, taking on orphan children and trying to convince mutant tribes about the dangers they must prepare for makes Isabella question her decision to leave her shelter. She dreamed of making a difference in the lives of those Outside, but now she isn’t certain has the courage and strength do it

Infection by M.P. McDonald: The countdown to the end of the world begins silently.
No one realizes there’s a deadly illness spreading like wildfire until it’s too late. With few symptoms, victims literally drop dead after a brief surge of energy. Within days, it tears through the population of the United States.Now, faced with the very real possibility of extinction of the human race, Cole Evans has only one chance to save his family and survive: a safe haven on an isolated, hard to reach island.Can he convince his brother that the danger is real and that there’s enough space for his family as well?But can they all reach the island before the lights go out for them…forever?

Z-Minus  by Perrin Briar: Once infected, the virus shuts down organs, kills nerve impulses and even reprograms the way we think. The virus becomes us.
But the process takes eight hours.
If you only had eight hours left to live, what would you do?
For Chris Smith, that decision has been made for him. He’s infected, and returns home to find the rest of his family undead or missing, save his youngest daughter Maisie. He’s never been much of a father, but can he make up for it now in the final few hours of his life and find somewhere safe for her to survive?

 

Andromeda by Amy Bartelloni: Ten years after a pandemic swept the globe, survivors were forced into factions and camps in order to survive…
Jade and Sera are two orphans who have found refuge in a government camp. It is there where Jade falls in love with a young soldier, Anyon. But Anyon has his own secrets, carefully guarding a past that involves Sera. But before Jade and Anyon admit their feelings to each other the camp is attacked and they’re separated. 
Jade knows to lead Sera to Albany, the last free camp in the east, but the road is dangerous.
Not only must they dodge pockets of infection, but they are threatened by drifters and gangs. When they arrive in Albany, they find it deserted. 
Anyon and his friend Malachi are close on their heels, but not close enough. The Provisional Government is on a mission, and no one is quite prepared for what lies ahead…

Counteract by Tracy Lawson: Ten years after a pandemic swept the globe, survivors were forced into factions and camps in order to survive…
Jade and Sera are two orphans who have found refuge in a government camp. It is there where Jade falls in love with a young soldier, Anyon. But Anyon has his own secrets, carefully guarding a past that involves Sera. But before Jade and Anyon admit their feelings to each other the camp is attacked and they’re separated.
Jade knows to lead Sera to Albany, the last free camp in the east, but the road is dangerous.
Not only must they dodge pockets of infection, but they are threatened by drifters and gangs. When they arrive in Albany, they find it deserted.
Anyon and his friend Malachi are close on their heels, but not close enough. The Provisional Government is on a mission, and no one is quite prepared for what lies ahead…

There may be more to be added but these one’s I will definitely be reading and adding reviews for if they are 3*’s and above for me!

What’s on your TBR for June?

 

Review of The Bone Roses by Kathryn Lee Martin

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Sixteen-year-old Rags is the most feared Rustler in the world, and for good reason. When she’s not raiding the post-Yellowstone Kingdom’s established settlements for supplies to keep her frontier, Rondo, alive another day, she’s fending off witch hunt-happy villagers who want her rare blue eyes in an unmarked grave. 
But when the Kingdom strikes back, kills Rags’s best friend, and sends its second-in-command to destroy Rondo in four days, Rags must make a choice: seek revenge, or save her loved ones who are trapped in a town bound for slaughter broadcast Kingdom-wide. With little more than a stolen dream to guide her, and a growing attraction to a sly Kingdom informant, Rags is about to give the Kingdom four days it’ll never forget—if the bounty on her head doesn’t get her killed first.

First of all, I have to disagree with the description of this book. I would not classify it as either Steampunk or Western. The fact that people wear buckskins with fringe and have a horse or mule to ride does not make it a Western. And, there was only (maybe) one element of Steampunk-type technology in the whole book. To me, it should be classified as dystopian.

That being said, the story did hold my interest for the most part. But, I really never felt engaged by the characters. The world building was OK, but could have been better. I never really understood a lot of the story. The world has changed and been thrown into constant winter by the eruption of a volcano in Yellowstone. Struggles abound because of the cold temperatures and lack of food that is caused by the weather

Rags is a young woman who was born a slave and rescued by a man called Tracker. She comes to think of him, Sadie and Matthew as her family, since she never really had a family. She and Tracker are Rustlers for Rondo, going out into other settlements to steal supplies.

Hyperion, who is only talked about in the book, is the ruler of everything, demanding that all bow down and pledge allegiance to him. Rondo refuses to worship Hyperion and therefore they are cut off from supplies by the Kingdom. There are hints of Christianity, but it is never really clear in the book. If a whole settlement refuses to worship Hyperion, I think that their faith would be very strong and should be evident throughout the book.

There is a lot of action in the book, but a lot of it dragged for me too. I really wanted to love the book, but just came away liking it. It is well-written and the author does a great job in her descriptions. Not sure if I will continue the series or not. I just never really felt engaged by it that much.

3*

The Bone Roses is currently available through Amazon via Parliament House Publishing