Review: Eve Versus the Apocalypse by Erica Lucke Dean

 

Genre: Urban Fantasy/Romance/Dystopian

Description:

“When everyone Eve cares about is killed in an alien invasion, she uses her skills with a blade to battle her way through the changing landscape. But with humanity on the brink of extinction, the aliens aren't the only monsters the college color guard faces.

After fleeing the war zone that was once Atlanta, Eve heads north to her family’s cabin in the woods. In the desolate mountain town, she encounters a group of survivors on the way to the fabled Safe Zone. Impressed with her fighting skills, the group's leader invites her to join their ranks.

But trust is a rare commodity in Eve’s new reality, and she must decide whether an alliance with the dangerously sexy Archer is worth the risk. His offer of protection is tempting, but if she agrees to join him, she’ll be putting more than her life on the line. She can either save what's left of humanity or lose her heart—and the whole damn world along with it.”

Author:

“Best known for her engaging and relatable characters, Erica Lucke Dean specializes in crafting stories that explore the complexities of relationships and feature quirky young women navigating the ups and downs of life and love. For over a decade, her novels have captivated readers of romantic comedies and paranormal romances alike, thanks to her ability to blend humor and authentic emotions.

Erica was born in the Twin Tiers of Upstate New York and lived on both coasts before ultimately settling in the scenic North Georgia Mountains, where she and her family live with two ginormous English Mastiffs and a diabolical Frenchie hell-bent on world domination.”

Appraisal:

The world has gone crazy, invaded by some strange aliens who are killing off the human population. Eve is tough and with the saber she used to use for show as a member of the college color guard she figures out how to deal with them well enough to survive, at least so far. While this is happening in the real world, Georgia specifically, the story world is much different with these aliens and the issues they caused. Avoiding the aliens and finding what is needed to survive for the humans who are left is a challenge. In some ways dealing with the humans is tougher. Eve knows she can’t trust the aliens, but with the humans sometimes she can and sometimes maybe not. Figuring that out is problematic at times. Luckily, she finds out that there is an area that is safe from the aliens, if only she can get there. This would be an adventure even without the twist of Archer, a man she’s very attracted to who seems to like her too, but can she trust him? Eve’s adventure as she worked through the issues that popped up kept me engrossed in this story to the last word.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Some adult language and a few mild adult situations.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 75-80,000 words

Review: Echoes by Phil Oddy

 

Genre: Dystopian Science Fiction

Description:

Estrel Beck steps off a train in the big city to go to an important meeting, and finds his unlovely, humdrum life going haywire. He is reliving the same day over and over, with no memory of any of the iterations. What will happen to him if he can’t break the loop? How did this happen to him, and why? There are people who seem to know him: are they friends or enemies? All he has are questions. And a few jottings on a disintegrating paper napkin.

Author:

Phil Oddy is a British author living in North Hertfordshire (which will only be a meaningful nugget for you, dear reader if, like me, you live in the UK). He juggles gainful employment, family and writing with volunteering for things like building websites for literary festivals, so he’s not afraid of much. Echoes is Book 1 of his trilogy ‘Entanglement’. Book 2 (Entrapment) is available and Book 3 (Eclipse) should be available this month (March, 2025). So since sending us Book 1 for review Oddy has finished and published two more books. He is really on a roll. If the ‘Entanglement’ trilogy floats your boat, you can binge all three.

Appraisal:

For this first book in the trilogy Oddy has developed a protagonist who is passive, unambitious and incompetent. In the opening chapters of the book he is a grumpy lump of unformed clay, constantly tired, never liking to complain, never wanting to be noticed. This, obviously, has to change as the book goes on. He never becomes 007. But he does discover some self-esteem. Nevertheless, if the book has a weakness it is Estrel Beck, because he is also the narrator, so we learn the whole story through him: he is wimpy, he vacillates, he repeats himself more often than the story can really bear, and he often contradicts himself. I rather wanted to give him a good shaking at points.

It is giving away nothing not in the blurb to tell you that the central quest for Beck is to stop looping. The people whom he meets and who appear to befriend him have other agendas, however. Sometimes Beck’s needs coincide with those of his friends: more often not.

Trinity is a dour city. Its people work hard but live dull, joyless lives. Oligarchs rule. Violence is meted out by these alpha-dogs. There is also in-fighting between them. There is a resistance movement attempting to take down the cynical government. Much of the book is concerned with these various machinations, into which Beck is drawn, spat out, and drawn in again – all the while the plotting cleverly keeps his tatty but oh-so important paper napkin to the fore. This part of the book is pacy stuff. It begins to look as though Beck has a role in the revolution, despite not knowing there was one until he started looping. Will he finally find his niche in life?

One thing irked me from the moment the character appeared. Clar is consistently referred to as ‘they’. This leads to some tortuous prose and occasionally spills over onto other characters in a most confusing way. No reason for this clunky exposition is ever offered. You will have to draw your own conclusions.

In summary, the book has an intriguing premise. It ends in a satisfying way, while still providing a goodly set up for two more volumes to come.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Some adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: *** Three Stars

Reviewed by: Judi Moore

Approximate word count: 80-85,000 words

Review: Broken Voyage by Lindsey Kinsella

 Genre: Thriller/Dystopian/Horror

Description:

“Stranded in the Arctic, the international crew of an illegal whaler find themselves in a race for survival. Can they survive the cold, the sea, and, most of all, each other?

Pushed to desperation in a bleak world ravaged by climate change, Lora M’Bandi flees her homeland to join a group of unlikely outcasts aboard the whaling ship Livyatan. When an explosion rips through the vessel, the crew become shipwrecked deep inside the Arctic Circle—sabotaged by one of their own. Now, they must trek across the treacherous sea ice to reach dry land before the ice retreats—all the while with a traitor in their midst and fearsome predators stalking their every move.

Who will make it out of this harrowing tale of horror and survival?”

Author:

“Lindsey Kinsella is a Scottish science fiction and fantasy author.

​While a qualified and experienced naval architect and avid classic car enthusiast, he always reserved space in life for his fascination with science, nature, and paleontology. This drove his writing process as he aspired to write tales of the rich and complex story of life on Earth.”

For more, check out their website.

Appraisal:

This is an intense story with an interesting story world. The story world is in the near future and gives this tale a dystopian setting. Climate change has made it so some parts of the world are uninhabitable, but people from those areas who are trying to flee elsewhere have to sneak in because other countries don’t want them. At least one of the characters in this book is one of those people who snuck into a liveable country and is now working on an illegal whaling ship to survive. After all, you need to have food and somewhere to sleep, even in a new country, right? Why whaling is a thing again, you’ll have to read the book, but the adventure really ramps up when the whaling boat is shipwrecked. They quickly figure out that one of the crew is responsible for sabotaging the ship, but not who it was. Now the boat’s crew has to figure out a way to get to dry land while they still have a chance, but no one knows who they can and can’t trust. As you can imagine, this makes for a tense time as well as an engaging read as the reader tries, along with the ship’s crew, to figure out how they can make it to safety and who they can and can’t trust. Guessing wrong could be fatal, at least for the characters. The reader should be safe.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Some adult language. The author is from the UK (specifically Scotland) and therefore uses UK spelling conventions.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 35-40,000 words

Review: Dave's New World by Luke Richards

 Genre: Dystopian/Satire

Description:

“DV-8 lives in a dystopian, totalitarian, Orwellian nightmare...and he loves it!

After all, when every single aspect of your life is dictated, it takes a lot of the pressure off you.

He never has to worry about making plans for the weekend as he’s not allowed to do anything; he never has to worry about making small talk with strangers since any topics outside of party business are outlawed and he never has to worry about meeting someone as he already has a partner assigned to him. He’s living the dream.

So, when the revolution comes and DV-8 is granted his freedom (and a new name), he finds he has absolutely no idea what to do with it. Eventually he does what we all do when we are scared and clings on to his safe, familiar ways for dear life. While the majority are out enjoying their new found freedom, DV finds himself ostracised for living by the same rules that used to promise him safety, security and a sense of purpose. When DV discovers there are others like him who are not quite ready to give up the old ways, they team up and hatch a plan to put things ‘right’.

A twist on a traditional Orwellian tale that will make you say, ‘Bring Back Big Brother'.”

Author:

Luke Richards describes himself as being a guinea pig enthusiast, author, and comedian (in that order). Dave’s New World is his first book.

Appraisal:

A dystopian novel that is also satire or comedic is a twist I’ve never seen before and I loved it. Seeing things from the protagonist’s point of view was different. You might think the protagonist is named Dave, but don’t be fooled. People who aren’t with the program start to call him that, but his real name is DV-8. Everyone has a serial number assigned that is made up of a couple digits or letters, a dash and one or two additional digits or letters. (Yeah, If I had done the math to figure things out I’d realize that there couldn’t possibly be enough combinations for the number of people in the country he lives in, but I didn’t feel like doing math.) The overall story is engaging as we try to figure out whether DV-8 is going to see the light or not. But there are also a bunch of comedic things buried in there for people familiar with popular literature and popular music. For example, I kept expecting to run into a person called MC-5 in reference to the 60s rock band from Detroit. That didn’t happen, but we did see other bands show up, UB-40 for example, along with other musical and cultural references used in a humorous way. How it all shakes out and what DV-8 or Dave think of it, I’ll leave you to find out when you give this book a read, but if you’re into the dystopian genre and comedic or satirical stories as much as I am, you’re going to love this book.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

The author is from the UK and uses UK spelling conventions.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 55-60,000 words

Review: We All Live in a Fascist Police State Now, Thanks to This One Fucking Guy by Stephen Kozeniewski

 

Genre: Dystopian/Thriller

Description:

“It happened here. Fascism came, wrapped in the flag and carrying a Bible.

Nobody much noticed.

Sure, a few traitors like to whine about their missing ‘rights,’ but it's up to the heroes of the Federal Bureau of Patriotism to silence them.

When someone starts spilling FBP secrets, Captain Leo Nergali is assigned to track him down. But wait, Leo himself *is* the mole? Record scratch!

Buy this fucking book to see how Leo censors the arts, disappears his enemies, and perhaps even finds jackbooted love.”

Author:

Stephen Kozeniewski is the author of numerous books, in multiple genres. His books have been nominated and won awards, especially in the horror genre where he even won the World Horror Grossout Contest two times. He, his girlfriend, and their two cats live in Pennsylvania.

Appraisal:

The dystopian genre takes a political direction, typically something that someone has tried recently, and imagines a long slide down that slippery slope, taking the idea to an extreme point and imagining what it might be like. Sure, the idea of the slippery slope as a sure thing is a fallacy, but one of the things that makes it a fallacy is imagining what would happen if an idea is taken too far. That’s what this story does as well.

In this story way too many things are policed way too strictly, forcing people to believe (or at least pretend to believe) things that they really don’t, having to conform to what the government leaders prefer. I found this interesting as I imagined this story world and what it would be like. How would I react? Would I conform? (If I didn’t, I’d probably be dead, so wouldn’t be around for long.) If I did conform, would it seem normal or okay? What would I do if I started having second thoughts? What are the odds of the US or some other country in the world evolving to something resembling what is depicted in this story? This book obviously got me thinking about what might happen if some changes go too far and how I and others might react. That’s the point of the genre and this story did it well.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Obviously this has some adult language. Just looking at the title should tell you that.

Format/Typo Issues:

My copy appears to be an advance reviewer copy, so I can’t gauge the final product in this area.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 80-85,000 words

Review: The Blackstone Twins Face Off vs Destiny by T. A. Gaylord

 Genre: Dystopian

Description:

“Zoe and Zachary Blackstone are twins, born into a world of madness and survival. Having lost their mother, they are dependent on their grandmother to guide them and a misfit group of wishful dreamers, as they journey hundreds of miles, in hope of finding a cure for the Night Madness. That mysterious affliction takes all men older than puberty. Motherhood is the only known surefire cure. Zachary is doomed to share this fate, but for a rumor, a possible cure. His twin sister Zoe is determined to help him discover this one hope of relief, so they can possibly return to a normal life, a thing of which they've only read about in books.”

Author:

“T.A. Gaylord writes for both young adults and the young at heart, transporting them into a dystopian future world without technology, where the world of today has blown away, like dust from the high desert. Growing up in northern California, T. A. Gaylord has hiked miles of that terrain, and knows it's possibilities and it's dangers. It's beauty and amazing variability has always been an inspiration. As both a nature photographer and later as a caregiver for the disabled, T. A. Gaylord is familiar with both nature's beauty and nature's injustice, including it's unexpected and miraculous possibilities.”

Appraisal:

One of the negatives of the male-dominated HTA (high technology age) that came several generations prior to this story was the disease (for lack of a better word to describe it) that the people in this story call “Night Madness.” This afflicts only males and females who have hit puberty and aren’t either pregnant or breast-feeding. The focus of this story is obviously on the Blackstone twins, Zoe and Zachary. They live in what they call a coven, a group of people who live in a large building in Oakland, California. At night the men and woman who suffer from the night madness are locked out of the building. The Coven was started by one of the female ancestors of the Blackstone twins. It’s an interesting story world and becomes even more so as the story progresses.

The bulk of the story is because there is a rumor that someone in the past found a cure for the night madness and that this research can be obtained at a place they call White Mountain. Zoe doesn’t want her brother to be afflicted with the night madness and convinces the powers that be to allow a group of those in the coven to travel to White Mountain in search of this cure. Of course this trip of a few hundred miles each way isn’t as simple as it would have been in the HTA. They have no cars, so they need to walk, carrying those supplies they need for food. They need to plan for whatever problems they might encounter along the way including other people who might not be as friendly as them. It makes for quite an adventure. I found myself checking out a map when they would mention specific towns between Oakland and the Sierra Mountains to the east, trying to remember if I’d been to that area and, if so, what it looked like. It was an adventure for the twins and one I enjoyed taking with them.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

A small number of proofing misses.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 65-70,000 words

Review: The Survivors by T.C. Weber

 Genre: Dystopian

Description:

“In a calamitous future, runaway climate change has made the planet nearly uninhabitable. Civilization has collapsed, and every day is a struggle. Lucy, a young mother of two, dreams of a better life by bringing back vanished knowledge. But the rest of her group is focused only on day-to-day survival—at any price. When a deadly hurricane destroys their home, Lucy’s group is forced on the road, where they must cope with hunger, searing temperatures, and vicious rivals. And their nightmare is just beginning…”

Author:

The author of several novels, T.C. Weber is an avid traveler (he’s visited all seven continents). By day he works for a non-profit organization as an ecologist. Weber lives with his wife in Maryland.

For more, visit Mr Weber’s website.

Appraisal:

A post-apocalyptic novel typically assumes a big disaster of some kind, whether something natural, the spread of a massive disease, war, or something else. While this story feels much like some of the post-apocalyptic novels I’ve read, I’m not sure it fits that. A dystopian novel typically imagines the direction some segment of society is trying to get the world to move, assumes a slippery slope worst case, and then shows the imagined results. It’s not pretty. I think it would be fair to call this book dystopian, but it differs in one major way. The world it imagines is not what will happen if government and society change in some fashion, but what is likely to happen if we don’t change. Essentially it imagines the world in the not-so-distant future if we don’t address climate change, figuring out how to stop and even reverse it. It doesn’t paint a pretty picture.

At the heart of the story is Lucy, a young lady and mother of two. She and her kids are now a part of a small group of people who have managed to survive in spite of fires, flooding, lack of food and limited functional infrastructure. Very few humans are still alive and running into another group is problematic as they are just as likely to want to take what Lucy and her group have, leaving them dead, as they are to join forces for the mutual benefit of both groups. (Not that the leader of Lucy’s group is going to want to treat the other group any differently.)

Lucy’s experiences and struggles got me wondering how I would react in this kind of situation and what the right reactions should be. It makes for an intense, thought provoking read, not only wondering how you’d react in the same situation, but also what you can do to reduce the odds of the world reaching the point chronicled in this book.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

Review is based on an advance reader copy that hadn’t been fully proofread, so I can’t gauge the final product in this area.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 30-35,000 words

Reprise Review: Armageddon Girls (The Juniper Wars Book 1) by Aaron Michael Ritchey

 

Genre: Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic/Adventure/Young Adult

Description:

“It is the year 2058. The Sino-American War has decimated several generations of men, and the Sterility Epidemic has made 90% of the surviving males sterile.

Electricity does not function in five western states. Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana are territories once again. Collectively, they are known as the Juniper. It is the most dangerous place on Earth.

On a desperate post-apocalyptic cattle drive to save their family ranch, Cavatica Weller and her two gun slinging sisters stumble across a rare boy. Sharlotte wants to send him away, Wren wants to sell him… and Cavatica falls in love with him.

Little do they know that an inhuman army is searching for the boy and will stop at nothing to find him.”

Author:

“Aaron Michael Ritchey was born with Colorado thunderstorms in his soul. He's sought shelter as a world traveler, an endurance athlete, a story addict, and even gave serious thought to becoming a Roman Catholic priest. After too brief a time in Paris, he moved back to the American West and lives semi-comfortably with three forces of nature: a little, blonde hurricane, an artistic tornado, and a beautiful, beautiful blizzard.”

Mr. Ritchey’s Long Live the Suicide King was a nominee in BigAl’s Books and Pals 2015 Readers’ Choice Awards under the YA category. For more information about Aaron Michael Ritchey please visit his website.

Appraisal:

I generally don’t read dystopian stories, but the premise of this one grabbed my attention. The characters are all well-developed, quite unique, and interesting. This is going to be an epic coming-of-age saga contrasting two disparate worlds existing side by side. Aaron Michael Ritchey has done an outstanding job setting up his world and has kept it as realistic as fantasy can get while still pushing the limits of reality with the elements he employed.

The story is told through Cavatica Weller’s eyes. She is the youngest of three living sisters who has been pulled out of school, The Sally Browne Burke Academy for the Moral and Literate in Cleveland, Ohio, to assist in a cattle drive to save the family ranch in the Juniper. Each sister has her own strengths. Cavatica is strong-willed, opinionated, naïve, and ruled by her emotions. A persevering theme throughout the story is the New Morality Movement. There were several times I wanted to slap the s**t out of Cavatica. Her views are so extremely colored by this New Morality that she can’t see straight. I found it frustrating and kept having to remind myself of her young age. I hope she will eventually find a balance that will serve her better in coming sequels. The mysterious young man they rescue from a raid adds a complicated element to the storyline, especially when the oldest and youngest sisters set their sights on him.

The character-driven plot is fast-moving with several surprising twists thrown into the mix, which continually causes adaptions to be made to the Weller sisters plans. I have found myself invested in this family’s quest to get their cattle to a fair market with their family, friends, and employees intact. The surprise at the end left my jaw on the floor. Mr. Ritchey has woven a tangled web and I am not sure what to expect next. I do know that I will be anxiously awaiting the next addition of this story.

Buy now from:    Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Armageddon Girls is the first book in The Juniper Wars series.

Original review posted April 8, 2016.

Format/Typo Issues:

I read and reviewed from an advanced readers copy, so can’t really comment on editing.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Approximate word count: 80-85,000 words

Review: Among the Ruins by Dominic Peloso

 

Genre: Dystopian/Psychological Thriller

Description:

“An aspiring actress finds herself the only person still alive after a plague has devastated the world. With no purpose left, she finds herself almost unable to go on; until she meets literally the last man on earth.

Together the pair find a reason to live within each other, and work to build a life on a beautiful, quiet Earth they have all to themselves.

But when a message from someone long thought dead warns that all is not as it appears, paranoia sets in. Is the last man on earth her charming savior or a creepy captor?

Gripping, packed with twists and turns from the first page to the very last, this stunning psychological thriller is a rollercoaster of a read that explores gaslighting, Stockholm Syndrome, disassociation, mental illness, existentialism, and the search for purpose in an absurd universe.”

Author:

A former policy analyst for the US government with a focus on bioterrorism, Dominic Peloso now lives in what he calls the “rainy part” of Alaska. He’s written multiple books that tend toward the dystopian.

Appraisal:

This was definitely a different kind of read. The premise that Elyse, the protagonist, was the last person on Earth, at least as far as should could tell until she ran into the last man on Earth, was one that hit close to home. A virus that kills off essentially everyone might even be a good reminder that our current virus issues could be a lot worse. The last part of the book’s blurb describing it as “a rollercoaster of a read that explores gaslighting, Stockholm Syndrome, disassociation, mental illness, existentialism, and the search for purpose in an absurd universe” is a description that couldn’t be much more accurate. Some of those issues are possibilities in what happens in the story and some are absolutely true. Which fall into which category, you’ll have to decide on your own. I’m still not sure. Stories that put me, as the reader, in a position I’ll probably (and hopefully) never come close to experiencing and encourages me to grapple with the hard questions that characters in the story have to deal with are among my favorites. This tale certainly had me wondering whether or not I’d take the same path that Elyse did.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Some adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 40,45,000 words

Review: All in The Name of God by James Weir

 

Genre: Dystopian/Thriller/LGBT

Description:

“In this fast-moving dystopian thriller, Evangelicals have taken over the United States government. Weaponizing religion, they have imposed their agenda. Term limits have been abolished, giving the President unprecedented power. Homosexuality is a criminal offense. Muslims have been made second-class citizens, and have lost their right to vote. Women no longer control their reproductive rights. Information is controlled and monitored by a covert government agency called The Slayers. The Department of Cultural Affairs keeps a tight rein on the freedom of American citizens.

Abby Williams, a former army weapons specialist, vows revenge after her girlfriend is murdered during a botched DCA raid. On the run after escaping from a government conversion center, she meets up with Kyla Dirksen, the Governor of California. Plotting with like-minded people to defeat President Wilson Wright and his band of accomplices, they work to overthrow the dictatorship that the American government has become. Will they succeed? Or will the unbridled repression continue?”

Author:

“A life-long fan of action thrillers, James Weir has always wanted to be the next Tom Clancy or Clive Cussler. All in the Name of God is the result, his first book in the Abby Williams series. When he's not busy figuring out plot twists and turns, James is a small animal veterinarian. In addition to clinical practice, he holds graduate degrees in pathology and in public health. He has also worked as a stand-up comedian, and has four published works of funny haiku poetry.”

Appraisal:

By definition a dystopian novel takes a political direction that some people perceive as the right one, imagines movement in that direction resulting in a slide down a slippery slope, and the extreme result that might come about. Not only is the story a vicarious adventure for the reader as you hopefully pull for things to work out in the favor of the protagonist, but if you’re paying attention it should get you thinking. Sure, the idea of a slippery slope is usually a fallacy, but not always, plus you’ll hopefully consider whether any movement in the direction being considered is a good idea.

The story here is a good one. The direction that resulted in the start down the slippery slope is definitely one that some people would like to see and in some ways this was hitting a bit too close to home based on some current events. In other words, the story is everything I look for in a dystopian novel. However, there was one big problem I found. If this book was proofread, the proofreader did an atrocious job. None of the issues I saw were especially bad, running from homonym errors (waive instead of wave) to little words like ‘a’ or ‘to’ missing from the sentence, to an extra or missing character (‘he’ instead of ‘her’ for one example), but the sheer number of these was well beyond what is acceptable. A bit (okay, a lot) more polish in this regard and I’d recommend this book. As it stands, only if you’re much more tolerant of these kind of issues than I am.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Some adult language and situations.

Format/Typo Issues:

Numerous proofreading misses.

Rating: *** Three Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 95-100,000 words

Review: That One Time I Broke into a House, Killed the Homeowner, and took his Family Hostage by JDG

 

Genre: Dystopian/Thriller

Description:

The narrator flees Washington, DC just ahead of a feared nuclear attack. When he hears an explosion and sees a mushroom cloud in the distance, he knows that he has to take cover if he’s going to survive. So, the first house he sees in the rural area he’s traveling through becomes his designated bunker. He stops, knocks on the front door, and things take a turn for the strange.

Author:

JDG is (obviously) a pen name for an author. You might be able to find out more by checking out their website, following them on Twitter, or liking their page on Facebook.

Appraisal:

The over-long title of this novella pretty much tells the story of what happened after the narrator flees Washington, DC for rural West Virginia, just ahead of a nuclear bombing of the city. When he tries to find a place to hole up, quite literally in a basement or other safe place, things take a turn for the worst. His fight for survival becomes more immediate and it might seem that no matter what he does, things just get worse.

If that sounds like the story is intense, it is. Yet there’s also some humor in here, the name of the president, President Covfefe, for one small example. That makes for a strange, unique, and entertaining mix.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Some adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 19-20,000 words

Reprise Review: Hush by S.L. Baum

 

Genre: YA/Dystopian

Description:

Hush is the continuation of the serial which began with Lush. In this installment Bluebell has a kind of coming out as the “Lush Ambassador.” She then does a tour of each of the four regions of Concord, the fictional dystopian world where the story takes place. As Bluebell visits each Concord region she learns more about the world she’s living in as well as more about things she’s not meant to find out, including her past.

Author:

A former high school math teacher, S.L. Baum now works as a substitute elementary school teacher, chauffeur for her kids, and novelist. She lives with her family in the Southwestern United States. Her The Immortal Ones series has four books, thus far. Her book Lush began a dystopian serial for young adults with Hush as the continuation.

Appraisal:

In my review of Lush, the first installment in this dystopian serial, I discussed how its world was unlike a typical dystopia. The primary difference is that the standard of living is high, lacking the squalor and poverty of a normal dystopia. But like most dystopias, life is far from ideal. In Concord, life appears good, with a healthcare system that provides a long, good life. However, with the government also making many life decisions for the people, maybe it isn’t so good after all.

As the story continues we, through Bluebell, begin to see the chinks in the armor. Maybe some of the positives about Concord are only illusion. As more information comes out about Bluebell’s mother, Bluebell is given clues to some of Concord’s faults. When I finished Lush, I was interested in seeing where this serial was headed, both because I found the world interesting and wanted to see what happened to the characters. But I didn’t feel fully invested. This installment changed that.

Buy now from:    Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Hush is book 2 in the A Lush novel series.

Added for Reprise Review: Hush by S.L. Baum was a nominee in the Young Adult category for B&P 2014 Readers' Choice Awards. Original review ran September 8, 2013.

Format/Typo Issues:

Review is based on a beta copy which means I’m unable to grade the final product in this area.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 45-50,000 words

Reprise Review: New Zapata by Teri Hall

Genre: Dystopian

Description:

“It's 2052, and there's one less state in the union. Texas, now known as the Republic of Texas, has seceded, just like it did in 1861, though for different reasons this time.

Rebecca lives in New Zapata, a border town in The Republic of Texas. She's nineteen years old, born and raised in the R of T, and doesn't remember a time when things were different, though her Aunt Cathy does. Rebecca's married to Chad, the boy who charmed her into an unplanned pregnancy. She loves her young son, Luke, but she almost died giving birth to him.

That means Rebecca has a problem. Because in New Zapata, birth control and abortion are illegal. So is divorce. And Chad thinks sex is his husbandly right.”

Author:

Teri Hall lives in Washington State with her two cats and a dog. She’s the author of two other books, The Line and Away, which are the first two books in a traditionally published YA Fantasy series. She was supposed to be writing the third in that series, but current events moved her to take time out to write and self-publish this first.

Appraisal:

Dystopian fiction, besides taking place in a society that is the opposite of a utopia, typically explores some of the reasons that things are so bad. An example familiar to many is Orwell’s 1984. Usually these reasons are related to current real world issues and extrapolate what the results of continuing in a particular direction might be. New Zapata does exactly that, taking aim at recent attempts in the US to decrease the rights women have over their own reproductive systems.

When a novel takes a political stance, which is almost always going to be the case with this genre, and it’s on a current issue where emotions run high, as with this one, some authors focus too hard on making their case and not hard enough on telling the story well. When that happens, even if the reader’s politics make them sympathetic to the message, the book is still going to be a failure. I’ve previously read two books that attempted to tackle this same issue. In spite of agreeing with the authors’ politics and wanting them to be successful making their point, both those books fell short. New Zapata didn’t. There are several reasons why.

The most obvious reason this story worked is the author resisted the urge to preach and concentrated on telling the story. The premise didn’t stretch credibility too far (I’d guess there are even a fair number of people who think this result would be a good one). How women reacted was very believable, not unlike how different oppressed groups have reacted in other places and times. I loved the characters, especially Rebecca and her aunt, was pulling for them, and the story got me thinking. Can’t ask for more than that.

Buy now from:    Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Added for Reprise Review: New Zapata by Teri Hall was the WINNER in the Speculative Fiction (excluding Fantasy) category for B&P 2014 Readers' Choice Awards. Original review ran October 11, 2013

Format/Typo Issues:

Very few issues although there is a consistent problem with using the word current, as in right now, instead of the word currant (a dried fruit you eat).

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 60-65,000 words