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Fiction Review by The Gravedigger
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08.08.10
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Pete and a group of his high school friends are checking out this strange new bomb shelter that one of the girl's grandfather had recently constructed out on a nearby place called Sparrow Rock, a small island where his house is. In a strange coincidence (which we later find out is no coincidence at all) nuclear bombs do go off, so they seal themselves within the shelter. Of course the "Jock character", Dan, assumes leadership because it's expected, though it's Pete who ultimately determines most of their fate.
One by one the characters begin to unravel, especially the guy who is claustrophobic and the other friend who is no longer on his meds and becomes more and more paranoid with conspiracy theories about what's happening. The terrifying thing is that his theories may not be that far off the mark. After a few weeks they find a secret hatch that leads to the grandfather's house above and go exploring, except that there are these rotted looking, ferocious rats that attack them. One of them gets bitten--and later develops horrible welts which erupt in ant-like insects. It turns out that these creatures are what were animating the rats and they begin to take over their new host, like a puppet. There are other new, mutant insects as well, such as the huge mosquito-thing that is sucking the fluids from one of the girls. After a few casualties they decide the best course of action is to leave the shelter, since it's no longer really that safe, and try to make their way to other survivors who may be out there. However, what they discover above ground makes their previous struggle seem like a trip to Disney Land...
This is a very well constructed, fast paced tale that had me genuinely surprised in regard to huge revelations about two of the characters, which adds a whole new element to the story. I also like it that while it's an apocalyptic tale and has "zombies", they are different enough as to not be like the zillions of other zombie novels that are currently on the shelves. It's very very cool. This is the first book of Kenyon's I have read and if it's any indication of his ability I'll be catching up on all his previous books. Highly recommended.
Author: Nate Kenyon
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Rating: 10.0 out of 10.0 - 2 votes cast total
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