When they arrived he was asleep in bed and besides his dog Dutch the only other person in the house was his over obsessive father. He was expecting to sleep for at least another hour before he had to drag himself out of bed and get ready for school. He expected to meet up with his best friend Alex. Instead he was dragged from his sleep by a head splitting screech and the presence of black spears in the sky.

When they arrived she had just said goodbye to her mother. She was awoken early by her mum leaving for work, she would be back soon and then they would head to the beach. She had never seen the beach before. She was left alone while her mother was gone. She was left alone when they arrived. All around her people were in a panic while she sat alone and waited her head exploding with noise and the sky fill with blinding flashes.

POD is a tale of two people facing a world in chaos. Josh is trapped in his home with only a father slowly driving him crazy, spending his days watching the world outside his window slowly fall apart. Megs is left alone in a hotel car park amongst strangers spending her days struggling to survive, watching as her world falls down around her. When an alien force takes over the skies it is the threat from those on the ground that is the greatest. An absorbing and stirring read that is original, frightening and a little heartbreaking. ( )

The Pods are giant spheres that descended from the sky, and wiped out everyone who wasn't indoors at the time. They zapped every person and every mode of transportation, and they simply disappeared. Now they hover above humanity, taking out anyone who attempts to leave whatever building they were in during the invasion.

The story is told from 2 points of view, Josh and Megs. Josh is a 16-year-old boy who is trapped in his house with his father, and Megan is a 12-year-old girl trapped in a parking garage that is connected to a hotel with some unsavory characters. I found Josh to be rather obnoxious at first, and didn't particularly enjoy his chapters, but they both offer a unique and interesting perspective on the events. Josh exemplifies the isolation of an apocalyptic story, and Megs represents the typical search-and-scavege motif.

The book started off on the wrong foot for me, as it felt very rushed and abrupt, but it did turn out to be an addictive story once things got going. Even though I didn't like Josh's chapters at first, I was very sympathetic towards Megan, and Josh's obnoxiousness serves a purpose in the end, so in the end I was quite happy with the characterization.

Unfortunately, the end was also pretty unsatisfying. Some things are wrapped up a bit too conveniently, and at the same time it feels like it is left WAY too open. A sequel is obviously planned, which is fine, it's just frustrating to have so many things just left in the air.

Despite the flawed start and finish, I still enjoyed the book overall. ( )

A very quick read, BUT no real resolutions, no ending, and no explanation about the PODS, where they came from or what happens. ( )

An exciting alien apocalypse story, focusing on two teens: an older teen boy and an younger teen girl. Both teens face very different scenarios: one is trapped in a parking garage alone, the other is relatively "safe" in his home with his father. Tense and scary!

Highly recommended. ( )

I was liking this a lot, but then there was no resolution at the end. I feel like it just ended. No climax or anything. ( )