This is yet another story (series) leading to a possible apocalyptic ending of Life as we know it. This one, brought on via a flu-like virus, that kills everyone without the vaccine (which is not perfected yet) or a natural immunity to it (like our main character, his kids, and I am starting to wonder if not a few others as well). It ended as a a possible stand-alone novel, but there is a second book out in the series. Plenty of action that keeps the story going, but not a lot of character in-depth build-up. There were a few times that a character is in what I would think would be a crucial/critical decision moment, and make the dangerous/obvious decision without any sort of thought. Also were a few things (like practicing your aim on a gun range) that at least one character seemed to become near perfect in only a matter of few hours practice - though I admit, he was a former military, but still seemed a bit far fetched. Either way, it didn't detract from the story much. Overall a decent read if you are into the end of the world type stuff. ( )

Okay, to be fair, I will say that this book would have gotten a half star more from me if only the characters didn't piss me off so much. Everyone who tried to escape from a quarantine because THEY are special and deserve to live... pissed me off. It's because of people like that that the world will ultimately succumb to a viral outbreak. (Anyone recall the Ebola scare in the U.S. and the nurse who had the "right" to not go to quarantine because she "knew" she was okay... she was... but... what happens next time when she's not? The rest of us have to die because some people are that much more important than the rest of us?)

Now that my rant is over - the conspiracy behind the story is kinda believable (the creation of a custom virus) but the rationale behind it was not (not a chance "they" would do it because Earth can't sustain us, they'd do it for money and power, or religion, that's it). There were a few "threads" to the story and I think it all came together well enough at the end.

There is no blatant sexism or racism (no race at all, actually) or right/left wing propaganda (actually, it was hard to determine if the author was right wing "lookit my gun and I have the right to do what I want so put your women out for me to take because you know they like a strong man" or left wing "look how terrible the "man" is, so support us and we'll save you while spending your money on our lakeside houses" or gun-porn here (well, there was one little scene where they got all excited, I mean, shot some guns), but, overall, it was a nice change for this genre.

Do any of the characters give you the warm-fuzzies? No. they are a bit too cardboard-y for that. But it's a pretty good story, overall, and I did buy the next in the series. ( )

Good book, but probably not the best reading choice when you're sick! ( )

Good book, but probably not the best reading choice when you're sick! ( )

What a powerful book about possible conspiracies and the effect it has on one man's family and everyone around him. Bravo to Brett Battles who, quite obviously, knows what he's doing. I'll write a full review later on. ( )