I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. It’s the year 2027 and America is falling apart. America is in the deep in its Second Depression and Florida has experienced its worse hurricane in history, meanwhile a second one is heading to Texas. Now we have terrorists on our soil, a corrupt government, and the entire Middle East has banded together.

Although the story starts slowly, this was a really great dystopian novel. It was pretty interesting to get stories from different points of view. The descriptions of everything was amazing, I felt like I was living it myself. The further I got into the book, the more captivating the story became, primarily because quite a bit of this could possibly happen in our future…scary, but very true. My favorite character was Howard Beck; to me, he was the greatest character. He has Asperger's Syndrome, found his niche and now he’s the world’s richest man, and a BRILLIANT AI creator. I really appreciated this, because truth be told, a child with Asperger's is brilliant at whatever their interest is, not many people realize that. This is one book that I’ll buy for friends, it'll scare them about our future. Awesome first novel for Richard Stephenson!!! Book two is expected this summer and I can’t wait! ( )

Zzzzzzzz..... ( )

I liked this book more than I assumed I would. Love how smoothly all the key players were brought together. Story kept me so intrigued that despite knowing what certain outcomes were going to be I still found myself on the edge of my seat. ( )

This book has been on my to-be-read list for a long time, and I’m very happy to finally get the chance to read it. What I find missing in some dystopian books that I read is the beginning of the new way of life. Many books start years later with a character/resistance to take down the wicked government. Collapse is a novel that’ll bring the reader through the entire process of how America deteriorates and falls, as well as how a new government rises.

What I enjoyed most about this novel was that, as I said, it takes the reader through the fall of one nation and the rise of a new one. (I don’t feel this is a spoiler due to the New America series title and what’s said in the description.) Even though it’s known that the outcome of this book probably won’t be positive, the journey to the end is filled with much to enjoy. The book follows the struggles of a few group’s of American in the Second Great Depression. These interlaced stories about very different characters can be books all by themselves. That’s how much detail and planning seems to have gone into telling their stories. Stephenson is also able to jump around from story to story without me getting tripped up much of the time. That’s always an obstacle when carrying along with a few storylines in one book.

Whether others agree or not, I felt that much of what happens in this novel could actually happen some years down the road. For me, the fact that I could picture some of this being actual history at some point in the near future added to the emotions of the book. Some details are obviously exaggerated or too “out there” but overall, I see realism in Collapse and that enhances the “horror” these characters face. As with many dystopian books, the ability to fear realism from a book makes me enjoy it that much more. Maybe I’m just sick and enjoy reading about a dark near future, though.

The only real issues I had was that at some points in the book, the story was moved along by things out, rather than allowing the story to move things along. In this I mean some sections were written as “This happened. Then this and this. Followed by…” It wasn’t too troubling, but there were strong sections in this book, and these others were a bit dull. With as much detail of characters, events, and other elements that this book had, it’s expected that some things are glossed over though.

Book 2, [b:Resistance|19157601|Resistance (New America - Book 2)|Richard Stephenson|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1393176213s/19157601.jpg|23896949], is on my Kindle now (as well as the short story [b:Spider - A New America Short Story|15848863|Spider - A New America Short Story|Richard Stephenson|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1345944369s/15848863.jpg|21594598]). I’m looking forward to the next installment of the New America series. If it’s anything like Collapse, I’ll find it hard to put down. ( )

At least one of the other reviewers has already explained my objection to the author's writing, namely that he tells the reader everything rather than allowing them to see it or be shown. Otherwise, it is one of the better dystopian works I've read in recent history. Thankfully, the author has stuck to reality rather than fantasy; so no zombie apocalypse, just human beings at their worst and best. The plot is plausible with only small license and therefore all the more interesting. The characters are developed, even if you are picky about how it is done, and believable. That leaves the final item: the work is unabashedly the first of a series designed to get you to purchase the sequels. I probably will breakdown and buy the second and third books as unlike so many others, it is good enough. ( )