An apocalypse for deep thinkers.
This post-apocalyptic debut chronicles the life of John Robertson as he and his allies try to prevent the Dark Ages’ return.
In 2018, on the night of the Super Bowl, civilization changes irrevocably. News outlets report that a genetically engineered biological weapon has begun spreading throughout the Russian Federation, with a nearly 100 percent mortality rate. Soon, air travel is suspended, and nations attempt to secure their borders. Within a few hours of the outbreak, a million people have died. After the president of the U.S. declares martial law, John Robertson, a geographic database manager for a Texas petroleum company, watches the country spiral into chaos. By the time the virus hits the States, it has mutated, allowing one in 10 victims to survive. John lives, while his friends do not. This harsh new world (which lacks government structure, not to mention the Internet) calls for a mission, so John decides to combat the fires plaguing the brushlands of Texas. Eventually, he joins the Texas Military Forces, who embrace his ethos of “saving the savable.” As the years pass, the New Texas Republic proves the most resilient portion of post-collapse North America. But stability brings with it the return of politics and disputes over how to improve the future. Debut author Nobit, in his cool, collected narrative, hopes to fix the world with ideas and compassion rather than Mad Max–style action. Some major problems facing humanity include maintaining food production and manufacturing centers and taming newly barbaric and unorganized territories. In this light, “Machine tools, and those who could run them, became worth their weight in pre-collapse gold.” When John founds the Institute for Security and Justice—an NGO determined to help stabilize areas around Texas—the winning complexity of Nobit’s world ratchets upward. The dirty Sen. Stetson, an isolationist working against John throughout their careers, is central to one of many well-threaded subplots. The tale’s foremost hiccup is that its hero frequently shows “all the emotions of a rock.” Readers won’t mind much, because grand ideas (like environmentalism and monetary reform) pick up John’s slack.
An apocalypse for deep thinkers.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dog Ear Publisher
Review Posted Online: Feb. 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
These letters from some important executive Down Below, to one of the junior devils here on earth, whose job is to corrupt mortals, are witty and written in a breezy style seldom found in religious literature. The author quotes Luther, who said: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." This the author does most successfully, for by presenting some of our modern and not-so-modern beliefs as emanating from the devil's headquarters, he succeeds in making his reader feel like an ass for ever having believed in such ideas. This kind of presentation gives the author a tremendous advantage over the reader, however, for the more timid reader may feel a sense of guilt after putting down this book. It is a clever book, and for the clever reader, rather than the too-earnest soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1942
ISBN: 0060652934
Page Count: 53
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943
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