Library's review
Crouch's writing was compelling enough to keep me reading through to the end, despite some poor characterization and a few too many "just in the nick of time" escapes. Of course, Jack and his wife are having marital difficulties, and of course their young daughter is just at the age of being a difficult young teen-ager. And of course they would be able to swipe their credit cards in gas pumps in towns that have been turned into slaughterhouses even though the power is out, enabling them to keep moving. These things are minor, but they add up.
Ultimately, though, two things were responsible for this book not receiving a higher rating. First, Crouch did not spend enough time building the suspense at the beginning. As the book begins, the savagery has already begun, although nobody understands why, and Jack and his family are instantly on the run. I would have preferred to see more of a gradual buildup of horror as people begin to realize that something terrible has happened, and they cannot tell who will become a maddened killer and who will not. And secondly, the ending was so abrupt and lacking in explanation as to be laughable. And laughter probably should not be the lingering reaction left by a book that wants to be a supernatural thriller.
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5 Days Ago a rash of bizarre murders swept the country.... Senseless. Brutal. Seemingly unconnected. A cop walked into a nursing home and unloaded his weapons on elderly and staff alike. A mass of school shootings. Prison riots of unprecedented brutality. Mind-boggling acts of violence in every state. 4 Days Ago the murders increased ten-fold....3 Days Ago the President addressed the nation and begged for calm and peace....2 Days Ago the killers began to mobilize....Yesterday all the power went out.... Tonight they're reading the names of those to be killed on the Emergency Broadcast System. You are listening over the battery-powered radio on your kitchen table, and they've just read yours. Your name is Jack Colclough. You have a wife, a daughter, and a young son. You live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. People are coming to your house to kill you and your family. You don't know why, but you don't have time to think about that any more. You only have time to RUN… (more)