Warning: this review contains spoilers!
To be honest, I don’t know how I feel about this book.
The first book hooked me with the story of an alien invasion that kills off everyone on earth, and then morphs them into…something else. In the second book, the main character continues to develop as she travels from Manhattan to islands off the coast of Alaska, first by bike, then by four-wheel drive SUV, then by snow cat, and finally by boat. She starts off thinking she is the only one left alive, then discovers that others live at a laboratory above the Arctic Circle in Alaska, then meets others along the way.
And that’s probably where I have the issues. I understand the necessity of introducing characters and in a book like this, killing them off. But the death of a young boy and the way in which he is killed by Emily was something I had a hard time with. Sometimes as an author you have to make decisions that will be unpopular with readers for the sole reason of progressing the storyline or being faithful to the nature and flavor of the story. This is one of those times, I believe. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
This book is exciting and gripping. It is also very scary. It is dark, probably closer to horror that I am used to reading. One of the things the author does, which is both good and bad, is that he gives the reader a little bit of hope, then kicks that hope out from under the reader. And then just about the time you think all is over, another possibility for survival appears.
One thing about this series is that if you start reading it, you will be hooked, which I intend as a complement to the author.
I give the book four (out of five) stars.
The Great Adventure 