Outland by Dennis E. Taylor

 "When the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts, it's up to six university students and their experimental physics project to prevent the end of civilization."

The plot:  It's Richard's and Kevin's applied physics project, Matt's computer system, and Bill's engineering skills that bring Kevin's theory of an interdimensional portal into existence. What they find on the other side is another earth, one where humans never evolved and mammoths and dire wolves still roam. They bring in geology student, Erin, and zoology major, Monica, to help explore this new world. They have dreams of finding enough gold in this other world to fund their experiment and the rest of their education...and also of winning a Nobel prize. But then the supervolcano underneath Yellowstone erupts, changing all their plans. Now they and several hundred university students are just trying to survive in this other Earth, the one they call Outland.

My thoughts:  Disaster/survival reads have always been favorites of mine, and the premise of this one sounded so fun I couldn't resist checking it out. And it was entertaining, with humorous dialogue, funny movie references, and enough science to believe in the characters without getting bogged down in all the technological details. It's a go-with-the-flow kind of novel. And Taylor keeps the story moving at a good clip. But in juggling so many characters, not all of them are fully fleshed out. There were times I completely forgot Kevin was even in the room; and I felt Matt's martial arts skills should have been used in the story at least once. But the main characters had enough personality and hints of backstory to make them likable and interesting. I did think some of their survival preparations got glossed over, and their stay in Outland felt a little too easily managed, with a lot of the details happening off page. So it's not perfect, but I enjoyed it. A fun popcorn kind of read. And one I gave 4 stars.

Happy Reading!

Drowning by T.J. Newman

    Will stared at the water-filled cabin, wondering two things. What happened... ...What now?

    The plane had been sinking. Everyone had thought this was it, they were done for. Then the water had stopped rising and no one had known what to think. Then out of nowhere--BAM--the plane had slammed into something. It was loud. Violent. Everyone thought, This is the end.

    But as the seconds ticked on, they realized the plane was still sealed and the air pocket was still intact. Somehow, they were still alive.

When Flight 1421 crashes into the Pacific Ocean six minutes after takeoff, Will Kent and his eleven-year-old daughter, Shannon, end up trapped in the sinking plane two hundred feet below the surface with ten other passengers. Their hope of rescue lies with the Coast Guard, the Navy, and with Will's ex-wife, Chris, a professional diver and deep sea welder. 

What an adrenalin rush! This was one propulsive page-turning thriller. The premise of being trapped in a submerged airplane is a scary one. And Newman's past experience as a flight attendant shines through, giving this book a level of authenticity that makes it even more suspenseful. I liked almost all of the characters, from the older couple celebrating their sixtieth anniversary, to the woman who wears her life preserver all the time because she doesn't know how to swim. But I especially loved the relationship between Will and his young daughter, and his wife's fierce determination to save them both. I also appreciated getting to see this disaster from both the passengers' and the rescuer's POVs. Drowning was the last book I read in August, and a perfect way to end my summer reading.

Happy Reading!

From my TBR shelf...

My library has been closed for an entire month now. The books I put on hold back in March for my next two buddy reads with Melody are languishing on the hold shelf at my library--hostages to COVID-19. And the last of my library books have all been read, leaving me with only the books on my shelves. Luckily, I have a lot. Some I'll review; some I won't. And though I am grateful I do still have books to read, I REALLY hope my library reopens soon! Anyway, here's one from my TBR shelf:

Title & Author:  Voyage by Ellisa Barr

Why I bought it:  I read and enjoyed Barr's previous book, Outage, and wanted to read the next one in the series. Also, it's one of those EMP disaster/survival books that I like to read so much.

Favorite line:  "Wake up and smell the apocalypse, Sena."

The plot in brief:  Sena and several of her classmates are on an Alaskan cruise when the EMP hits. Chaos quickly ensues as Sena and a few new friends struggle to make their way back home to Washington state.

My thoughts:  Sena's a foster kid with a fear of the dark and a past she doesn't like to talk about. You'd think she'd be tough and guarded, but she comes across as meek, timid and naive, and even a bit spineless at times. It wasn't until the last half of the book that she finally stands up for herself. Despite these flaws, I still liked her. And I liked this book, although I do wish it had been a little more fleshed out in places. At only 200 pages, the story felt a little thin and left me wanting more. Barr's first book, Outage, is definitely the better read. But this one was still fun.

My rating:  3/5 stars.

Happy Reading!

From my TBR shelf...

Title & Author:  When the Power is Gone by P.A. Glaspy

Why I bought it:  EMP, preppers, survival. Need I say more?

The premise:  Anne Mathews is trying to get her teen-age son out the door for school when the lights, the phones, and everything else goes dark. Anne immediately suspects an EMP, especially when she can't get her car started. And even though she never thought it would actually happen, she and her husband, and their close friends and neighbors, the Hoppers, have been preparing for this exact worse case scenario for years. Now they're going to have to put all those plans to the test, because their day to day life just became a fight for survival.

Favorite line:  "Yep, I knew exactly what this was. And it was going to really suck."

My thoughts:  I love reading books about preparing for and surviving unexpected disasters, especially when the characters are as likable as the ones in this book. They're practical, smart, and determined to survive. And even though they know they can't help everyone ,they do try to help the ones they can. I'd love to have them as my neighbors! And while the plot of this one is pretty predictable, I thought it was also well-written, fast-paced and thoroughly entertaining. I'll definitely be buying the sequel.

My rating:  4/5 stars.

Happy Reading!

From my TBR shelf...

Title & Author:  Locker Nine by Franklin Horton

Why I bought it:  I love disaster/survival stories--whether the disaster is caused by a massive earthquake, EMP, terrorist attack, or zombie apocalypse. So when I saw this book on Amazon, I couldn't resist putting it in my cart. (Because once again, my library didn't have it.)

The Premise:  Grace is just finishing her freshman year of college when a terrorist strike takes out the power grid. Chaos quickly ensues. Luckily Grace's dad--a serious prepper and science fiction writer who's plotted the end of the world numerous times--has prepared her for this kind of disaster. He's even given her a key to a locker with everything she and her roommate, Zoe, will need to make the 600 mile journey home. Too bad the roads they must  travel on are filled with other people not quite so prepared...and definitely not on their side.

My thoughts:  I really liked Grace. She's tough and resilient and never backs down. And her relationship with her dad brought a welcome layer of humor and heart to an otherwise predictable plot. I wish every chapter had been about her and Zoe and their journey. Sadly, half the chapters focus on another character, Ray, a pot-smoking video gamer who's decided to start living life like he's the hero of Grand Theft Auto. Talk about a despicable human being! But I guess every disaster novel needs its requisite bad guy. (I also didn't love the first five chapters that were all about the terrorists; Horton could have done away with those entirely in my opinion. But at least they were short.) This wasn't a perfect read, but despite its shortcomings, I still liked it. It's a decent disaster read with a memorable and fun heroine. And I'd read book two, Grace Under Fire, just to find out what happens to Grace next.

Rating:  3/5 stars.  Best of all? It counts as my first read for Lark's Backlist Reader Challenge!

Happy Reading!

Prepper fun

Only the strong will survive.

But what does it mean to be strong?

When an economic collapse leads to both gas and food shortages, power outtages, lawlessness and chaos, two men, D.J. Frost and Gabe Horne, will each have to figure out how they will face the challenges ahead in order to survive. One is prepared; one is not. But it's the choices they make that will ultimately put them on a collision course.

D.J. Frost has been preparing for this 'Smash' for years. He's stockpiled guns and ammo, has a secret cache of supplies buried outside the city, and a carefully mapped out 'bug-out' route. But things don't go according to his plan. And the way he handles each setback quickly shows his true character. D. J. Frost is NOT a lovable character.  He's not even likeable; he's selfish and manipulative and cruel. (All traits he feels he needs in order to survive.)

"Life had thrown obstacles his way, but he had overcome them. Others would not have been able to make the difficult choices he had made. They would pay for their weakness, maybe even with their lives. It was a new world and it would make hard men, men like him, to survive ... no, to thrive in it..."

 Gabe Horne, on the other hand, is completely unprepared. Still mourning the loss of his wife and son, he's so drunk when the collapse comes he doesn't even realize at first how bad everything is. But when his neighbor and her teen-age son need help, Gabe steps up. And in helping them, he ends up saving himself.

"He wondered how things could be going so well. He wasn't drinking any more, he was in love, his neighbors respected him and looked up to him. It had taken the world falling apart to put his world back together."

In Collision Course, David Crawford has written a compelling novel of survival, and of the good and bad that lies in every human being. It's action-packed and character-driven at the same time. And I really loved the preparedness aspects. There were some other things that happen along the way that I didn't love as much. But overall, this is a good read; I'm just not sure how I feel about the ending. Still...

Happy Reading!

What do you love?

I have many bookish loves:  psychological thrillers, supernatural stories, urban fantasy, mystery, historical fiction, certain classics, and even some romance. But one of my absolute favorite kinds of books is disaster/survival novels. I just can't resist them. In Outage by Ellisa Barr, the disaster is an EMP that wipes out all power and technology and leaves fifteen-year-old Dee stranded with her grandfather at his farm in rural Washington. (Her parents are on an Alaskan cruise when the EMP hits.)

With her grandfather dependent on a pacemaker that no longer works, it's up to Dee to handle the majority of the farm chores. Then there's the problem of not having any clean water. Or enough food. It gets even worse when their truck gets stolen. Luckily they have good neighbors (who just happen to be Mormon), who will trade bread for eggs and help with the farm work for a few chickens of their own. And Dee and her grandfather will need all the help they can get if they hope to fend off those men in town determined to take what they want no matter who gets hurt in the process. (Because every dystopian novel needs its requisite bad guys!)

I liked this one! It's not a perfect read, but I thought it was fun. Dee's a bit spoiled and naive in the beginning, but she grows up fast. And she never gives up. I liked that about her; I also liked her two friends, Hyrum and Mason. There's a little bit of faith and prayer in this book, and lots of focus on preparedness and figuring out how to survive in a scary and uncertain world, all of which I enjoyed.

I'm a bit of a prepper at heart, so books like this always make me wonder what I can do to be better prepared for whatever the future may hold--whether it's stocking up on batteries and candles for the next power outage, investing in a good first-aid kit, or buying a few extra cans of food and bottles of water the next time I'm at the store. 'Cause a little preparedness goes a long way.

Happy Reading!

Similar reads:

     Trapped

     The Sky So Heavy

     The Road to Winter

     Prepper's Survival Hacks

     

Survive this!

"The missiles, Fin. Something's gone very wrong. We don't know much, but it looks as though regions in the north of Asia have been hit as well as the Gobi Desert. Word is it's a nuclear test gone wrong, but it might have been deliberate..."

By the time we got into town the sky had changed. It was like the sun was being choked with thick orange dust. The sky glowed, throbbing with colour, but it was like it had swallowed up all the sunlight. ... It was beautiful--and wrong.

In one afternoon, Fin's world changes--from warm summer to nuclear winter. Now there's no internet, no phones, and no power. The water supply has been compromised and the food is running out. With their Mom over an hour away in Sydney and their father missing, Fin and his younger brother, Max, must figure out how to survive on their own.

In The Sky So Heavy Claire Zorn has written a post-apocalyptic YA novel of survival set in Australia that's "scarily realistic", fast-paced and entertaining. I really like these kinds of novels, especially when they're well-written and believable. And this novel is both (although there were a few times when I felt things happened a little too conveniently). Fin is resourceful and smart; I liked him and his pesky younger brother. And I liked the friends he teams up with, too. This book made me wonder how I would survive in a similar situation...and what choices I would make. Which is what I like about these kinds of books:  they always make stop and think....and stock up on extra chocolate! This particular survival/disaster book is as good as John Marsden's Tomorrow, When the War Began and Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. All three are worth reading if you happen to like post-apocalyptic novels like I do.

Happy Reading!

Another similar read:

The Road to Winter by Mark Smith