Survival

Survival takes our concept of “normal” and turns it upside down in a way that keeps a reader glued to the story and wondering what’s going to happen next!

The small Texas town of Shadow Ridge is hit by an electromagnetic pulse (EMP)—or something—that takes down the power grid, making most electronics unusable. They discover the same thing in the surrounding towns, and have no way to receive or share information with anyone. This story covers the first nine months (or so) of this dystopian nightmare. It places characters in predicaments they never planned on being in. Further, it highlights the good and evil of people when left to fend for themselves.

This is the first book in The Fallout Series by author Lisa Harris. I must say, she set up this series amazingly well! There are so many different ways things can go, and once the reader begins to care about the characters, there is simply no choice but to read the remainder of the series. I certainly will!

One of the things I love (and hate) is how the author doesn’t really tell the reader what happened. Is it an EMP? They don’t know for certain. Are they at war? They don’t know. As I was reading, I halfway expected an army of Russian or Chinese tactical vehicles to appear on the horizon.

As with any really good story, it’s the characters that draw the reader in. The main protagonist, Jace McQuaid, had only come back to the town to celebrate a wedding anniversary of his parents. Then the Quake hit! (It’s not an earthquake, but that’s what the townspeople decided to call the event.) With his military background, the people turn to Jace to lead them through this catastrophe. Now he feels stuck!

I also love the way the author handles backstory and emotions. With so much action going on, it’s pretty tricky to get in backstory and emotions without interrupting the momentum of the story. Lisa Harris handled this wonderfully. For example, at one point in the story Jace is concerned about the safety of two women and a young child in a house. He decides to spend the night in an abandoned car near the front of the house. As Jace begins to relax from the day, “depression fell on him like a blanket trying to smother him.” The author uses this downtime to get in some backstory and an update on Jace’s current emotional state.

Even with the story’s somewhat quick pace, the author still managed to include very good description. For example, this is how the author described what Jace saw from his family ranch one afternoon: “From here, he could see everything from scrub, grassland, and juniper savannas to the open hilltops and distant mountain slopes that were covered with piñon pine and oak.”

Since I’ve mentioned it a few times, I consider the pacing of this story to be perfect! At 236 pages, it’s not a long read at all. However, I’ll admit that once I got into the story, I wanted it to be longer, but I consoled myself with the fact that this saga continues in the next book in the series. Actually, at the end of this story, the author includes the synopsis of the following book—Hunted—as well as the first few pages. Is that good marketing or what?

There are so many things to gush about with this book! The other characters, the character arcs, the believability factor; they are all quite impressive.

After one book, I’m a serious series fan! I consider Survival one of the best dystopian novels I’ve ever read. I highly recommend it!