Published by Del Rey, Random House - Ballantine Genres: Adult Fiction, Horror, Science Fiction, thriller
Format: ARC, eBook
“In violence, we forget who we are.” -Mary McCarthy
Well, well, well, what do we have here? This book was a gem – a very violent gem! You need the stomach for it, but if you have it, you will most likely enjoy this one. A plague which causes random bouts of blackout violence is sweeping across the nation. If you have it, you must turn yourself and be sent to quarantine.
Chelsea Martin is married to her high school sweetheart. They have two daughters and looking in from the outside, things look copasetic. But their house is not a happy one. Chelsea and her oldest daughter, Ella walk on eggshells. Her husband is abusive and has controlled everything in her life. Then a terrible, horrible illness begins to sweep the nation…
Chelsea turns to her image-is-the-most-important-thing mother, Patricia for help. Most mothers would be sympathetic. Most would open their doors with open arms. Patricia is not like most mothers.
The synopsis drew me in and after reading a couple of pages, I was onboard but put this aside to finish some other books, when I came back to reading this, I was reminded how much I enjoyed the first few pages. AS the pages move along, one might think “too soon” after Covid, as well as seeing similarities – quarantine, masks, vaccine, etc. I didn’t mind and enjoyed how this book went a little over the top at times. Am I the only one who got vibes of The Walking Dead and Contagion while reading this?
I found this book to be well written, compelling, entertaining, and hard to put down. There are some things in her which will be difficult to read -domestic violence, harm to animals, and violent attacks. Again, not everyone is going to be able to stomach this book.
This was such a well thought out and executed book. It’s slightly over 500 pages but this book never felt long. While reading, I kept thinking “this would make a great movie!”
Gripping. Violent. Hard to put down.
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.