J K Franks

I have read many books in this genre and enjoyed most, however, American Exodus: a Post-Apocalyptic Journey tops them all. It's another 'trying to get home' story with believable characters and storyline. It is well crafted and told by one of the characters, Steve, an owner of Ford dealerships in the south. He is well to do, lives in an exclusive neighborhood, and can have anything he wants. When a solar flare reaches Earth, it kills everything electrical / electronic - no cars, radios, TV, computers...everything Steve depended on for survival. Now, at a convention several hundred miles away, he learns that he is not prepared to survive in this Apocalypse but will give anything to get back home to his wife and autistic son. Odds are extrememly high that he'll never make it.

During the first day after the event, Steve meets with a sole survivor in the hotel and joins him in the bar for drinks. Steve shares a few and learns from the old Australian man what might have happened. He also gives Steve some sound advice that saves him during the initial part of his journey. He's got several hundred miles to cover in reaching home and meets various types of people on the way; and soon partners up with another man and preteen orphan boy who agree to help him get home. The man claims to have worked for the government but he is extremely smart and has strong survival skills. Along the way, both Steve and the boy learn from this person and readers can see them both grow during this journey.

A side story also takes place in the government and a successor is named the new president of the U.S. However, she must abide by a script that others have presented to her or...

Roving bands of armed people are out scavaging and killing innocent people to take what they have. Armed soldiers, mercenaries, were also herding civilians from their homes and into special camps for their own safety; they're promised that the government will take care of them, but why do many believe they're like Nazi concentration camps? The new presidents' cabinet also inform her that Europe and Asia are almost fully engulfed with a virus that doesn't have a cure. And some military groups refuse to acknowledge the new president and go rogue. Was all this planned?

American Exodus can be a stand alone novel - I didn't read any of the other books in the series and felt comfortable in reading this one. The ending does leave it ripe for another installment, but I was satisfied with it as it was. If another continuation comes out in the future, I will surely go out of my way to read it. The author has an excellent flare for bringing readers into the story...and many are sure to learn from it as I did. Highly recommended!… (més)