Review: Post-Apocalyptic Novella
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 26, 2012
When the government's attempt to create a biocrop goes horribly wrong, civilization as we know it ends. Riots, drifters, unspeakable violence as people starve to death are the new norm. Guardsman Derek Covington braves the riots to save his foster mother only to lose her and his arm to the violence. Derek is taken to a military occupied hospital where he is given a prototype prosthetic arm with a deadly blade. Dr. Lidia Sullivan was there; she helped save his life and attached the new arm; she cared for him and spent every minute with him for a week before the evacuation. When the evac train is ambushed, Derek stays to protect the refugees and to bury his foster mother.Ten years later, pockets of civilization can be found. Lidia lives in a compound caring for her community and teaching medicine to others. She dreams of Derek, but has accepted he must have died in the riots. Why else would he not come for her? Suddenly, Derek reappears. He needs a doctor to save the life of a young boy in his charge. Together they venture out in the bleak desert through dangerous conditions and violent gangs to save a young boy's life.Having enjoyed other stories by Ella Drake, I was eager to read this one. I was in the mood for a short story, so this was perfect for me. I was able to read it in a few hours.I really liked both Lidia and Derek. Even though this is a rather short story, I still feel like we got to know them pretty well. Yes, there were a few things that were said but not elaborated on that I wish I could better understand. But, overall it was well done. We got a real story with a real plot and real characters. Sometimes that is rare in short stories.Lidia and Derek are very different from each other and it showed in their actions and the way they talked. Lidia is calm and used to working in stressful conditions as result of her work in an ER. Derek is blunt and used to muscling his way through life. He is a bit crass to Lidia's poise. But they still worked well together.Even though I love the theme of "lovers reunite," I didn't like that it had to take TEN YEARS for them to get back together. It would have been harsher had we sat with them through those TEN YEARS, but still. Why did it have to be so long? It really didn't bother me all that much. I wanted to see them reconnect. I wanted to know what they have been doing and why it took so long to reunite.I really enjoyed the world that Ms. Drake built. It seemed so real!Although I really enjoyed this story, I personally think $3.99 for such a short story (approx. 83 pages) is a bit much.A word of warning: There are detailed sex scenes and some swear words used by our beloved guardsman.