Review: Terrific Story, Wonderful Characters!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 4, 2012
A delightfully chilling tale the writers of The Walking Dead would drool over! It would fit seamlessly into the series, and Jessie is a character with more than enough depth and complexity to make a wonderful permanent addition to the cast. I imagine the various paths Jessie could now take and find myself fervently wishing for a sequel.At first, we sympathize with him as he faces one of the hardships of a country boy's life. Suddenly the world as he knows it is gone, replaced with fear, horror, and the heavy responsibility of life-or-death choices. I found myself quite proud of him when all was said and done.His father is also someone I'd be proud to know. He doesn't hide from or try to deny reality as many would do in his shoes. He does what's necessary. As hard a man as he is, he's also reliable and caring when the time is right. He proves he's willing to sacrifice absolutely anything for his son's safety. Who wouldn't respect a man like that?McKinney's style is rather brilliant - taking familiar characters and creating new situations and conflicts for them to handle. It allows his readers to identify and empathize with them to a depth not commonly found in shorts. Right away we're emotionally invested, and I see his ability to grab us that way as a rare talent.I don't want to spoil it by mentioning anything specific about the plot, so I hope summing this rambling up to 3 parts will be enough. :)1 - It really feels like the background of a The Walking Dead starring role, only better written.2 - Truly caring for these people is such a rare experience (even in novels!); how could anyone turn it down?3 - Plot and characters aside, this is the most well-written story I have (yet) read from McKinney. I'm happy to report that I was quite lost in this story from its start to its finish, which means there were very few errors!