Review: GOOD, QUALITY READ
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 21, 2014
In W.R. Benton's THE FALL OF AMERICA: Premonition of Death, I have to say it was refreshing to read a post-apocalyptic novel where not everyone had an AR-15 or AK-47 readily available. Not because I have anything against so-called "assault weapons" - in fact, I'm a part-time Tactical Firearms Trainer and NRA Service Rifle competitor. So, I have several military style weapons myself. I just find it awfully convenient that so many protagonists in the genre - as well as their allies & adversaries - seem to to have always be armed with ARs and seemingly endless supplies of ammo. And that is not the case in THE FALL OF AMERICA which, I believe, both sets it apart from so much of the genre - and makes it far more realistic.As for the novel itself, I found the characters believable, the scenario plausible, and the writing on a par with the best I've read to date. There were a number of typos, which seem to plague the genre, but so many as to distract from the flow of the story.In this novel John, a former soldier, struggles to maintain an ordered existence and to keep that which he's managed to squirrel away after our nation has come apart at the seems. Government and rule of law cease to exist, and it's essentially every man for himself. So w/ the help of his wife and an old Army buddy (& his wife) the die is cast. Things quickly go south for our protagonist, though he soldiers on in the face of adversity. And frankly, to say much more would give too much away.Suffice it to say that I found the writing held my interest consistently. The plot twists and changes added to the overall quality of the novel as a whole - and I now look forward to getting started on Book 2 in the series.