Review: A cut above average, but not very satisfying
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 10, 2014
Daniels is in the upper echelon of self-published SHTF authors, and his Against the Grain is a real breath of fresh air for the genre.  This is a prequel to that story, and it involves the unnamed protagonist and a couple of the other characters from Against the Grain.  The writing is good, the character development is good, the action sequences are good and realistic, without being over the top.  I also like the fact that the story takes place in the midst of a gradual collapse of America from first world toward third world status - more of a sustained Great Depression - a realistic view, rather than the standard mega-EMP followed by the immediate rise of anarchy and mutant zombie biker fueled chaos.My problems with the book are that steely eyed protagonist is a little too steely-eyed, his dialog is a little too snappy, and his tactical skills are a little too good.  The character isn't terribly realistic.  For some reason this didn't bother me too much in ATG, however.  Additionally, some additional context for the collapse would have nice.  Finally, there doesn't seem to be much of a point to the story - it's just a series of adventures by the protagonist and his friends with nothing really accomplished or resolved.Still, it's an enjoyable few hours.