Review: Not really what I had hoped for
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 2, 2014
I most certainly approached this novel with anticipation of a great read.  I'd read a couple of other non Beginnings Series books by this author and love them.  I was looking forward to sinking my teeth into the entire series.  I enjoyed the premise but did not find the characters believable.  I'll elaborate later in my review.  Because there were so many characters that were introduced early in the book and because the story went back and forth between the characters I found myself having to go back and remind myself who was who. Additionally I felt the story dragged.  I grew bored with reading about the seemingly never ending tending to the sick people.  I found myself skipping over pages.  I believe the author is tremendously talented but for me found the story too long and drawn out.  I did not finish this book after reading a particular portion that did not seem in any way realistic.  SPOILERS SPOILERS..... about a couple of characters.  The nurse stayed in the hospital for days and then finally, seems like after everyone had died, decided to make  her way home to her husband.  I will add here that I am a Registered Nurse of 30 years. Despite the fact that I have loved my career and love caring for my patients I can assure you I would not stay at the hospital and take care of patients who were dropping dead like flies while the end of the world was in progress and I had a husband at  home.  When the woman makes it to her house she finds her husband on the verge of death.  While lamenting his demise she hears a baby crying out in the neighborhood.  She sort of ho hum discusses, with herself, the fact that her husband is on deaths doorstep but she needs to dash out and find the crying baby.  While on this quest she meets this 10 year old boy who joins her, they get the baby, and head back to her house.  Since the husband is dead she decides they need to get going.  She makes some comment to the 10 year old, who she just met, about how he always comes up with good ideas or something like that....she just met the kid.  So the story line of the self sacrificing nurse left me shaking my head.  Next, and last discussion of a character/situation that made no sense.  The woman, who has a sick boy, goes off to the bathroom and slits her wrists and dies.  When her family gets to the house they find her, find the sick boy who is alive, and 2 of her other kids who have died.  Seems she tried to kill the sick kid with some poison juice after the two siblings died of the flu.......the kid didn't drink the juice.  She decides this is a good time to off herself.  So not believable. The bottom line on this book is that I felt no emotion or care about anybody in the story and frankly didn't care if/when every one died.  I seriously doubt I will read the rest of the series.  I recently purchased her latest book and am beginning to have concern, 20% into it that I may be feeling the same way.  I would say try this one, if you like it you may enjoy the others, if so I'm happy you found something you liked.