Review: Author has finally won me over
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 14, 2014
After scoring book-1/Eden Rising as a high 4+ (probably should have been a 5), I was eager to see if Cunningham could deliver a true 5-star book with the second effort.  I'm delighted to report that he has done exactly that.  There are many excellent attributes to rave about:1) Outstanding vocabulary and great writing style that is easy to read.2) Almost no grammar errors (just two small ones here) - there are no distractions here that are so typical of this genre.3) I love the way Andrew weaved characters mentioned early on back into the mainstream later - it absolutely worked beautifully.4) The variation between first person and third person was handled appropriately; and did not distract at all.5) And last, but not least, Andrew successfully draws the reader into the characters and the story line.  I enjoyed that the author imparts his life philosophy, whether intentional or not.  He does not hammer the reader with his point of view; it just comes out little by little as the plot unfolds.  Andrew has an amazing ability to juxtapose the necessary violence with characters that are also caring and human.My only criticism is that I felt like I had to suspend reality a bit with a couple of the effects of "the event".  That's the reason I categorically will not read Zombie literature - the entire concept is based on something that's not real.  EMPs are very real, but they don't normally kill unprotected people; they just fry electronics and circuit boards.  This new/more powerful type EMP was not clarified well enough to my satisfaction; and to my knowledge, does not exist.  I almost quit reading early on with that as the basis for the story.  BUT, the writing style and story line are so well done otherwise, I could not stop.  Maybe there are some possibilities with EMP that I have missed.Even though it would seem that the author has moved on to other writing pursuits, I really hope he will consider developing this series further.  It certainly does end well and appropriately with the new life in Yellowstone; but it might be interesting to see how life plays out there, and even how Katie's generation grows up and assumes the leadership - the young daughter has already demonstrated great potential.Andrew Cunningham is now the newest member of my short list of outstanding SHTF/TEOTWAWKI authors, which is now at 14 authors representing 27 books.  The other/avoid list is well over a hundred.Congratulations on a job well done.  JMD