Review: Interesting beginning
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 29, 2012
First of all this book is really the beginning of a series, because it ends when things begin to get interesting and on a note of uncertainty that was the best part of the book. The story was a real page-turner, even if I'm afraid I didn't like the characters.It was as if the author was trying to get a grip on them through the whole book. I realized that this unsettling feeling depended on a choice by the author. The two protagonists are not heroes, they are two ordinary guys who kept their flaws and insecurities even in their circumstances. We're probably used to ordinary guys who become great heroes under pressure, but Elliott and Adam are not transformed in fearless men by the apocalyptic events of the book, they are scared, confused, inconstant and almost hysterical sometimes. They lie and then tell the truth, they're not above deception, they just try to survive.Elliott is a shop assistant, with a family that has been trying to forget him and he's just been dump by his boyfriend. Adam has been left by his fiancée of four years, he's a dancer who's ashamed of his profession and he's in denial about his sexuality. They meet roaming around the city, after an asteroid hit the earth triggering earthquakes and the forming of a dark cloud of debris. Among the devastation, they seem the only survivors and they go looking for other people. After they find a flier about Refuge Inc., they go looking for the place, guessing that's where they can find an organization ready to begin again. But is it a myth? A scam? Salvation?I think the push-pull relationship between the two protagonists was the least interesting apart. Elliott, so out and proud, sometimes seemed too pushy and sometimes acted too whiny; Adam was hot and cold. I must admit they exhausted me and it was a bit difficult to see their attraction, it felt like something I had to be convinced of. I also thought there were too many threads left dangling, until I realized it was really the first installment of a longer series. I am glad there was a brief excerpt of the next book, because when I spotted "The End" I was still trying to figure out what was happening.I think the post-apocalyptic setting is by far the best feature of the book and the concept of Refuge Inc. is very promising.