Review: Nice try but falls below other treatments of sun-induced apocolypse
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 4, 2014
A sun flare damages the brains of most humans to the point of death, leaves some unaffected, and some converted into murderous "Zapheads."  This PA theme has been pursued, somewhat more successfully, by others - two come to mind:  "Run" by Blake Crouch and "Interrupt" by Jeff Carlson.  Nicholson does a reasonably good job defining appropriate characters to carry the story forward, but fails to develop them as well as the other authors cited.  As I have mentioned in previous reviews, my standard is whether I look forward to the next chapter in the book when it comes up in rotation, as I typically read several books simultaneously on my Kindle.  This was the book I looked least forward returning to.Although one has to give a story like this the benefit of the doubt on the technical underpinnings of the phenomenon that drives the storyline, there was one point that bothered me to distraction.  Zapheads aren't supposed to be zombies, they are brain damaged people.  So how can they continue to thrive weeks after the event when they don't have any urge to eat or drink?  At least with zombies there is a virus that presumably keeps them alive, although they typically decay over time.I suppose this point will be resolved in the next installment, which I will only purchase if the price is right and there are no better alternatives.