Review: Surviving the Fog
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 13, 2012
I have mixed feelings about this book. I feel that the idea of the book was a good one (what would survival after a catastrophic event look like).However I felt the characters were not appropriate for the adversity and the challenging experiences that the author wanted to explore.Let me say that I felt there was a fair amount of thought put into the steps needed to have the characters survive. This was a strong plus towards making the in the book creditable, if not for the characters ages.I liked that the book took place over two and a half year time frame, giving opportunities for us (the reader) to see how the characters lives might unfold and what other issues would come up.What I did not like about the book can be narrowed down to two things.One (and this was the biggest) was that the age of the characters was simply too young to cover the issues that the author was trying to tackle, making it all seem less believable.For example our main character 'Chief' Mike. At age 13 and a half, he takes on the role of leader for the surviving teenagers. The concerns and decisions that he comes up with are far greater then what a 13 year old would come up with. Even given that he might be more 'mature' emotionally then others his age, however there is no explanation as to 'Why' he would be more mature in his understanding of life and leadership. Without this explanation, his 'judgements' and 'rules' do not sit right with reality. I am left to say, "That's pretty wise for an early teenager, and where is his teen emotions?"I could do this same break down with the remaining characters, but you can get the idea with this one and I shouldn't go on and on about that.The next issue that I have with the book is that often the mini-crises in the story do not flow with the over all story. They seem to be cut and pasted into the storyline. It would have been more realistic to have less events play out then to have the extra mini-crises.For example the whole lodge situation, it was announced, then left until the last part of the book to be hastily played out. I felt it was poorly played out leaving me feeling flat about its resolution.So what do I think of the story and do I recommend it?I think it is worth the read, but one should have low expectations, just as you would for a 'made for T.V.' movie as opposed to a 'made for the theater' movie. If you lower your expectations you probably will enjoy this book. Because I actually did enjoy it once I finally decided just to let the 'issues' be and imagine the characters say five years older (each).Due to some of the content (rape, murder and violence) within the book, I would recommend it to readers above the age of 16.I would like to see other works by this author, as I enjoyed the storyline, and feel that maybe in time the author will improve his craft.