A Path to Utopia by Jacqueline Druga

👽Spoiler Alert👽

Oh, dystopian books, how I love you, and Jacqueline Druga is my go to dystopian dealer to feed my need for this genre in my life.

Druga resides in the realm amid my favorite authors, though occasionally there exists a modest dissatisfaction displayed in her writing--her characters may emit the feelings of meeting old friends, then the realization occurs--they may be a rehash of recycled individuals.
A Path To Utopia features Robi, a clone of Brett in Torn who's a clone of  Ellen in Beginnings. Druga should abandon this blueprint, and start over fresh--possibly the correct answer is quality instead of quantity.
Though there's one aspect I admire in her female characters--they posses strength, they fight hard and they never surrender to failure. In a disaster, I'd happily join their team to struggle through each hazardous day with them.

Twenty-five percent of the population survives a worldwide catastrophic event, in which the majority of people die, collapsing to the ground, leaving the survivors alone with their fears.
The concept of standing amid a dead populated planet isn't an original idea, though usually the populace finishes an illness to produce the same result as in The Stand by Stephen King. Autumn by David Moody also has the majority of the world drop to their deaths simultaneously, though they eventually rise as zombies. However it happens, the fear would intensify with the supplemented horrors of evil, zombies or aliens, pushing the sanest person to lunacy.

It's amusing to watch the progress of the characters, the clueless creatures struggling to detect the truth. We (the reader) initially perceived the accuracy of the story--patience is required while waiting for their eureka moment.
The same formula happens in horror movies, when a young woman decides to walk up the stairs (or a room, house or the woods) alone. The audience grasps the truth of imminent death, though the women are so young, so innocent and shortly so dead.
Obviously, aliens attacked the earth, yet our group believes it's world war III, though one person, an elderly doctor they travel with, has ascertained the truth. When they realize he's not senile, he relishes his "I told you so" moment.
Mas and Sam, are two unequaled beings in our diminutive group, who can create walkies out of baby jar lids, yet display extreme excitement for a trip to a mall. They're beings from a world that isn't our own, though they wish to assist in our fight. The Calvary travels from their planet to ours, though they will not arrive for one Earth year.

It's my belief that all stories may be enhanced with a few zombies thrown in, though it didn't fit in the story line, Druga threw in a scene with a mob of walkers which created a warm and fuzzy feeling inside my heart.
All in all, a satisfying book, though distinct components appear crude, rehashed, and predictable, I loved it, and recommend it to all dystopian lovers.

Pines by Blake Crouch

My first indication that Wayward Pines existed became apparent when the current television show of the same name launched on Hulu. Matt Dillon stars as Ethan, the main character (and he's the actor my son Dillon is named after). 

There's a modern Twilight Zone twist to this story of a man waking up in a small town where no one can escape and no one is allowed to talk about their past lives. 

I love books where I can't comprehend absolutely what's happening, and the entire time I'm working on understanding the underlying reality, yet when I feel I'm close, I realize that I'm not approaching the truth at all. 

If a citizen can't pretend or tries to escape--a fete (or a Reckoning on the TV show) is called forth. This event allows the phones to ring in their homes, which brings out all the inhabitants to murder the offender. 

In the story, everyone participates which brings to mind the book called The Lottery, where a name is selected every year, and the townspeople stone the chosen one in the town square. The Lottery has an ulterior motive of keeping the earth satisfied for the continuation of abundant crops will persevere every year. 

The citizens (though not all) murdering in Wayward Pines yearn to kill for pleasure, and frequently dress in elaborate costumes for the event. The disregard for human life forms the shadows of our past--enjoying the slaughter of thousands in the colosseum, the beheadings and hanging in subsequent years.

Today, we feel above such depravity, though on reflection, the fear of how quickly humans may fall back into vast savagery if forced into certain situations brings about uneasiness.

With the revelation of the truth, I felt happiness and pity for the residents of this meager town. This isn't your mama's Mayberry, and the scary monsters outside the walls aren't Yankees.

Cry by Jacqueline Druga

☆☆☆☆This review contains spoilers☆☆☆☆

Outer Limits meets War Of The Worlds meets The Twilight Zone in this novel of alien suspense.This book has elements of all three--Outer Limits for gore, War Of The Worlds for alien terra-forming the earth and Twilight Zone for the surprise finale.

In War Of The Worlds, it's the germy atmosphere that killed the aliens--human patience would be our greatest quality while waiting for the microbes to perform their job. In Day Of The Triffids, salt water killed the evil, poison plants, though plain water accomplished the trick in Signs. Numerous times exceptional old fashion warfare provides optimal results, though frequently we lose.

The people in Cry don't have a magic solution against the invaders, though they're able to find something the aliens avoid and that's liquor.
This makes a pleasant day for alcoholics! Drink and earn a pass over on one of the alien's drive by searches, stay sober and turn into a disgusting blob.

If aliens destroyed our world by terra-forming and changed the entire ecosystem where the world is imperceptible to humans  and there isn't a large amount of oxygen left for the few survivors--extreme sadness would permeate all humans. Then to find out that the aliens turned our bodies into a bloody mess to fertilize their plants--extreme agonizing anger would infuse our souls as we helplessly watched from hiding places.

The ending arranged a cruel shock for me as I held out hope the aliens demonstrated feelings of remorse. They started taking humans instead of killing them, and I hoped they'd realized too late we're sentient beings.
Correcting their mistake would establish a habitat where humanity could hope to augment an appearance of accustomed existence.
Yes, we would be in a large see-through dome, and yes the aliens would watch us from platforms....wait a minute, I observed this same set up at the zoo in a large gorilla habitat.

Parts of this book are slow and disjointed, occasionally copious amounts of  info appear that we don't need, and regularly there's not enough. I still highly recommend the book--since it took a lengthy amount of time for the entire story to become clear.
You may hear the Leave It To Beaver theme song in your mind while reading the end.

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

We've all seen parents who are slightly abusive to their children in public settings--which always brings to mind how are these children treated in private?
In reality, essentially all parents love their children, even the abusive ones(their knowledge of parenting is nil) though they're  those few who don't care and would rather slap every time, and they never mete out a single hug.

That's exactly the premise of this story which transpires in the distant future. Every time a child cries, a slap will occur if the mother's nearby. Children aren't hugged or loved, and no one feels the need to reach out with tenderness or caring for others. This is a fascinating glimpse at a village, where every human is severely dysfunctional, resulting from the sick and defective parenting of each home.

The village offers no order or stability as when the men prepare for a hunt. All the spears are assembled rather hazardously, and the men fight for the best weapons, frequently men become injured before their quest has started.
The story of Kira shows what happens to a young crippled girl that was saved due to her mother's strength that fought off efforts to throw Kira into the field to die.
After her mother's death, her world becomes newly structured and she's sheltered in a way she only dreamed of before, but at what cost to Kira and two others she shares her life with?

Thank God that love still flows in our world, and humanity still possesses immense empathy for each other. Selfishness still exist, though we would never turn our heads away from the abuse of children or murder people for their defects.

The only problem I have with this book is the ending, and I hope the third in the series will expand the story.

After The Event by T. A. Williams

This review contains spoilers.

Another book on the end of  life's existence for countless humans-- not that there is anything wrong with another story containing diseases, horrible lunatics, starvation, destruction and so much more fun.

Before the events of this book take place, there's an extensive amount of back story concerning the father, named Grant and his four children. Grant's past includes running out continuously on his family, addiction, selfishness and as his wife lay dying, he was somewhere else taking care of his own needs as usual.

As the world begins the downward journey of  human destruction, Grant takes his motherless children to his father's farm. His oldest son hates him and believes Grant will let them all down yet again, but Grant fights his addiction and continues to win.

They barely survive the winter when suddenly horror is thrust upon them. Modern day pirates, though land pirates, descend upon their farm and create havoc, kidnapping, and murder.

This is where the story turns to such sadness that I could hardly continue reading. Grants young son is killed by the bandits, and his daughter taken.

I know that children would die if this story came true, but reading such sadness is hard to bear. Children die all too often in the real world--why shouldn't they live in books. 

There could be a worldwide referendum to prevent the death of children until they are the age of 18 in all future books punishable by some horrendous sentence. 

I plan to read the next book in the series name Remnants though I'm sure it contains more sadness to be endured.

Out of Darkness (The Starborn Saga #1) by Jason D. Morrow

What happens when you cross a zombie apocalypse and mutant super powers...anyone, anyone? The results are equal to but no greater than The Starborn Saga.
Mora's village seems to be in real trouble against the gray skins (yet another word used instead of zombies). She leaves her village to ask for help from a warlord type of character--imagine the president in The Hunger Games.

Jerimiah is the leader of the Screven, and the Screven's home base is yet again familiar as the Capital in Panem (if Panem had been involved in a zombie war, and didn't have all their hip toys and weapons). He will send his soldiers to protect villages, but he expects large sums of payments in crops and other items (Hunger Games anyone).

Along the way, Mora just happens to find out that she can move a large crane to help her escape from a horde of zombies. Yep, she has superpowers and can move items with her thoughts, which would be cool for us mere mortals if the remote lay on top of the television.
She meets a young man who takes her to his village that is controlled protected by Screven. She meets others who have mutant abilities, and finds out their secret codeword name--Starborn.

Then a considerable amount of silliness ensues, she likes Connor, she likes Connor's brother, she decides not to ask for help for her village, she asks Jerimiah for help with her village, she decides to help Jerimiah to find hidden Starborn, she refuses to help Jerimiah find hidden Starborn. Make-up your mind!

I know that I've delivered some harsh words against this book, but on the bright side, I honestly liked it, and I have started the second book called If It Kills Me.

Mutants and zombies combine for an interesting mix, and what better way to protect loved ones than to send zombies flying away or throw rocks at their heads with superstar powers. l look forward to the entire series.

The Demented: Contagion (The Demented: Z Book 3) by Derek J. Thomas

This review has a spoiler, please refrain from reading unless there's a desire to learn what happens.

In the first two books, Tom's trying to save his wife and son only to have them killed in the third book. What's the point of spending hours reading the first two books related to them--just to throw his family away consistent with discarding decaying trash? 

I must confess after she dies I sped through the rest of the book telling myself the reasoning behind my motive-- I could move on to bigger and better zombie stories.

I didn't feel too guilty since the book moves at a rapid speed, I found certain parts difficult to grasp, the pace moving so quickly. Parts which had the capability to retain my interest were glossed over abruptly, and the ending told three years of the story in a mere paragraph.

I still assigned this book four stars for the reason Tom consistently shows he's a man of integrity and the story has  a  multitudinous amount of zombies.

Departure by A. G. Riddle

I knew by reading the synopsis of the book that the essential characters are involved in a plane crash, which forces the passengers into a different time period or world than the one they left. At this point, the book takes a plunge into a surprising turn of events.

After the disaster, Nick organizes a rescue to save people from the sector of the plane that landed in the water. He's forces survivors to remain calm and help each other stay safe. They wait for the rescue that never comes and place calls on phones that reach out to emptiness.

Soon, five of the survivors endure a future they're not prepared for, and while a few meet their ghosts-- others meet their older selves. Only a handful of people lingers on earth, and Nick and all the survivors learn that they helped create a plague that forced people to age and die in mere hours.

Can they emerge back to their time, and once there, will they remember enough of what happened to fix their mistakes before they occur in real time?

Time travel always creates a perplexing puzzle that boggles my mind to an extraordinary degree. Several dimensions may be created by a person's merely existing in the wrong moment, which can influence the life of the world.

I genuinely liked this book and hope to read new books from the author.

Beyond The Wall by Jacqueline Druga

This is the third book in the long series called "Beginnings." Our old favorites are back: Dean, Ellen, Frank, Joe, George and many more, but we find out that one of these people is a terrible traitor who never cared about anyone else in Beginnings.
I'm not going to say who it is, but it was a real shock when it happened, since I always want people to be good and kind, and turn from evil.

This is by no means as good as the first book called The Silent Victor, which I couldn't put down until I read the entire story. I love hate Ellen, actually I really dislike her a lot, while continuing to like her. I'm so confused!
In the real world, I have never respected anyone who sleeps with another person's spouse, or sleeps around while married, and this describes the person that Ellen is, at least part of the time.

Frank is really becoming more understanding and mellow, and I like him much more. I think characters in stories should grow and become wiser and more self-aware.
It rarely happens in the real world, so we should at least see in books. I'm starting to appreciate his character much more.

Dean and Joe are exactly the same, and George gets kidnaped by the enemy.
So which one of these people never cared, and always had a secret agenda? I guess you will need to read the book to find out.
I'm going to start the fourth book soon called Circle of Justice, and hopefully one day I will read all twenty plus books.

H5N1 Code Name: Greed by Jacqueline Druga
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I love books containing apocalypses of the world--zombie, alien, contagions, meteors striking earth and massive earthquakes or volcanoes, and Jacqueline Druga is supplying my need for these types of books.
This is my third book to read from this author, and even though she will never be remembered as an outstanding author in the annals of time, her characters are likable and we feel great empathy for them. I can't wait to read all her extensive library of books.
The title of this book is a giveaway what the story is about, and it is told from the prospective of one woman who believes she may be the last woman on earth. As she fights loneliness and the crazies who are on the loose trying to kill her, she thinks back on how it all began and how she came to now.
Great book.

View all my reviews