I am really torn with this review and this rating would be 3.5 if I could. When I first said it was a rollercoaster, I did not realize how close that analogy was. It was VERY slow while building characters, then it took off on a run that kept me on the edge of my seat. Then finally, it kind of "coasted up" to the ending with some rather cheesy dialogue that I think should have been much stronger with some thought. On the whole, this is a really interesting plot and some very likable characters, especially Tanner and Samantha, and I still want to read the others, with the hope that this series gets stronger as it goes along. This is a really hard book for me to review. The first two pages had me excited because it felt like I was starting a Robin Cook medical thriller; a well-written antagonist who is an expert microbiologist and virologist plotting the destruction of mankind. That ended up setting my expectations fairly high. But then the next scene had the main character opening up his family cabin after it was vacant for six months; prepping it for a three week vacation that went on for four pages. Not an exciting lead off. I found myself wondering how raccoons could get in his house to knock things over when he's so meticulous about his preparations and preserving his home to be unattended for half a year at a time.But I knew I would soon be treated to a tension-filled scene of the bad guy carrying out his evil plan, so I eagerly read on. But then we skip forward in time and learn about it after the fact with so little detail, I wasn't even sure if the calamity that the president is being informed of was the same event that the book opened with. Did a different disaster strike before the mad scientist got a chance to implement his plan?This gave me some mixed feelings early on and I began to lower my expectations - especially when I read unusual lines like, "A virus was spreading faster than sightings of Elvis."Really? When was the last time anyone heard of an Elvis sighting? I'd like to say that this is the worst of such lines, but at least half of the similes made me stop and question what the author was thinking when he wrote them.Despite what appeared to be weird, guest-written sentences every once in a while, the story finally got its hooks in me. I love it when a book does that and I literally don't want to stop reading after the half-way point. But I prefer it when the read is like a smooth ride without mental speed bumps that knock you out of the suspension of reality for a second or two, but at least none of them put me in reverse where I would have to go back and re-read something to figure out what was meant.For the most part, the writing was very well done and the plot definitely unfolded well. Most of the characters were well written. The dialogue was believable. The protagonist’s father who has his own sideline story is a more colorful and interesting character and was more enjoyable to me than the main storyline.On the downside, the book seemed really well edited until the last 25 percent and then there were several errors - usually involving omitted words. This made me wonder if the editor/proofreader was in a hurry - or did no one but the author himself look over the book before publication? (Surely another set of eyes would've pointed out some of the less sensible similes and metaphors.)The one thing that I consistently had a problem with was the instant bonding and practically psychic communication between the main character and the dog he adopts. They understand each other like partners who've worked together for years but have only just met (and the dog went from being on the verge of death to a ferocious killer after a few cans of food and a day of rest.)On the very good upside, I learned some real-life, practical information that I'll never forget, and I'm motivated to learn more of such information.With the story building up steam and still managing to entertain extremely well despite its fallbacks, I was so glad to see that the second in the series is out already so I bought it and look forward to finding out what happens in the side story that is left hanging, and to see what the bad guy in the government has planned. I can probably guess, but maybe I'll be surprised.I was also glad to see that the author has written practical and clearly explained disaster preparation books that I'll also be buying. I can tell from the way he describes things in his fiction that his non-fiction will be easy to read and understand and implement.I was torn between giving the book either 2 stars for the bad/weird elements and 5 stars for doing what a book should do, and that's to entertain the reader. In this case, I was entertained, educated, and sufficiently interested in the story to buy the sequel, so I'm going with 4 stars overall and a recommendation to read this.The Survivalist is a mostly fun and eventually gripping read that leaves you with practical survival info that I hope we'll never need to know, but could easily save lives if we ever do.
What do You think about Frontier Justice (2013)?
A good book for the genre. If post-apocalyptic worlds is your thing, I would suggest reading.
—Eliana
decent TEOTWAWKI book- not great enough to seek out the next one in the series
—Austin
Would have given it 5 stars, but he didn't finish Sam's story line.
—tranlenhuan
