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A review by yevolem
The Remaining by D.J. Molles
2.0
The United States has collapsed due to a Worst Case Scenario, in this case the FURY bacteria, which makes its victims immune to pain and wanting to kill everyone else. It's also highly contagious. In preparation for these circumstances, a top secret program was initiated to select those who would rebuild the country. 237 candidates underwent Primary Selection, but only 48 were chosen, one for each of the lower 48 states, to each be isolated in a Hole so that 30 days later they'd emerge and reestablish the country. Captain Lee Harden, an ex-Ranger, is one of those 48. He doesn't want to be believe that the Worst Case Scenario has happened. After he comes to terms with that he'll have to set out into the world to accomplish his goals: Survive. Rescue. Rebuild. Anyone who gets in the way of those goals must be killed without mercy or hesitation.
This book was originally self-published in 2012 and that really shows, even after all the editing it must've went through before being republished. It's rough, but there were glimmers of the fun that I had from reading his fantasy novel, A Harvest of Ash and Blood, which was the first book I read from Molles. I decided to read this, his first published novel and see how that'd go. A lot can change in 10+ years of writing and that's abundantly evident here. The action is moderately thrilling, but overall it's a rather lacking experience. Lee searches, he finds, he rescues the weak and kills the predators. He tells them that's here to help. There's nothing particularly exciting about that in terms of plot.
As is all too common for my preference, this version of Earth hasn't slightest concept of zombies or the undead, so they haven't the slightest clue what's going on for a while. The premise and much else is entirely ridiculous, though it's not that difficult to just go along with it. Lee isn't a super soldier or otherwise all-powerful, so a lot can and does go wrong. I can't really comment on how accurate it would be, though perhaps much of his failings can be attributed to shock. There's not really all that much to say about him, or any other of the characters. It really is all survival action with horror elements, though I'm sure the later novels because considerably more complex and the characters much more developed.
There are currently 14 novels and 2 novellas in the series, which seems like it could go far towards Lee's stated goals, though perhaps life just doesn't go that way. I don't want to go through an unknown number of books to get to something that may be interesting and worthwhile. This book is on the borderline between being bad and mediocre. Sometime later I'll look at his most recent releases to see whether it's only the one book that I like from him. A Harvest of Blood and Ash is getting a sequel so there's that for me at least. It's interesting to see how much he's improved and I'm glad that he had the opportunity to be able do to so.
Rating: 2.5/5
This book was originally self-published in 2012 and that really shows, even after all the editing it must've went through before being republished. It's rough, but there were glimmers of the fun that I had from reading his fantasy novel, A Harvest of Ash and Blood, which was the first book I read from Molles. I decided to read this, his first published novel and see how that'd go. A lot can change in 10+ years of writing and that's abundantly evident here. The action is moderately thrilling, but overall it's a rather lacking experience. Lee searches, he finds, he rescues the weak and kills the predators. He tells them that's here to help. There's nothing particularly exciting about that in terms of plot.
As is all too common for my preference, this version of Earth hasn't slightest concept of zombies or the undead, so they haven't the slightest clue what's going on for a while. The premise and much else is entirely ridiculous, though it's not that difficult to just go along with it. Lee isn't a super soldier or otherwise all-powerful, so a lot can and does go wrong. I can't really comment on how accurate it would be, though perhaps much of his failings can be attributed to shock. There's not really all that much to say about him, or any other of the characters. It really is all survival action with horror elements, though I'm sure the later novels because considerably more complex and the characters much more developed.
There are currently 14 novels and 2 novellas in the series, which seems like it could go far towards Lee's stated goals, though perhaps life just doesn't go that way. I don't want to go through an unknown number of books to get to something that may be interesting and worthwhile. This book is on the borderline between being bad and mediocre. Sometime later I'll look at his most recent releases to see whether it's only the one book that I like from him. A Harvest of Blood and Ash is getting a sequel so there's that for me at least. It's interesting to see how much he's improved and I'm glad that he had the opportunity to be able do to so.
Rating: 2.5/5