Dystopian

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Sickness is ravaging America, driving the infected to savagery.
Petty criminal Ben Silensky is determined to get his girlfriend Carlita and son Kyle free of the quarantined city they live in, enough so to risk a foolhardy crime and then to team up with Carlita's equally desperate cop cousin Nando. Once they're out, Nando is certain they'll find a place in the open prison where his uncle works, unbeknownst to him already become a survivalist colony named Funland under the management of entrepreneurial convict Plan John.
In Funland itself, guard Doyle Johnson is shocked when his ex-wife abandons his son Austin into his care. Fearing the vulnerable position he's been placed in, he recruits the help of Katherine Aaronovich, the former prison's doctor. But Aaronovich's traumatic past has left her with vulnerabilities of her own, along with radical theories on the nature of the epidemic that will place all their lives in jeopardy.
As the last vestiges of civilisation crumble, Funland may prove to be the safest or the most dangerous of places, depending on who comes out on top - and what can't be held together will inevitably be torn apart.
FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launched in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.

Thanks to Anne @ Random Things Blog Tours and the author for my copy of the book and my place on the blog tour.

The book world is rife with Post-Apocalyptic novels of zombies, disease and despair.  A Savage Generation cracks that mould and gives us something alarmingly real.  A situation we can envision becoming reality in glorious HD.  In a world where anything is possible, the idea that new strains of illness and disease can be borne into chaos and rapidly end the existence that we have come to know and rely on.  You shouldn’t be scared of monsters under your bed, this is the real horror story.  Real life is a horror story. 

Reading this book has me liking it to a concoction between The Walking Dead and The Strain.  There was elements of the story that made me instantly think of those…no way a bad thing, I love me some Post-Apocalyptic drama.  The chapters flit between multiple POV’s, which I enjoyed.  It definitely added depth and meaning to each character’s perspective and how they were losing their grip on reality and the utter madness the situation was descending into.  Madness is the perfect expression for this story.  The world has been overtaken with a sickness infecting its population.  If this illness doesn’t kill you, then you turn into a savage killer that can’t reason and doesn’t have the rationale that the sane of mind have.  How would you deal with the situation?

ACTION, ACTION ACTION.  This book just keeps on throwing it at you.  Do you want a nice, mild-mannered book to ingest after a polite dinner with your polo club friends?  Then look away this book will eat you and your mannered principles for breakfast.  The pace of this book was so good, so good.  Once it gripped you it completely sucked you in.  I demolished this book in one afternoon.  Not until I had finished the book did I feel like I could breathe.  What a ride.

One interesting theme was the co-existing of the sick and the healthy.  The healthy have taken over the prison, White Cliff.  The apparent new and improved prison is now termed Funland and it’s a safe haven.  They get to live in harmony amongst the well and they are able to keep the Sickers (those that are infected with the disease) at bay.  There is no cure, and nothing being tested on in order to finding a cure.  This is what life is going to be like now.  It’s an us and them scenario.  Can an understanding be found so that both sets of groups live in as much harmony as can be expected given the situation?  The sickers are now segregated together and the healthy stay together.  Sociology is at play when new generations have to find and adapt new ways just to stay alive. 

The youth had the most difficult task ahead of them.  How the hell do they deal with a world that descended into the underbelly of savagery, a world devoid of love and humanity.  Survival is the eye of the storm – they have nothing if they can’t survive.  The psychology and sociology of humans and the planet has changed.  Nothing is the same but the basal need to survive is ingrained in us all.  Cultures change but the need to survive will always be the same.  The author has achieved an addictive and compelling read.  The writing had me captivated and I wanted to keep reading, wondering exactly how this could have a positive end…was that even possible?  What I was rooting for was the best possible outcome in this situation, was that achieved? Well, you’re going to have to read it to find out.  Overall, this one of the best Post-Apocalyptic novels I have had the pleasure of reading.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Tallerman is the author of crime drama The Bad Neighbour with Flame Tree Press. His other publications consist of the YA fantasy series The Black River Chronicles, which began in late 2016 with Level One and continued in 2017 with The Ursvaal Exchange, the Tales of Easie Damasco series – consisting of Giant Thief, Crown Thief and Prince Thief – and the novella Patchwerk. His comics work includes the absurdist steampunk graphic novel Endangered Weapon B: Mechanimal Science (with artist Bob Molesworth).

David’s short fiction has appeared in around eighty markets, including Clarkesworld, Nightmare, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. A number of his best dark fantasy and horror stories were gathered together in his debut collection The Sign in the Moonlight and Other Stories.

His previous career as an IT Technician took him all across the country, but he currently resides in West Yorkshire, on the opposite side of the county of his birth. In his spare time he likes to hike around the local countryside, a hobby that has also taken him to wild spots throughout England and beyond.

David can be found online at davidtallerman.blogspot.co.uk and davidtallerman.co.uk.