This is my first post to the Hive Book Club community. Thank you @acidyo for suggesting this community for book reviews.
For my first review I've selected Black Autumn - Surviving The Crash. Black Autumn is another post apocalyptic thriller. This is a collaborative work written by Jeff Kirkham and Jason Ross. After the Jack Hunt series I read a couple weeks back, I said I'd step away from this genre for a bit. As exiting as the stories are you can't help but feel a little squeamish and a little disgusted by humanity when you finish these books. After reading this subject matter, I seriously have to ask myself if we're "better than this". Each time, I come to the conclusion that we're probably NOT "better than this" and things probably would unfold in a very similar fashion in real life.
So it seems the Amazon algorithm worked perfectly and in favor of me this time around. After reading the Jack Hunt series the Black Autumn series showed up in my suggested reads. I decided to give it a chance. Black Autumn takes place after a stock market crash and nuclear attack on the West Coast of the United states. The part about the stock market crash grabbed my attention so I gave it a shot. What can I say, Amazon knows my tastes or at least the algo does.
I have to admit, the story starts out a little slow for my tastes. There is a huge cast of characters and a lot to keep track of. In the beginning it almost felt like a collection of short stories. The author does a great job creating the backstory of each character though. At times however, it felt like it was all over the place. On top of that, I tend to read at night and usually smoke a little weed before starting to read. This is my rest and relaxation time. The weed certainly didn't help trying to keep track of the wide array of characters. 🤣
For whatever reason, I slogged through the first half of the book trying to keep track of each character. The book is a little over 300 pages long and things really don't heat up until around the middle of the book. I almost quit this one a couple times trying to wrap my head around all the characters. Once I got to the middle of the book though I was really glad I slogged through the first half because the characters all come together into a great story. Once the author paints the picture of the backstory and events leading up to everything, the story really comes together.
So the basic plot goes like this. The stock market crashes, followed by a nuclear attack on the West Coast of the US and a dirty bomb is released on Saudi Arabia. The nuclear attack shuts down the power grid in the US, and the entire world falls into chaos. The Ross family owns a homestead in the middle of Utah and are joined by several special forces types they've befriended over the years and who have helped them build the homestead for just such an occasion. People show up from all over the country using the homestead as a safe haven from the apocalypse. They are stocked up with food, heavily armed, off grid, self sufficient, and more than capable of taking care of themselves.
I will say that the scenario leading up to the apocalypse in this story seemed a bit of a reach. You know what they say though, "It's just a book". I have a hard time believing that it all falls apart after a stock market crash and two nukes. However, if it all did fall apart this book paints a pretty good picture of what we might expect in this type of scenario. At the very least, the actions of the protagonists seem reasonable and very likely.
As the story unfolds, they have to make some really tough decisions. #1 How do they secure the homestead from people that aren't as prepared as they are? How do they secure the local hospital? Who do they ally with? How can they help the local community but still protect themselves?
One of the things I liked about this story is they took a very diplomatic approach to most of these problems. Unlike the Jack Hunt series, the protagonists in this story really try to do the right thing or at the very least seem a bit more ethical in their actions. Just like all books in this genre, it's very hard to decipher the good guys from the bad guys. At times you question the characters motives and intentions, but in the end their actions seem reasonable. I'm trying to avoid any spoilers but by the end of the story you understand why the characters were the way they were.
Small Spoiler
One of the things I didn't like about the book is that it devolves into a small race war. Several street gangs rise up and begin looting but also try to take over everything. I'm not a huge fan of this theory. However, chances are, in a situation like this, you probably would see local gangs rise up. I don't want to touch on this too much because, spoilers. I grew up in Buffalo NY and in a bi-racial neighborhood. I have friends of all religions and ethnicities. I know it's not that way everywhere, but I have issue with the whole race war scenario. However, you have to ask yourself if a scenario like this wouldn't be that far off in some places in the country.
End Spoiler
Besides the racial tensions, I enjoyed this book a lot. Once I got to the second half of the book I couldn't put it down. It was a real page turner and I will definitely continue on with the rest of the series now. There are 9 books in the series, so we'll have to see if it keeps my interest to finish them all. I think once I finish this series I'm going to move on to some non-fiction books about prepping and survival. I personally feel the world is in a very fragile state right now and after reading this subject matter you can't help but question your own preparedness.
Final Thoughts
I read the Amazon reviews and the book got mixed reviews. I enjoyed this a lot. I didn't see any other reviews talking about the first half of the book. That may have just been me and my weed filled late night brain. 🤣 Once I got past the backstory of all the characters though, I couldn't put it down. If you're into this type of subject matter, I'd give this a try. I thought it was a great read! I'm really glad I didn't quit reading this one and pushed through to the end. IMHO, it was worth it! I'll do more reviews as I finish each book in the series.
