The Unrecovered

Smiling Flu #1

by Len M. Ruth

The virus doesn’t kill you. The smile does.
Forty-eight-year-old recluse Sarah Sampson thought her father died in Vietnam. She was wrong.
As a strange new flu devastates the country—leaving only grinning corpses—a breaking news clip shatters Sarah’s reality: her father is alive, and he’s the only known person to survive the infection.
Sarah and her K-9 companions must flee their Montana ranch and cross a fractured America to find the man who vanished fifty years ago. How did he survive? Why didn’t he come home? And can she reach him before she, too, begins to smile?
In Washington, D.C., Dr. Carl Parks treats an elderly stroke patient who mutters about a government coverup, experimental treatments… and a cure. But the antidote is trapped in a damaged mind, and time is running out.
Catch the flu, feel the joy, die smiling.
A character-driven pandemic thriller for fans of Station Eleven, The Stand, and Contagion.

429 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2023

About the author

Len M. Ruth writes dark speculative fiction about people grappling with grief, loss, and the hard choices that follow when things unravel. His work blends literary sensibility with genre thrills. He's written The Pull, The Unrecovered, Rachael's Apocalypse Diary, Beneath the Dark Water, and Tales of the Doomed. He also co-authors the Spectral Seduction series with Devora Gray, a paranormal dark romance saga with weird mystery and dark humor woven through. His stories tend toward found family, characters who refuse easy answers, and the moments that remake you. He lives in Las Vegas with his partner Emory and their dog Cooper.

Reviews

[Robin Ginther-Venneri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Go beyond the expected with Len M. Ruth's The Unrecovered; this book takes an original perspective on apocalyptic themes, leading readers through a thrilling journey of suspenseful pacing and unpredictable turns. Quite an enjoyable ride. Highly recommend.

Thank you for an advance review copy of this book. I am voluntarily leaving a review of my opinion.

[Terry M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written with good, main characters. An interesting story line, which keeps you engaged throughout. An unexpected ending. Recommended for those who you enjoy apocalyptic/survival novels. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did enjoy this apocalyptic adventure! Something completely different for a virus end of the world, which is great! I really liked the ideas & generally the characters & storyline, overall an interesting read! I will definitely look for more by this writer!

[Elaine and Tess the Springer. I won’t be on GR for a bit. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant book.

What a truly enjoyable book. It is still a global pandemic but that's where the similarities end with other books in this genre. I loved the characters and I loved the book. This author has a way of weaving a story that is so good that it's impossible to put down. I highly recommend it to anyone who reads.

[Eric Kao · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Unrecovered is an in-depth and horrific look at the global pandemic, the smiling flu. There are four main characters, but really, the flu itself is almost a character which is incredibly interesting! The flu has its own history and mysterious backstory, growth and trajectory, and very strange, almost supernatural effects in the later stages. The book follows four main characters which gives you a fascinating view of what’s happening from several perspectives. Erica is a reporter trying to follow the breadcrumbs of what is happening. She starts by investigating a small story that seems like nothing, but it blossoms into a fight for humanity’s survival. Ed is a deeply flawed man who is thrust into the middle of everything against his wishes. He only wants to find his wife and daughter amid the horrific obstacles thrown in his way. Carl is an emergency room doctor who offers insight into the disarray of the medical system from the crushing pandemic. Finally, there’s Sarah who is the soul of the book. She is on a quest that starts off just trying to rescue and care for animals, but evolves into a journey of highly personal stakes. Through these characters’ eyes, you intimately experience the pandemic from its earliest stages through the collapse of society.

The Unrecovered did feel a little slow at the beginning, not because it was boring, but because you knew what was coming and you were ready to get to the ‘good stuff’ (or really, really bad stuff, as it were!). The mystery of what exactly the pandemic is and what its origins are will keep you reading. The characters each have their own ‘mission’ which will draw you through each of their story lines. The book is also pretty well thought out. The author does a good job portraying the strain on the medical system without going into unnecessary detail as well as the struggles of the various characters to cross the ruins of a pandemic-decimated country. I do wish the tension in climatic scenes was drawn out a little more to give it more ‘punch’. That said, there’s plenty of action in the book with lots of emotional highs and lows!

Content warning: this book is ‘Rated R’. It’s got strong language (f-bombs); violence and gore; direct references to sexual abuse, alcoholism, and suicide.

Overall, I would recommend this book to any lovers of apocalyptic survivalist fiction! It is not a zombie book, so don’t expect that. The ‘villain’ is the virus and good, ol’ humans being awful to each other. If you like the shifting perspective and systemic breakdown of society in World War Z, then you’d probably enjoy this book!

I received a free copy of this book as an advanced reader. This review is 100% my own opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I influenced by the publisher/author in any way.

[Sentinelle23 · Rating 5 out of 5]

❤☠☣ Great discovery!


August 2021:

Jamie watched the fire in the distance as it slowly approached the farmhouse.

Her husband Ed was about to leave to make a firewall in his field by harvesting the crop all along the edge of the forest.

Would they succeed in saving their farm?...

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An exciting medical thriller to read and which takes us into the lives of several main characters.

Will they succeed in dealing with the epidemic?

I highly recommend this novel with its captivating plot and which we devour the pages one after the other!

Can't wait for the sequel in volume 2!!!



################################÷####

❤☠☣ Très belle découverte !

Août 2021 :

Jamie regardait l’incendie au loin qui s’approchait petit à petit de la ferme.

Son mari Ed s’apprêtait à partir effectuer un pare-feu dans son champ en moissonnant la recolte sur tout le long de la lisière de la forêt.

Allaient-ils réussir à sauver leur ferme ?...

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Un thriller médical passionnant à lire et qui nous emporte dans la vie de plusieurs personnages principaux.

Vont-ils réussir à faire face à l’épidémie ?
Je recommande vivement ce roman à l’intrigue captivante et dont on dévore les pages les unes après les autres !

Vivement la suite dans le tome 2 !!!

[David Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining postapocalyptic tale with a difference.
I enjoy reading postapocalyptic stories. When I got an offer to read an Advance Reader Copy of The Unrecovered, I figured it would be your typical PA story. Well, I was right and wrong at the same time, sure it was A PA story, but it wasn’t typical because there were no zombies or mutants roaming around hunting the uninfected. This story is well developed with a host of damaged characters each dealing with their own issues and a pandemic that quickly covers the globe. Additionally, there is plenty of action as well as human interest content that serves to flesh out the story. The Unrecovered was my introduction the Len M Ruth’s writing/storytelling and I’m looking forward to reading more in this series.

[PAR · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one novel you are not going to be able to put down. The world is trying to survive a pandemic and in the midst of this the reader will experience the lives and the paths followed by 3 main characters. There just are so many twist and turns, so many unknowns that I just had to do an all nighter so that I could find out how everything turned out. This novel was captivating and I highly recommend it. I received this as an advanced copy. This is my true and honest opinion.

[Amber K · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was incredible!
Terrific writing made me not want to put it down and didn't want the story to end. I liked the multiple POV's. For me, it made the story seem more real and real time. The vivid and detailed storytelling will hook you right from the start!!
Four years ago, when we were living a real-life pandemic, I feel like this book, this story is how everyone imagined it was going to turn out, lol.

[Abbie Riddle · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting take on the theme of apocalyptic survival. The world building and descriptions are spot on; immediately drawing the reader into the destruction and devastation. The characters are developed well and the writing is good. Overall the story is engaging and worth a read.

I received this free review copy and am voluntarily leaving a review - albeit a very late review.

[Dana Szcyrek · Rating 4 out of 5]

a nice wave of consistancy in reading this book. story flowed very nicely and i didn't feel like the author stayed on a character for to long. it was the perfect balance of introduction of character to storyline. hoping Mr. Ruth continues his journey with the unrecovered because i was left with that classic cliffhanger feeling....and i loved it!

[Nathalie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got to pg 325 of 5127 and stopped. Right off the bat one character is gay. Then one asks another if she is Leisbian, Transgender and so on.. That is when I ended the book. I read MMF books so I have nothing against Gays/Bi and so on but I draw the line at Transgender. I will not read a book even mentioning it. Its bad enough such things are taking over tv shows.

[Caryn Larsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This scared the crap out of me. It was well written and I couldn't put it down. I like the way Len interweaved the different characters and I could imagine the things as they happened. This had me on the edge of my seat. I have found another author that I will continue to read.

[Tianna Meeks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this, it was horrific and horrible but absolutely amazing. The smiling Flu is so creepy, and weird.

The writing is fantastic and the plot was very cool and intriguing, can’t wait for book two.

[Anita Hofer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed reading. It has interesting characters and an intriguing idea of how fast the world can fall into chaos. I would definitely recommend

[Paperback Pixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book intrigued me due to the Smiling Flu. During reading, you can definitely see the similarities to the covid pandemic during reading (main one to me was the cooler trailers for bodies) but it also had it's own original challenges to overcome. There are different POV from a handful of characters that are scattered across the country that end up all intertwining. I enjoyed the story and following all the characters through this pandemic. Hopefully there will be another part, even just a novella, about how the Unrecovered are doing years later.

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book. Reading it gave me terrible anxiety. The characters are fantastic and the world building is truly incredible. I read an ARC and there are just a couple of things that weren't clear to me, like how did Ed get vodka and why did he start drinking again, when he'd been sober through all the really tough stuff? And what exactly happened to Erica? (I can't say more without spoiling a huge part.)
In any case, even with those questions remaining, this is a stellar pre-apocalypse story. I truly cared about the characters and would love to read more in this world.