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Needs Must When the Devil Drives
"An Apocalyptic Romance" A book about before and after an apocalyptic event. Wonderful characters, great story. A Must Read!
79 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2012
4 people want to read
About the author
Rachel V. Olivier
9 books20 followersRachel V. Olivier writes from her closet/office in L.A., where she juggles short story, poetry, and novel writing with making a living as a freelance copy editor, proofreader and writer as sole proprietor of Putt Putt Productions, and also works part time as Gal Friday for the Larchmont Chronicle.
For more information on her published works go www.rachelvolivier.com. If you need a proofreader/copyeditor go to www.puttputtproductions.com.
For more information on her published works go www.rachelvolivier.com. If you need a proofreader/copyeditor go to www.puttputtproductions.com.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 26, 2012
The main character, Kelly, is a bit of a sad sack who has been feeling sorry for herself and her current life situation. She left her small town in Washington state to be an actress in Los Angeles but never made the splash she'd hoped. When her mother needs a caretaker, Kelly promises herself it will only be temporary, that her move home will be just for her mother. But instead, she stays a lot longer than she ever intended and even takes a local job.
Kelly is at a crossroads in her life: does she stay in her small hometown and acknowledge defeat in the acting world or does she plunge back into the movie scene and feel guilty about her mother's worsening condition? She packs her dog Jake into her car and heads out on a camping trip to clear her head. While she's out communing with nature, something very strange occurs but she doesn't realize how devastating it will turn out to be until she begins investigating the next day.
No cell phone service. No electricity. No living humans. Only the charred remains of people and animals and a weird black soot on everything. She is determined to go back home and see her mother; on the way, she meets Dan, another survivor. Together, they travel back to her small town and fall in love along the way.
Most stories that deal with end times are grand epic things. The characters are often heroic on a big scale and we have interaction with the thing or things that caused the end times to occur. Not so with Olivier's novella. Her Kelly is no action hero. She is just an average person dealing with the aftermath of a major event, but in her own small way. She doesn't join a traveling group of survivors, a la Stephen King's "The Stand." She is all alone, thankful to meet Dan and to have her loyal dog with her. But it's all the stuff that she thinks about, the pettiness she feels from time to time, the guilt she suffers from, that makes this story truly enjoyable and relatable.
I love that Kelly worries about bad breath and drinking warm beer in the morning. I love that she is snippy and tired and on edge. I love that she is sometimes selfish and often squeamish. And I love her voice. She is not snarky or too self-deprecating. She is an imperfect human and she is all of us. She is how many of us would be during a situation like this.
Kelly is at a crossroads in her life: does she stay in her small hometown and acknowledge defeat in the acting world or does she plunge back into the movie scene and feel guilty about her mother's worsening condition? She packs her dog Jake into her car and heads out on a camping trip to clear her head. While she's out communing with nature, something very strange occurs but she doesn't realize how devastating it will turn out to be until she begins investigating the next day.
No cell phone service. No electricity. No living humans. Only the charred remains of people and animals and a weird black soot on everything. She is determined to go back home and see her mother; on the way, she meets Dan, another survivor. Together, they travel back to her small town and fall in love along the way.
Most stories that deal with end times are grand epic things. The characters are often heroic on a big scale and we have interaction with the thing or things that caused the end times to occur. Not so with Olivier's novella. Her Kelly is no action hero. She is just an average person dealing with the aftermath of a major event, but in her own small way. She doesn't join a traveling group of survivors, a la Stephen King's "The Stand." She is all alone, thankful to meet Dan and to have her loyal dog with her. But it's all the stuff that she thinks about, the pettiness she feels from time to time, the guilt she suffers from, that makes this story truly enjoyable and relatable.
I love that Kelly worries about bad breath and drinking warm beer in the morning. I love that she is snippy and tired and on edge. I love that she is sometimes selfish and often squeamish. And I love her voice. She is not snarky or too self-deprecating. She is an imperfect human and she is all of us. She is how many of us would be during a situation like this.
September 23, 2012
I'll put this on the SF shelf because it is a post-apocalyptic story, although it has elements of other genres as well. Kelly and her dog Jake are just trying to get away for a weekend of camping when what is either a gargantuan solar flare or a very strange alien invasion puts paid to the world as she has known it. Kelly doesn't have the experience to deal with the end of the world, but she proves to have the heart.
This is a novella length work that I very much enjoyed. It shows a modern, civilized character still trying, at first, to maintain her civilization in the face of something that dwarfs all human capabilities to deal with. The ending is particularly outstanding.
I do wish it had been longer. I think there was plenty more of this new world to explore.
This is a novella length work that I very much enjoyed. It shows a modern, civilized character still trying, at first, to maintain her civilization in the face of something that dwarfs all human capabilities to deal with. The ending is particularly outstanding.
I do wish it had been longer. I think there was plenty more of this new world to explore.
September 16, 2012
So glad that I bought this in print form, so I can put it on my bookshelf. Wanted to "hug" the book when I finished it. Rachel Olivier is one of my favorite authors. Have always enjoyed reading her work in "Beyond Centauri".
August 30, 2014
This is well worth the read. Each one of these stories hit me in a manner I didn't expect. For the first time in a long time, I ended up thinking about some of them long after I had put the book down. I'm going to be sure and pass this on.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews