Caretaker

by Richard P. Clem

A previously unknown virus almost immediately kills most of the world's population. Only a handful of survivors remain, all isolated. They must take action to ensure their immediate survival. But just as importantly, they need to seek out the others who they know must exist.Matt comes down with the flu on the way home from work and goes to bed as soon as he gets home. When he awakes, he realizes that he has slept for a few days. The power is out, the phone is dead, and not even the water is working. Something is terribly wrong, and he finally comes to the conclusion that most of the world's population is dead.He needs to get ready for his first winter alone. But he also needs to find other people. He uses his knowledge of radio to get an AM radio station on the air.Will anyone hear it?If you liked Earth Abides or Alas, Babylon, then you'll also enjoy Caretaker.

149 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 13, 2012

Reviews

[Tammy K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It should be noted that this work was self published. Readers who prefer the more traditionally published works might want to skip over this work. I happen to enjoy self published/ independent works (aka Indies).
The sub-genre of apocalyptic and post apocalyptic independent novelettes, novellas and novels is very popular at this time, move over shiny vampires and pouting werewolves.
To me, the best part about this sub-genre (and indie work in general) is its' 'inclusiveness'.
Much like the Star Trek/Star Wars fan fiction, writers of these kinds of books have allowed themselves to completely dive into the realm of the genre and envision what survivors of these catastrophic events might need/do in order to survive.
It is with this in mind, that one should read/review 'Caretaker' and other works similar to it.
I give caretaker 4 stars. Which is in my thinking a 'slightly better then average' read.
I am not a member of the grammar police, so I have no qualms about occasional spelling/grammar issues that are often found in indie works. I will note them in my reviews based on their disruption to the story flow. This story has minor grammar issues, however they did not majorly impact the overall story flow.
The characters are unique, believable, likeable. While a longer work might have been able to flesh out the characters a bit more, I feel given the novellas brevity they were complete enough to understand there actions/motivations.
I was able to connect to the characters, feel their sorrows with them, and joy as they found each other, shared their stories, and began a new.
Pace (flow) of the plot: The plot unfolded in such a manor that it took a fair amount of time to understand were the author was directing the reader, which was to have us (the reader) consider mankind's need to be connected to other humans, how survivors might re-group, and reshape society.
As a side note, when you consider the length of the story, a fair amount of time is spent discussing God, faith, hope. I believe these are important themes to discuss in this genre and give the author 'kudos' for sharing his ideas on the topic.
Plot resolution, in as much as a post apocalyptic storyline can have resolution, this novella has a satisfying ending.
I recommend this story to those who enjoy independent, apocalyptic and post apocalyptic works.

[Lyn Rorke · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a self published book I was quite happy with the read.
Throughout the book I kept wanted to read to see what would happen next. The only disappointment I had was that there was enough "action" with the characters--yes it was a post apocalyptic setting but nothing bad happened after the virus for the characters to overcome.
I would recommend this book for someone who wants a nice easy read or for anyone who wants to try reading self published books--this is a great book to start with.

[Keith Carscadden · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, reasonable grammar and formatting, reasonable characters. but not much story