I received a copy for review purposes. All opinions are honest and mine alone.
Major General John Haggerty, U. S. Army, “Haggs”, 30 years as an army doctor, is Commander of the Potential Pandemics Task Force. It’s one of five that have been formed by the government and military to help manage the never ending global challenges facing the post apocalyptic world. Haggs has just exercised his authority by declaring the island of Crete to be under quarantine for a minimum of three weeks because of SARS-CoV-12, a new coronavirus that’s worse than 2020’s COVID-19. This one strikes the young and healthy. It’s brutally fast and non responsive.
Did the swift action of Haggs and his task force keep the virus contained? Not so much. His boss orders him and the task force to Italy where it appears the virus has spread. The Mediterranean area will likely end up in lockdown creating a crisis for everyone in the government and military. Haggs still needs a translator and needs one now. Providentially, his daughter just happens to have a good grasp on conversational Italian. She’s also agreeable to improving the strained relationship between them. With an hour to pack, father, daughter and PPTF head to Italy with determination to quell an impending pandemic.
Italy had other ideas. A natural disaster puts Haggs and Sonya underground, trapped without technology access, proper medical care and access to food or more importantly, water. Others in the group have perished from the earthquake and some, like Sonya are seriously injured. Much of the story takes place here, underground in the caves. Haggs’ best friend and executive officer, Caleb, is anchoring the search and rescue mission and coordinating the PPTF, dealing with General Burgess, the dragon lady who’s Haggs’ superior officer.
The above is one half of the story. Woven into this post apocalyptic storyline is another story about a family in crisis. Death of a child drove Haggs to bury his pain into work and separation from his family. Good results for work; devastating consequences for the family. Author, Dr. David Jeremiah, spent minimal time with this aspect of the story and it caused character development to suffer.
The Haggerty family in total has issues with God and the concept of Salvation. Sonya and her mother, Marianna, have been seeking information and answers from a bible study and from Caleb, a solid, long serving Christian and family friend. I found some of this text to be soft with respect to the author’s other many books on this subject. Snippets of this theme are dropped into the story in what I’m assuming was supposed to appear natural. For me, they are disjointed and missing an impact that’s sorely needed.
A decent read for those enjoying: adventure, apocalyptic, light thriller, suspense or futuristic fiction with a gentle inspirational element📚
Read and Reviewed from a NetGalley eARC, with thanks (3.5 stars rounded up)