Long Road to Survival follows the story of Paul and Buck as they travel from Nebraska to Atlanta to retrieve family members and the trials they face along the way. While the book highlights the themes of survival, family, and community in a post-apocalyptic setting, it failed to live up to the standard set by classics in the genre such as "Alas, Babylon." The characters of Paul and Buck are not as well-developed as I would have liked, and their journey felt a bit lackluster. The pacing of the story was decent, but it could have been better. Additionally, the author's writing style falls short in comparison to the descriptive and evocative prose found in "Alas, Babylon." Overall, "Long Road to Survival" is a decent post-apocalyptic read, but it fails to stand out in the crowded genre and doesn't quite measure up to the likes of "Alas, Babylon" or William Forstchen’s One Second After series.
Book 2 or the second half of the omnibus continues the story of Paul and Buck as they have been herded into a bunker constructed by a pharmaceutical giant. This book is worse than its predecessor and was still not for me. This is a culmination of all conspiracy theorist’s theories combined into one. I was hoping we would find out more about life of a prepper in a post-apocalyptic world but instead I got a the world is fine once we drive the pharmaceutical greed mongers out, comedy. My recommendation, look elsewhere in the genre.
★★★★★ Great book! Can’t wait to read it again (and I will).
★★★★☆ Good book. I am glad I read this.
★★★☆☆ OK book. Nothing special but not bad.
★★☆☆☆ Not good. Why did I waste my time?
★☆☆☆☆ Lousy. I didn’t finish.
If for whatever reason, I go back and reread a good book, I will change the rating to five-star because I read it again.