What do you think?
Rate this book
41 Days: Apocalypse Underground
After the nukes fall, in a secret biohazard facility, survival may be possible... Until a knock comes at the door. In a research facility hidden deep in the Maine woods, Jenn and her fellow scientists have been trying to prepare for a possible bioterror attack. But that's not how the end comes. It comes in blooms of mushroom clouds covering the globe. With eleven people, plenty of water, and some food, they may be able to make it underground for eight weeks, perhaps just long enough to survive the worst of the fallout. But the people inside unravel quickly. And things go from bad to worse when fists pound on the outer door. there are scenes in this book that will disturb some this is violent and ultimately bleak
177 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 29, 2016
113 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
Lou Cadle
32 books126 followersLou Cadle grew up in Tornado Alley near the New Madrid fault, was in San Francisco's 1989 earthquake, watched minor eruptions of Mt. St. Helens from close up, and hiked several times over Kilauea's active lava flows. Cadle currently lives in haboob country.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 7, 2020
Slow and plodding with a totally expected ending. *sigh*
March 24, 2019
I stumbled upon this book while looking for something else at Amazon, and was so excited! I’m a fan of Lou Cadle’s work, and can’t imagine how I was unaware that this story existed. I bought the Kindle edition, and settled in for a long-awaited good read.
The scene that the warning refers to is a graphic description of assault wounds. It is pretty full-on, but it does serve to explain Jenn’s reasoning at the end of the book.
The story itself was right up my alley, with a little science, the special intrigue that only a plethora of possible disastrous scenarios can bring, and a dramatic race for information and survival resources within a very tight time frame.
Cadle handles his characters in ways that I appreciate too. Sensible use of types allows us to hit the ground running, but the characters are not pushed to stereotypes. Each has uniqueness that helps us to understand the emotional and mental changes they undergo throughout their individual and joint journey. Incidentally, for the first few pages of the book, I was not sure of the gender of the narrating character. For some reason, that pleased me. I guess that’s an example of how Cadle appears to think about the unique ways of his people, and I respect that.
I also respect the writing style. Once started, it was easy to keep reading because the work is well edited and the writing itself flows in ways that matched my reading. It enabled me to keep up and not think ahead.
Yes, at the end, I did feel that period of loss one has when a good book is finished.
It is a relatively short novel in terms of page count, but it is neither too short, nor too long, to tell the story as it would be told by Jenn. For me, it was the perfect weekend read: Long enough for me to feel the bliss of reading for hours on end, spread across a couple of days; yet short enough for me to get essential real-life things done too.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys disaster or apocalyptic fiction.
The scene that the warning refers to is a graphic description of assault wounds. It is pretty full-on, but it does serve to explain Jenn’s reasoning at the end of the book.
The story itself was right up my alley, with a little science, the special intrigue that only a plethora of possible disastrous scenarios can bring, and a dramatic race for information and survival resources within a very tight time frame.
Cadle handles his characters in ways that I appreciate too. Sensible use of types allows us to hit the ground running, but the characters are not pushed to stereotypes. Each has uniqueness that helps us to understand the emotional and mental changes they undergo throughout their individual and joint journey. Incidentally, for the first few pages of the book, I was not sure of the gender of the narrating character. For some reason, that pleased me. I guess that’s an example of how Cadle appears to think about the unique ways of his people, and I respect that.
I also respect the writing style. Once started, it was easy to keep reading because the work is well edited and the writing itself flows in ways that matched my reading. It enabled me to keep up and not think ahead.
Yes, at the end, I did feel that period of loss one has when a good book is finished.
It is a relatively short novel in terms of page count, but it is neither too short, nor too long, to tell the story as it would be told by Jenn. For me, it was the perfect weekend read: Long enough for me to feel the bliss of reading for hours on end, spread across a couple of days; yet short enough for me to get essential real-life things done too.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys disaster or apocalyptic fiction.
May 30, 2018
A very dark story
A very good book, but it's also very dark.
There is an underground research lab in a remote location in Maine where deadly diseases are studied. There are only eleven people in residence when a nuclear war starts, and bombs start falling. The lab is relatively safe, but there isn't enough food for long-term survival. And once everyone realizes that there's no place to go, things start falling apart. And when outsiders start trying to break in, things deteriorate very quickly.
Results: this is a very good story, but it's dark and it doesn't end well. Worth reading, but don't do it if you're depressed. I'd rate this PG, because there is violence, and sex is mentioned, but there aren't any explicit scenes.
A very good book, but it's also very dark.
There is an underground research lab in a remote location in Maine where deadly diseases are studied. There are only eleven people in residence when a nuclear war starts, and bombs start falling. The lab is relatively safe, but there isn't enough food for long-term survival. And once everyone realizes that there's no place to go, things start falling apart. And when outsiders start trying to break in, things deteriorate very quickly.
Results: this is a very good story, but it's dark and it doesn't end well. Worth reading, but don't do it if you're depressed. I'd rate this PG, because there is violence, and sex is mentioned, but there aren't any explicit scenes.
April 6, 2025
41 Days: Apocalypse Underground
Sci-Fi
Lou Cadle
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• ɴᴜᴄʟᴇᴀʀ ᴡᴀʀ • ʜɪᴅᴅᴇɴ ʙᴜɴᴋᴇʀ • ɪɴᴛʀᴜᴅᴇʀꜱ •
I wasn't sure if I would like this book or not because it was quite slow for the first few chapters but as more things started to happen, I became engrossed in the plot.
I liked the characters. They were all relatable and their reactions were very realistic.
I felt bad for Nera, she didn't deserve what was done to her and I hope Jenn's trap manged to kill the intruders.
The ending was good but I wanted to know even more about the intruders and what had happened to the rest of the world
Sci-Fi
Lou Cadle
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• ɴᴜᴄʟᴇᴀʀ ᴡᴀʀ • ʜɪᴅᴅᴇɴ ʙᴜɴᴋᴇʀ • ɪɴᴛʀᴜᴅᴇʀꜱ •
I wasn't sure if I would like this book or not because it was quite slow for the first few chapters but as more things started to happen, I became engrossed in the plot.
I liked the characters. They were all relatable and their reactions were very realistic.
I felt bad for Nera, she didn't deserve what was done to her and I hope Jenn's trap manged to kill the intruders.
The ending was good but I wanted to know even more about the intruders and what had happened to the rest of the world
March 27, 2020
Grim With A Capitol G.
Very short, very grim and depressing novel about a remote bio-hazard research facility trying to survive the aftermath of a.full-scale nuclear war. As.An exercise in creating a claustrophobic and dismal future it certainly succeeds and it gets four stars for its relentless and grinding forward motion, but I would.never recommend it to anybody. Hell, I wish I hadn't read it myself.
Very short, very grim and depressing novel about a remote bio-hazard research facility trying to survive the aftermath of a.full-scale nuclear war. As.An exercise in creating a claustrophobic and dismal future it certainly succeeds and it gets four stars for its relentless and grinding forward motion, but I would.never recommend it to anybody. Hell, I wish I hadn't read it myself.
November 2, 2016
I love everything this author writes. And this is another winner. This is a gripping, suspenseful story with characters that you either love or hate. I love most of them. I did the "one more chapter" in bed. Which is why I am dragging now. But it was so worth it
June 19, 2017
This book was so dark that if it were not so close to what woud probably happen under these circumstances that many would quit reading before the finish of the book. There seemed to be no hope for a different conlusion.
June 16, 2020
This is a very, very dark story though well-written. I found myself feeling very claustrophobic at times. My only issue is that it seemed to stop very abruptly with her last entry so we never actually find out who the attackers were or what happened. That might have been the the point though.
October 10, 2023
Not a very heartening ending, but what I have come to expect from dystopian novels.
Lead character was fleshed out nicely by way of plot and writings. Entire novel was about despair and hopelessness. Hardly a light read!
Lead character was fleshed out nicely by way of plot and writings. Entire novel was about despair and hopelessness. Hardly a light read!
August 20, 2017
Hmmmmmmmmm
Well the ending will fool you something you know will happen or maybe something you couldn't for see but a great ending
Well the ending will fool you something you know will happen or maybe something you couldn't for see but a great ending
September 2, 2017
Good book
Read all of the books in order to really enjoy. Characters are realistic and get better and better. Storyline continues to grow and develop.
Read all of the books in order to really enjoy. Characters are realistic and get better and better. Storyline continues to grow and develop.
January 20, 2018
(See original Gray review.)
January 5, 2020
Worth a. Short read
Liked this book, a different post Apocalyptic theme. Ending could have been better but it worked.
Would check out the authors other books.
Liked this book, a different post Apocalyptic theme. Ending could have been better but it worked.
Would check out the authors other books.
July 16, 2023
Total waste of my time I think. I only kept reading because I was waiting for something to happen. Sadly it never did.
January 12, 2024
Abrupt finish, I was left wanting for more.
September 4, 2016
This is the story of ten people (scientists at a top-secret laboratory working on ebola, etc.) who survive the destruction of the world by nuclear war because they happen to be at work, underground, when the bombs go off. They are very intelligent people, but even they cannot avoid the devolution of humanity when faced with the end of the world. Even people who have to work with incredible discipline around killer viruses every day can't resist the baser human instincts when there are no longer any rules of society.
There are acts of cowardice and courage, but the twist at the end is extremely disturbing.
I think the point of all these post-apocalyptic books is to tell us not to let the apocalypse happen because humans, as a species, haven't evolved far enough to put the good of the many above the good of the few--or the one. We're still savages when it comes right down to it.
There are acts of cowardice and courage, but the twist at the end is extremely disturbing.
I think the point of all these post-apocalyptic books is to tell us not to let the apocalypse happen because humans, as a species, haven't evolved far enough to put the good of the many above the good of the few--or the one. We're still savages when it comes right down to it.
September 20, 2016
If you're claustrophobic...
For me this was a fairly fast read.but intense.Mr cadle has a way to make you feel he's been there, done that and he can transfer the fear, well all the feelings of exactly how it may be if in fact, you were underground when the world comes to an end .Oh and how he develops characters....you get to know them and actually FEEL the distress or the little joy these be friends have.excellent read
For me this was a fairly fast read.but intense.Mr cadle has a way to make you feel he's been there, done that and he can transfer the fear, well all the feelings of exactly how it may be if in fact, you were underground when the world comes to an end .Oh and how he develops characters....you get to know them and actually FEEL the distress or the little joy these be friends have.excellent read
October 5, 2016
With the title of this book I was expecting something else, but I still found this story to be fascinating. It really had some deep questions about humanity and how you make decisions and what makes you think about those decisions. Nice good, quick read.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews