Four men deep in the Canadian wilderness witness missiles flying away from the United States. Brice Anderson, a Colonel in the U.S. Army realizes what is about to happen and attempts to send an urgent warning to his wife, Sharon, telling her to run and where to head. With little to no indication that it transmitted or was ever received the men head out for the location 1200 miles away. Sharon, her close friend Sarah and their children are on the Anderson's pleasure craft on Lake Ontario when she receives the mysterious message. Her overwhelming love of family and friends, and her incredibly strong will to find her husband drives her on a desperate race against time up the St. Lawrence Seaway where she will face her ultimate challenge. You will run the gauntlet of emotions as you follow along with both groups until the surprising ending leaves you breathless and wanting more!
Super post-apocalyptic tale that takes place in Canada
This book me quite a bit of time to read. It definitely wasn't the book, it was me. So don't let that bother you.
The book starts out in 2022 with Brice Anderson and Chad Waters, both U.S.M.A. grads and now both active Colonels in the U.S Army. They have taken time off and headed to the Canadian wilderness with their friend, giant William Jenson and his friend John Reynolds for leisure time to fish and drink beer.
Brice and Chad's families are just starting a boat trip for their relaxation, heading towards NYC.
Then the SHTF moment happens - missiles sent from the Arctic Ocean start raining down all over the U.S. And both sides of the families work desperately to reunite in Labrador.
This was an exciting well-paced adventure story as both sides are in incredibly dangerous territory. The characters were full-rounded. This isn't just a book about catastrophic circumstances and was also about families, friends, the generosity of other people who would rather give than take from others.
I highly recommend this book to just about everyone.
Every chapter held me so tight, I read until 1:00 AM every night. It is well written and easy to follow. Many coincidences stretched the credibility, but after all it is a novel. The end will surprise you. It is worth the wait.
Although set within the context of a nuclear war this book is not really about a nuclear disaster. Rather it is a story of survival against great odds. It is a story of love, sacrifice, and the human will to move forward. It is a story of determination and resiliency.
The backdrop for the novel is the Canadian wilderness. The author uses the scenery and fauna to captivate the readers imagination. It is obvious that he had spent considerable time in this environment and he uses it beauty and danger to enhance the story.
Hale has created a real page turner. He draws the reader into the story with a constant flow of new trials and difficult circumstances. But these are not contrived for the benefit of keeping the reader engaged. Each realistically grows out of the other until you are engrossed in what is going on and have difficulty putting the book down until you get to a resolution.
Michael Hale has done a remarkable job with his debut novel. It will be exciting to see what he comes up with next.
Pretty much just read this in one sitting with some interruptions. Great story and characters. The story flowed along nicely with no unnecessary stops and starts. Very impressive for a debut novel. Some fellas go into the Canadian wilderness for fishing snd relaxation while their wives go on a trip of their own. In the meantime there’s a nuclear war with radioactive fallout and the rest of the story is about courage bravery and sheer determination desire to get back to their families. And along the way of course there’s a villain they must head off at almost every turn. Very good read.
I should have taken more time reviewing this book before choosing. I finished reading it, only out of guilt. The story is set in Canada which was nice, but the characters were out of the 90's. I didn't care for the exaggerated testosterone levels and the unnecessary violence. The missile attack detracted from the story. Other natural events made the whole story unbelievable. This may be a choice for the thrill seeker.
The best I’ve read in a while. The characters are real. You feel the fright, the anger, the frustration , and the joy. Every time I thought they were out of danger, something else happened. My brother is career navy. I like to think that he is as strong as the hero’s in this story. The politics are real as well. I shudder to think that this could happen to us, but after 9/11, I know it could.
I bought this as I saw Michael Hale’s comments on FB in a dystopian book site spruiking his book and wanted to support a new writer. I’m glad I did as I really enjoyed his writing style. The characters were strong and believable, the plot engaging and unfortunately believable, and the story moved along at a good pace.
I really enjoyed this book. I loved the characters, even the bad ones, the setting, and the plot. The author, Michael Hale, is a great writer. I don’t like to go into the details in the story so I will just say “Read it..I think you will like it too.”!!!
A fascinating story of hardship and perseverance. I couldn't put it down. A must read. I laughed, I cried, I got angry, and I cheered. A very satisfying read.
Kept me interested. An enjoyable read. Liked the main characters. Recommended. The author properly set up the circumstances for the denouement. The hints were there but not too obvious. Kudos. Now for criticisms. The scene where one minute the 2 main characters are fighting and then within seconds are into No Big Thing bro was not credibly written. The "bad guy" compared to the 2 military heroes was a bit too much of a superman for such a loser. Too many instances where X is dead and then Viola! like a cheap horror flick X, good or bad re-appears.
The Chris Barrow character went on way too long. A nuclear war and Chris’s objective has n life is to hunt down some guys that embarrassed him?? And the weird Walter twist near the end was a bit overkill. Decent (especially the girls’ journey through the locks) and enjoyable for the most part.
I always finish a book, but this one was tempting not to. Although the story line was interesting, the characters got in one jam after another. I found that pretty tiring. I am relieved that there was not another sequel.
I throughly enjoyed this adventure. As I began reading I thought “this is going to be just like Deliverance but set in Canada” and I nearly put it down. I’m so glad I didn’t. It was a thrilling adventure, so well written I could smell the pine and woodsmoke.
Loved it. It has adventure, Canadian Indian culture, love/fami!y/friendship, apocalyptic background and even humor. Highlighted strong female characters. I would highly recommend this author's book.
Excellent read. Well developed characters, plenty of twists and turns, VERY hard to put down. I am now looking for another book by Hale to read. Plenty of surprises.
One of the best of this type I have read in a long time very fast moving and I couldn’t put it down I totally enjoyed this book it was very well written sorry it ended
The premise is very good but there is so much gratuitous violence and an abundance of starkly rotten side characters that I gave up on the whole thing. I was expecting a survival book or an adventure book. Nope.