The Wanderer

by David Anderson

What would you do if you were all alone with everywhere to go?

If you were the only apparent survivor of a ravenous global pandemic, what would you do to get through each day and preserve your sanity?

A single survivor wanders a godforsaken landscape. It has been five long years since his life was turned on its head, but against all odds he continues to cling to life.

Every day since the plague has been a battle for survival. With no family and no companion he wanders the empty streets of his desolate home town as a way to pass the lonely days, his familiar surroundings his only reminder of a more normal time. By sticking with little deviation to a daily routine he attempts to retard the erosion of his sanity.

Growing used to his new existence, and never expecting change, how would he react if he knew that, just around the corner, another life-shattering change awaits him?

318 pages, Paperback

First published January 20, 2013

About the author

David Anderson has enjoyed writing from an early age. One of his proudest moments in a life bereft of highlights was receiving a 99% score in his creative writing coursework at secondary school in 2000. From then on his life goal was to become an author of some sort. It has taken a mere ten years for him to write something else worthwhile.

David has always had an interest in the horror genre and would like to think his writing style is somewhat similar to that of his idol, a certain Stephen King. The only way to find out if you agree would involve buying all of his work and forming your own opinion.

David enjoys travelling and has visited and lived in numerous exotic locations including Japan, Hawaii, Guam and Wales. He is currently in his early forties and is back living in Sunderland after an ill-fated spell in Mandalay, Myanmar.

Reviews

[Phyllis H. Pajka · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an absolutely amazing book. What would you do if you were the only person left in the U.S.? And this person is a kid. You won't want to put it down and you'll be surprised at how this kid get along and lives his life. Give it a try, I think you'll like it a lot.

[Andy Bryant · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had so wanted to enjoy this book as the blurb made it sound like a really original idea - someone who deals with being alone following an extinction event by sticking to a normal routine to stave off madness. Most protagonists in post-apocalyptic fiction end up trying to save the world (see First Activation), so this was a really unique - and far more plausible - idea.

But in truth I didn't really enjoy it. For the first half of the book it was a one star read for me - I felt it was over-long and the events could have been better covered in a handful of chapters if the narrative (too verbose at times) had been more tightly controlled. There were also many details about the main character that just didn't ring true (turning taps on and off even five years after the water went off?), and for me the author has fallen over himself to explain absolutely everything, which leaves the reader no room to speculate and use their own imagination to draw themselves into the story.

It's therefore very one sided, you're being spoon fed rather than being asked to think, which I personally never like in fiction. If you can learn one thing from The Road - McCarthy's book that the author was clearly inspired by - it's that less is more, and readers don't need absolutely every detail or there's no room for their own imagination to help the story evolve.

Half way through the book something happens (not going to give anything away here) which does rescue the story to some extent, and the second half of the book moves along with far more purpose. Some of the sequences are genuinely terrifying and very well depicted by the author, who had reigned in the bombastic urge in favour of a far more taut writing style.

But whilst I was glad I stuck with it to the end (I kind of liked the last chapter and the way the story ended), I'm afraid for me the damage was done in the first half of the book.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a different take on the destruction of humanity. Most portray the remaining humans banding together to rebuild, this was a sadder, more scary version. Although the main character was a sad frightened boy, you really were hoping his future would improve. I got quite invested in the characters and plot, to the point where I had to stop reading one sequence in the tea room at work because I didn’t like where the plot was going and didn’t want to cry or rage in front of my work colleagues! I couldn’t put it down in the end. While it’s not a fun story it is a great read.

[jospeh jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disappointing ending!

Up until the end of this book, I enjoyed reading it! All in all, I do think it's worth the !

[David Lillico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little story, atmospheric but simple day in the life view in post apocalypse world

[Bernadette Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, though I did not expect to. I had read a review that wasn't all that complimentary that stated the book was slow and overly explained. While I did find it slow to start and I have to agree that the author went to great lengths to explain every little detail and yes, in my opinion he was overly descriptive of everything, I don't necessarily think that is a bad thing, not when he created such an interesting plot and had me intrigued and actually caring for the protagonist. The Wanderer is a story of a boy, left wandering a country devastated after it is hit by a plague that kills almost everyone off. It's 5 years later and its easy to believe he is the only person left alive on earth.
There is not a lot of action from start to finish and its not a massively fast paced story but its a good one. I grew to care about the boy, found myself rooting for him, and despite the slow start, couldn't wait to pick up the book as soon as I could because I really wanted to know what would happen next.

[Suleman Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would like to give it a 3.5 but it was just missing something. The main protagonist was really interesting and gave a fascinating insight into how a young minds would cope with a post apocalyptic world.

[Nigel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gave up a third of the way through after nothing much had happened. Don't know why the author was so intent on not naming a single town or for that matter the main protagonist. I suppose it was show that that issues transcended territories and people, but only resulted in being very annoying.

[Lovesmeabook Meaden · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure about this book. It's fairly well written, cleverly descriptive etc. It was just hard work! I became bored in places and skimmed. Saying that I think maybe it's a good book, but just not my cup of tea?

[Brenda Kennedy]

The book allowed me to step into the wanderers shoes and live along thru each chapter..powerful book!