Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: Aftermath
SERIES: Operation Wasteland #1
AUTHOR: Azalea Moone
PUBLISHER: Evernight Publishing
LENGTH: 83 pages
RELEASE DATE: December 10, 2015
BLURB:
After a great disaster that killed millions, the world turned a sweltering, deserted wasteland. Ten years later, hybrid droid Randy Hawkins is starting his fifth rescue mission for the Rescue and Reconnaissance Unit. In search for survivors, his assignment takes him further south into America than he’s been before, wondering if anyone would still be alive in this desolate tract.
Someone is, and meeting lone survivor Preston turns his resolve upside down. Preston is a caretaker of his own group, keeping them alive no matter what, just like a strong, brave, and gorgeous leader would. Now Randy must decide: follow his mission strategy and persuade Preston to come back with him, or fall dangerously in love with the man, despite the chaos looming ahead.
REVIEW:
Searching for survivors in the dessert wasteland that used to be the southern United States isn’t easy but someone has to do it. Currently, that job falls to Randy, a human taken by the military and fitted with cybernetic implants to help him do his job. What seems to be a simple search and rescue mission, however, becomes more complicated when Randy finds himself the one in need of help. Preston has survived on his own for years, working to fulfill a promise that is becoming harder and harder to keep. While determined to remain in the south, the difficulty of his task and the lure of an easier life for his charges is tempting; the lure of Randy is even more so. When rescue comes will Preston give up the life he knows for the unexpected or will he give up the one person that seems to make life worth living?
I love post-apocalyptic media; books, movies, video games, you name it and I am aaaallll over it. One of the most important things about an apocalypse book, in my opinion, is the believability. While you don’t actually find out what cause the apocalypse in this book, the setting and difficulties faced by the survivors was totally believable and I had no trouble delving into the world within the pages. The author’s writing allowed me to easily imagine what I was reading about and while the beginning seemed a little choppy as far as sentence structure was concerned, it quickly evened out into an easy, enjoyable read.
Randy was interesting; you don’t find out a great many details about him but what he does say nonetheless allowed me enough insight into his character to figure out what makes him tick. Preston was easier to figure out as his entire existence seems to revolve around keeping a small group of refugees alive. This isn’t an extremely happy story and it isn’t meant to be. There’s death here (all off screen and in one instance, a child) that serves to illustrate just how harsh living there is and while there is some source of happiness and connection between the two main characters, it is by no means a fairytale ending. What the story lacks in perfect endings, however, it makes up for in the hope and new beginning awaiting both Preston and Randy. The story was definitely a happy for now but there is plenty of room to work towards that happily ever after in future books and this was a solid beginning. I liked it and look forward to seeing where the story goes from here.
RATING:
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