Title: Edge Of Madness
Series: Edge Of Collapse
Author: Kyla Stone
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic, EMP, Thriller
Release Date: 7th March 2020
BLURB from Goodreads
A devastating EMP. No
power. No communication. And no help...
On the five-year anniversary of his wife Hannah's disappearance, small-town deputy Noah Sheridan takes his young son Milo to a local ski resort for some much needed father-son time.
In a blink, the power grid goes out. So do the resort's brand new generators. Noah and Milo find themselves trapped on a chairlift thirty feet above the ground.
Help is not on the way. Night is coming, and with it the killing cold. Getting down before hypothermia sets in is only the beginning...
When an impending blizzard cuts off the town from the rest of civilization, it'll take everything Noah has to keep his family and friends alive. The only things more dangerous than mother nature's wrath are the desperate people willing to do anything to survive.
On the five-year anniversary of his wife Hannah's disappearance, small-town deputy Noah Sheridan takes his young son Milo to a local ski resort for some much needed father-son time.
In a blink, the power grid goes out. So do the resort's brand new generators. Noah and Milo find themselves trapped on a chairlift thirty feet above the ground.
Help is not on the way. Night is coming, and with it the killing cold. Getting down before hypothermia sets in is only the beginning...
When an impending blizzard cuts off the town from the rest of civilization, it'll take everything Noah has to keep his family and friends alive. The only things more dangerous than mother nature's wrath are the desperate people willing to do anything to survive.
PURCHASE LINKS
REVIEW
I
was looking forward to reading this one after really enjoying the prequel and
bk1 Edge Of Collapse too. I knew this one was going to be introducing and
following the new characters of Noah & Milo, the husband and son of Hannah
who is featured in Edge Of Collapse.
I
really like the cover which is depicting a scene from within the book, of
police officer, Noah holding his 8 year old son, Milo’s hand in one hand and a
rifle in his other hand. It also shows the awful snowy weather conditions that
are occurring throughout the book too. The cover does its job well, it makes
you want to know more about the characters featured. The genres I have seen
listed for this book are Sci-fi, Post-Apocalyptic and Thriller which describe
the book well.
The
book is told from the point of view of Quinn, Noah and Octavia. Noah is
Hannah’s husband and is still grieving the disappearance of his wife, though he
tries to hide it for the sake of their 8 year old son Milo. Milo has Addison’s
Disease which can be exacerbated by stress so could quickly become a problem
because of the world they are now living in. Since the power grid has gone off.
With no communication there will be no trucks delivering the medication Milo
needs to lead a fairly normal life. The book begins with Noah talking to a
police colleague and close friend Julian about a body he has just found. Julian
is explaining that Chief Briggs is calling everyone into work on Christmas Eve
for this job. Noah usually takes Christmas Eve off to spend time with his son
Milo, to keep their minds off the anniversary of the disappearance of Hannah.
Before going and sorting a sitter for the now disappointed to be going home
Milo, Noah says they can ride the “rocket launcher” ski lift up the new ski
slope, though they will not be skiing the intermediate slope, they will ride
the lift back down too. It’s whilst they are in the air on the ski lift that
the power grid goes off! Stranding Noah, Milo and the others on the lift up in
the air. Noah tries to keep everyone calm, talking to the others riding the
lift. There are a young couple called Brock and Phoebe, and a teen girl Quinn
with her grandfather too. It soon becomes apparent that someone needs to get
down off the lift and find a way to help the others stranded quickly when
Quinn’s grandfather’s pacemaker stops working and the stress causes him to
become very ill, very quickly.
Later
the book deals with how Falls Creek copes with the prospect of no more supplies
of any kind, and no government help on the way to help with their situation.
The residents of Fall Creek struggle with heating their homes and food supplies
pretty quickly. Though the local high school is opened as a centre for people
to stay in and a local church has food supplies that they are handing out to
help people too. Sadly, we see the worst of people in a rapidly worsening
situation.
Quinn’s
mother Octavia isn’t a great person to be around at the best of times as she is
a drug addict who thinks of her next fix and her no good, violent boyfriend Ray
Schultz before her own daughter. Quinn spends a lot of time at her grandparents
who are more like parents to her and being at the Bittersweet Ski Resort is a
treat with her Grandfather for her sixteenth birthday, that day. When things
get tough Octavia plans on taking whatever she wants and needs from Quinn’s
grandparents and when Quinn stands up to Octavia and Ray, things become violent
quickly.
Noah
has to juggle caring for his son, Milo and keeping track of his medication as
well as the increasing pressure on the small police force in Fall Creek. His
best friend and colleague, Julian’s mother Rosamund, is the Town Superintendent
and she tries to co-ordinate help for those in need whilst worrying about her
older son who has not made to Fall Creek yet. Some of Rosamund’s suggestions
are not so popular to begin with but she is trying her best to come up with
solutions to the problems her community is facing.
I
soon became attached to the character of Quinn, who is going along with her
birthday treat despite not being really into it. She knows her grandfather is
trying his best and for Quinn the real treat is the time she is spending with
him. Quinn knows she is lucky to have such caring grandparents and appreciates
the fact she can turn up at their house anytime she needs to escape her mother
Octavia her latest boyfriend Ray. Quinn has her own bedroom at her grandparents
and knows she is always welcome there. The skills Quinn’s grandparents have
taught her such as survival skills, and hunting skills will soon come in very
useful. Quinn is a quiet, yet strong resourceful character. What starts out as
Quinn babysitting Milo soon turns into a job for Quinn caring for three
children in exchange for earning some food and supplies for her and her
grandmother.
One
character I am a little undecided on whether he is “good or bad” is Julian, he
seems to have a temper and comes across quite arrogant, moody and prone to maybe
violent outbursts a few times within the book. He seems to want to do the best
for the community of Fall Creek and isn’t afraid of perhaps straying into a
grey area to do that rather than only upholding the exact rules of the law. I hope
we have more to come from this character in the future books. This may sound a
little cryptic but it will be interesting to see who he would choose to side
with, his half brother or best friend who is like a brother.
My
immediate thoughts were that I really enjoyed this story, even though it did not
contain the same characters that were in Edge Of Collapse. This book has left
me wondering if half-brothers Gavin & Julian are more alike than perhaps I
first thought. Or does the apple not fall from the tree with Gavin taking after
his mother Rosamund maybe? Who is the mystery person whose actions have
devastating consequences?
To
sum up I could honestly go on and on about this book and this series so far, but
I am trying so hard not to give any spoilers or hint at anything. (Sorry for
being vague, but you will understand when you read the book) You need to read
this book, as I did! I did not want to put it down. This is the third book by
Kyla Stone that I have read and I certainly intend on trying some of her other
series as well as continuing to read this series.
No comments:
Post a Comment