Title: Surviving Anarchy
Series: Dark Nation
Author: Grace Hamilton
Publisher: Relay Publishing
Genre: Post Apocalyptic, EMP, Sci-Fi
Release Date: 13/04/2022
BLURB from Goodreads
The world is broken. And it can’t be fixed…
Before an EMP blast shattered her world, Molly was a high school English teacher. Now, she’s responsible for keeping five teens, four adults, and a dog safe in a world where the bad guys are out to get them. It’s time to retreat and they head out to her family’s cabin deep in the Maine woods where they can be safe. But when they arrive, it’s clear that someone has been there.
Fixing the cabin may be more than the group was prepared for. Winter is coming and there’s food to gather, wood to chop, they need to find a reliable source of water, and the cabin needs to be winterized. Still, it’s their best chance for survival…
But Molly and her charges can't hide forever. Diego Cruz wants his daughter back no matter what, and there’s stories that the woods around town are haunted by the bogeyman who is none other than Victor Fox, a former prison guard. Diego wants Jenna back and Victor wants that fugitive Molly is harboring, and they’re both willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their goals.
Molly knows that if they're going to survive, they need to choose their battles carefully. The old world is gone, and there’s no going back. But if they work together, a new world can rise from the chaos…
PURCHASE LINKS
Amazon US
Amazon UK
REVIEW
Once again, the cover does its job well, in that it would make me want to pick this book up from a book store shelf, or click on it online to learn more about the book. The cover has two of the female characters on it, possibly Scarlet and Jenna.
The “gang” have finally made their way back to each other and are making their way to Molly’s cabin in the woods. They hope it will be a safe haven in all the chaos the world has been in since the EMP. They are all tired and glad to be away from the Fairfield, all they want is a quiet life together, their own little self-sufficient community. Sadly, they have many hurdles to scale ahead, perhaps as many as they have defeated behind them. When they finally arrive at the cabin it seems Molly’s happy memories of the cabin and the condition, she thought it was in were perhaps viewed through rose coloured glasses. It soon becomes apparent that there’s a lot of work ahead to ensure they can survive the winter that is quickly approaching. It’s not long before the older people in the group start irritating each other. The cabin is far from wheelchair friendly Alex isn’t used to following directions from others and it seems to grate on him how much everyone seems to look to Molly & Colton when making decision. When Scarlett & Zack, then Erik and Jenna start to become romantically interested Alex adds this to his ever lengthening, list of why he thinks it would be better for him and his family find their own cabin. There are plenty available around them to be used. Laura tries her best to dissuade Alex, saying she likes them all being together and for a while it works. Supplies are found to build a lift contraption to enable Laura to have more independency getting in and out of Molly’s cabin. Laura argues now they have the “lift” it would be silly to move out. Alex seems appeased for now though he refuses to drop the idea of their own cabin, and insists on keeping an eye out for something suitable. The cabin soon becomes even more cramped and tension filled when an injured man is found and brought back to the cabin, where it is discovered, he has a bullet wound. Who has shot him and why? The group care for him and watch over him day and night. Mostly Zack (who still has an injury) and Laura & Argent as neither of them can do the other jobs just yet. The group share their meagre meals with him and give him precious pain medication and antibiotics when he needs them. Though he is grateful, he doesn’t want to reveal his past, as he thinks they will throw him out if he does. Eventually this man’s dead friend’s bodies are found and he has to come clean and reveal who he is and why he was shot at.
Back in Fairfield, those in the school is being run by an honest man at the helm. Diego Cruz has also been freed from his bunker full of supplies his daughter Jenna locked him in. It’s one of the Fairfield Prison Guards, Victor Fox that lets him out. They both decide to help each other. Victor needs some muscle to hunt down and either imprison or kill all those escaped convicts from the prison he used to work at. Victor enjoys feeling in charge, and important with his big folder full of photographs of the convicts and the crimes they committed. Victor enjoys ordering Diego’s men about, it makes him feel crucial to the new world that is being created. Though Victor thinks that he will receive great praise for his “work” when things become more normal. It’s this self-importance that has him forgetting his end of the deal he made with Diego. Diego’s men try to warn Victor, saying the boss won’t wait forever, and eventually the fact Victor is not fulfilling his bargain with Diego is filtered back to Diego himself. Diego confronts Victor and reminds him that whilst he is willing to offer his men to help Victor, in return Victor has to find his runaway daughter Jenna. When Victor tries to reason that its unlikely Jenna will come to harm with Molly and her friends, Diego rapidly loses his patience and demands Victor find his daughter now!
I really liked all the “Scared Straight kids” and the adults that all ended up together at Molly’s cabin. Though Molly remained a strong favourite, the way she opened the cabin for everyone to use, she sacrificed treasured items for the benefit of the group. When things get tougher Molly looks around at her newly made family and tries to work to solve any issue that is thrown at her. Molly makes it perfectly clear she would lay down her own life for any of those children that have become family to her. Theres also a little bit of romance in Surviving Anarchy. There’s certainly something in the air with Zack & Scarlett, Erik & Jenna noticing each other and becoming closer too. But there is also a little romance left in this new world for Molly & Colton.
The one character that had me undecided in my opinion of him in this final installment was Alex, I could see his point of view about having a separate base for him, Laura and their two teenage children. A place that all rooms would be more accessible for Laura in her wheelchair did make perfect sense and there were times I thought the whole group may move on to a bigger more appropriate cabin. I think it was the way Alex silently simmered and then just blurted out they were leaving. His final straw being the lift that gave Laura some independence ending up being broken when it was used to lift materials to quickly mend the cabin roof. Alex really didn’t like being one of the adults, he wanted to be the adult in charge, which he could be away from the others. I think Surviving Anarchy showed the reader a different side to Alex.
My immediate thoughts upon finishing reading this book were, that I had really enjoyed reading this series, I thoroughly enjoyed loving & hating the different characters in equal measure.
Summing up, the Dark Nation series along with other books/series written by this author are so believable, with 'normal' easily relatable people in them. The world building is great, and described so well you can visualise it and the plot is so interesting on multiple levels, it really is hard to put down!
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