Title: Rising Anarchy
Series: Dark Nation
Author: Grace Hamilton
Release Date: 13th March 2024
BLURB
When the entire world collapses, there is no escape…
When an EMP ends life on Earth as she knows it, Deb is lucky enough to fall in with a group of hardworking survivors… or so she thinks. But her good fortune quickly turns into a nightmare, and soon her only goal is to escape. But can she keep herself and her friends from being captured by Mike, and dragged back to his group of human traffickers?
Deb reluctantly takes the mantle of leadership, and it falls to her to make the tough decisions. The harsh terrain and weather are merciless. A single mistake could lead to people getting hurt, or worse. And Mike’s traffickers are a constant threat.
Their only hope of survival may come down to the kindness of others. But Deb has been betrayed before. Is it possible there really are people willing to help?
And can Deb let her guard down enough to trust them?
REVIEW
The book cover fits really well with the rest of the series so far and would certainly make me pick it up from the book store shelf.
In this book we meet new characters who are also dealing with the new post-apocalyptic world. The main characters are Deb, Carole, Bobbi, Jonah and Trevor, all of which are living under the heavy, iron rule of Mike. Whilst Mike and one of his trusted guards Marie are away scouting ahead for an exchange of “work force” with a different group of survivors. Mike plans to get rid of some of his more troublesome workers, the ones who speak back to him such as Deb. The same Deb who hangs around with Carol who is pregnant with Mike’s baby. Mike knows that if he gets rid of Deb and a few of the other “workers” he has, that the others including Carol will fall into line. Deb and a few of the others, Carol, Bobbi, Trevor and Jonah have been planning on attempting to escape together when the time was right.
With Mike and Marie away, and the worker trade imminent it seems like there is little choice for Deb and her small band of friends but to make a bid for freedom now.
Deb uses some Jack Daniels she and Jonah had found and hidden for this purpose. Deb adds some valerian root herbs to the Jack Daniels and when everyone is settling down for the night Carol & Bobbi who are friendly with some of the guards bring out the bottle of Jack Daniels to generously share with the guards. When Trevor finally sends out the blue jay bird call sign they know it is time to go. A lot of the other “workers” also decide to take the opportunity to flee from Mike. At first Deb and her small group think this is great and will work in their favour because when Mike gets back there will be so many trails to follow, he will not know which one they took. It soon becomes apparent all the other escapees are looking towards Deb as some sort of new leader and all want to follow her and her group making a large heavy trail for Mike to follow. Debs had been prepared for their small group of five and she ended up with a group for fifty!! Bobbi asks Deb to speak to the others that have escaped to explain why they are taking the route they are etc but Debs snaps at Bobbi and explains that she planned the escape for two reasons, the first to get away from Mike before he traded them to another workforce and second to get Carol and her baby away from Mike. Deb flatly refuses to take charge. People complain about the harsh terrain of the route that Deb is taking, so she tells them she is not leading them anywhere, they are free to go whichever way and wherever they want. Some people break off taking an easier escape route but Deb is still left with a larger amount of people than she is comfortable with. Such a large number of people mean that they leave more of a trail, make more noise and are generally easier to find.
Of course, when Mike and Marie return to camp, Mike is fuming to see the majority of his workforce, including the ones he wanted to trade gone and his guards still laid around recovering from the after affects of Jack Daniels laced with valerian root. He immediately blames Deb when he discovers that Carol has gone and resolves to get Carol back and to sort out Debs once and for all.
The book then follows the dangers the group come across and how it dwindles. They have some tough decisions to make along the way especially when one of the main group is trapped and Mike is close by, should they attempt to rescue him and try to escape with him even though it will slow them down and possibly result in them being caught, or leave him for Mike to rescue and take what little head start they have.
I started reading this one thinking I was going to be catching up with Molly, Colton, Laura and the other characters I had already met, but they do not appear in this book. Though it is set in the same world and post-apocalyptic conditions this book introduces us to new characters. As I was reading, I was wondering where the other characters from the previous books in the series were, which was a little irritating but then once I became pulled into the new characters stories and back grounds I was hooked. I did keep wondering if these new characters were somehow connected to the others ones from the previous book or if they would ever meet up. All is revealed in time though there are some little clues along the way.
This book had new characters trying to forge a life in the same harsh world as the previous books in the series. It has evil people aplenty and sadly once again it seems that the good people are in the minority. I can’t wait to read more set in this world, and hopefully revisit both sets of characters.
Summing up, I really enjoyed reading the book, it was really fast paced and there were parts that certainly kept you on the edge of your seat!
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