Title: Cascadia Rising
Series: The Unraveling
Author: Kevin Craver
Genre: Post Apocalyptic, Survival
Release Date: 15th July 2024
BLURB
A new nation rises from the ashes ...
The survivors called it the Unraveling—a merciless one-two punch of economic collapse and pandemic flu that brought the United States, and the world, to its knees.
With rioting and plague ravaging Seattle and the state capital of Olympia, Senator Rebecca Stevenson flees with her only daughter to take shelter at a friend’s survival retreat in rural eastern Washington. But when a despotic governor seeking to reimpose order through tyranny deems Rebecca a threat and targets her for death, the senator finds herself thrust into leading a rebellion.
As states secede from a shattered Union, renegade Army captain Demetrius Mathers and a team of former Special Forces soldiers help Rebecca raise a ragtag army to break eastern Washington free of Olympia’s yoke and create the new nation of Cascadia. But with time and supplies running out, Rebecca and Demetrius must launch an audacious, all-or-nothing final battle to win Cascadia its independence—and save Rebecca’s daughter from the governor’s clutches.
REVIEW
As soon as I heard about Cascadia Rising I knew I wanted to read it. After reading Big Sky Fallen I couldn’t wait to read more set in the same world. I also wanted to see how the characters in Big Sky Fallen would incorporate into Cascadia Rising.
Cascadia Rising is set within the same world, time and setting as bk1 Big Sky Fallen. It covers the collapse of society in a different geographical area than Big Sky Fallen was set. There is some overlap with some of the characters from Big Sky Fallen being mentioned or appearing in this book too but there are lots of new characters introduced in Cascadia Rising, all with their own back stories, familial connections and issues to deal with.
I enjoy the way the book is split into parts and then those parts into the individual chapters that are presented with their location headings. Though to begin with you may panic thinking how can you retain the information because it's about so many different locations and so many additional people you do soon get into the rhythm of the book and how its flows and then you really hate having to put it down.
When the rioting and pandemic begins to get out of hand, on the advice of friend and colleague, single mum, Senator Rebecca Stevenson and her daughter Carleigh head to James Rands more isolated and self-sufficient summer home/survival retreat. They join James, his family and extended group of ex-special forces soldiers. They hope to find safety there and learn to live with how the world has changed.
Governor Alicia Embrey is becoming more and more out of hand imposing her whims and wants on everyone else and using what is left of the armed forces to do it. When Governor Embrey perceives Senator Rebecca Stevenson as a threat, she will stop at nothing to get rid of her, even targeting her daughter to get to the Senator. With her own life and her only daughters too, Rebecca makes a stand and ends up being the figurehead/leader of a rebellion. Rebecca’s “army” consists of ex-military, those wanting to leaving the military such as Captain Demetrius Mathers and civilians such as Jed with little left to lose. When all the little pockets of rebellion come together, they become a force to be reckoned with.
I think there’s a character within the book that everyone can identify with on some level. I can definitely relate to Senator Rebecca Stevenson when her daughter is targeted as a way to get at her. I loved her relationship with Captain Demetrius Mather and found it hilarious that he had ordered all his soldiers to be totally respectful around Carleigh, yet Carleigh was oblivious and wondered why none of the soldiers wanted to be chatty, flirty or friendly with her. I felt so sorry for Jed losing his family to the pandemic, but then reunites with some family prior to the big battle and ends up being a hero.
Characters I loved were Senator Rebecca Stevenson, Carleigh Stevenson, Alexandra Chase, Captain Demetrius Mather, Sergeant Tom Ngo, Specialist Allie Monaghan, and Lieutenant Callie Harmon. There are so many more great characters that I grew to love that I could mention. I also thoroughly enjoyed “hating” Governor Alicia Embrey and those around her.
Cascadia Rising is an action packed, eventful book that takes you on a journey with all the characters, their individual experiences and their emotions. There is military jargon & tactics, politics, underhand officials out for themselves and 'normal' civilians prepared to give their life for the greater good. Reading the book takes you through a whole range of emotions, laughing at military jokes and pop culture/movie references one minute then in tears the next minute at the potential loss, or dramatic loss of a much-loved character. I really love the equality of the sexes in the book, how there are both strong male and female characters within the book.
I feel like I could go on talking about this book forever, so I'm going to stop now before I reveal any major spoilers.
I'm already thinking about what/who could be in the next book, I really hope a certain “rather large character” has his story continue in the next book! I definitely recommend this book series, especially if you read Kyla Stone, Steven Konkoly, Jeff W. Horton and Grace Hamilton etc.
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