WWIV - In The Beginning by E.A. Lake: Review

I have to admit I love a good dystopia set novel - of course many include far flung settings, where odd creatures roam and the landscape is barely recognizable from what we know around us today, but they ones that get me are the ones where nothing much has changed, the ones where you could almost see it happening at any moment to you and that is the section of dystopia novels WWIV fits into.

WWIV In The Beginning follows an ordinary man; Bill Carlson - who could be anyone, your next door neighbour, your teacher, even your father, through the first 30 days of this change; a change that sees all the electronics fail and with it the community start to fall apart.

Bill has been separated from his family, his wife and two children who had gone away to stay with their grandparents, his wife should have been out on the road on the way home when everything ceased working, but the children they should be safe at least. 

He is a positive guy by nature and spends the first days waiting for everything to be sorted, for things to come back on, but quickly society begins to break down, the town hall and police office are shut, only a taped message gives an idea that someone has been around since it all happened, the local shop has hiked its prices and those are just the first signs - it's not long before violence spills onto the streets and Bill knows it is time to leave - time to find his family. 

The first part of the book, sees Bill being a very homely man, he is the strength of his community, he keeps the positive thoughts running through everyone, when even inside he perhaps doesn't feel it so much himself, while the second half sees him out on the road, struggling to get to his family. 

Personally I love the journey part of this book, I loved the fact that even though he was being subjected to how quickly humans have changed and let themselves do things they would never have done in a more civilized society, he is strong willed and willing to help anyone who may need it, no matter how it may set him back on his own way. 

Unlike some debut novels I have come across, this book quickly drew me in and made me feel like I cared about the characters involved - I wanted them to be ok; to survive through the desolate landscape that had thrust upon them.  

I completely recommend this book and I cannot wait to get stuck into the next one in the series and find out what it happening to other people, surviving through WWIV.

 ABOUT THE BOOK

What will we do when suddenly our power, our phones, and our cars don't work? What will we do when we realize our government is missing and we have no protection; no police, no national guard? What will we do when our food runs out or spoils, and fresh water becomes scarce? What will we do when we realize we are completely and undeniably on our own? What could possibly happen next? 

What happens when IT happens? 

Follow an ordinary man, Bill Carlson, through the first 30 days of the ensuing uncertainty. From his once quiet, now violent, St. Paul suburb; to the empty, and yet deadly, county roads of west central Wisconsin. 

With limited knowledge of prepping, Bill must rely on neighbors for help. Why did he never pay attention to his “crazy doomsday” neighbor Scott? Now that the world, at least his world, is dark, Bill has so many questions. How can he possibly survive in this dark dystopian world? 

Bill goes in search of his family, and finds so much more. Friendly people in small towns, other villages that allow no strangers, people searching for help, and people looking to take anything you might have – via any means. 

Will Bill find his family, some 300 miles away? Will the power come back on after mysteriously going out? Will he be able to help others in times of need, much less himself? 

WWIV has begun, and we’re only In The Beginning. 

PURCHASE THE BOOK

Amazon - Kindle

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

EA's Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

I write dystopian. It's dark, yet fun to play with. WWIV - In The Beginning is my debut novel. Trying to get this junk in my head, down on pages. Those pages become chapters. The chapters become a manuscript. The manuscript becomes a novel. Sounds easy enough.

I am an author and my pen name is e a lake. The e and the a mean nothing. So please just call me lake.

Not everything in dystopian writing has to be dark and dreary. I try to create post -apocalyptic situations that will challenge the reader to really believe that the events in my novels could happen.

The best part of my genre? Who needs antagonists when the landscape surrounding my protagonist is so bad. You just have to love this stuff.

My favorites are the usual list of suspects. Orwell, Bradbury, Stephen King, Vince Flynn, and James Patterson.

I'm not all that scary. Father to three, grandfather to two (three in April 2014). Just a regular guy.

This tour was hosted by Worldwind Virtual Book Tours

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