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In a Nutshell: Post-apocalyptic/military novella
Lately I've read some of a post apocalyptic series concentrating on the survival aspect, and a novella that I'd class nearer the horror end of the genre; Tread:Fallen Nation, however, is military-orientated. All of these books have one aspect in common: the effect of a global disaster on the people.
The main character in this book is Evan, a soldier back from the Middle East who finds his country in meltdown after a mysterious virus has devastated the land. The US is, in effect, in civil war. Evan is already disillusioned about the ethics of some of the military, and war itself, and becomes more so as his new tasks are laid out before him.
I knew nothing of the author's background until I read the notes at the end, but it was clear he comes from a similar background to Evan; the details, not only about the weaponry but also the practices, are most convincing, at the same time as being written so that a layperson can understand. I liked, too, that he destroyed certain myths about the effects of an EMP, which has probably spoiled me for books of this genre that involve such things!
'Hell, the whole idea of electromagnetic pulse or nuclear detonation permanently damaging electrical systems and communications is just garbage. Just sayin'; this ain't the movies'
He has a cool writing style, perfect for the subject matter, and I was particularly impressed by the dialogue, which struck just the right chord. He delivered a good atmosphere of bleakness, using few words.
'Evan rounded the rocky outcropping and found a man in dirtied clothes, his face covered by a white and black shemagh, hunkering down against the boulders as though clinging for dear life. In the insurgent's eyes ... no, the man's, not the animal he'd been conditioned to see them as, he found only fear.'
I felt it could do with a final round of copy-editing to iron out minor proofreading errors and add a bit of clarity here and there, but I'm one of those people who winces at misplaced commas, and it is far better presented than many self-published books of the genre. I would definitely recommend it to any fans of military-oriented post apocalyptic stories.
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