Horizon, an Aftertime Novel
Mar 22, 2012
Horizon
Author: Sophie Littlefield
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Luna; Original edition (January 24, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0373803427
ISBN-13: 978-0373803422
This is book 3 in the very popular Aftertime novels. I'm told this is the final book in the series, but there's room left for more if Sophie should change her mind.
As a quick recap to the entire series, the story is set about 10 years in the future after a world war in which bio-agents were used to kill everyone's food supplies. Animals and plants dropped like flies. The entire world was starving.
The US government developed a plant, Kaysev, which could be grown anywhere and was not only hardy, but extremely nutritious. They began dropping these seeds all over the United States. But some of the seeds mutated, giving anyone who ate it a strange fever, a super-strong immune system if they lived.. and unfortunately, cannibalistic tendencies. By the time anyone figured out what was going on... the zombies were loose!
Now in this third book, our heroin, Cass - who has overcome drug addiction, sexual abuse, alcoholism and ...so far... the zombies - is still on her quest to find love, happiness and perhaps a new life over the Rocky Mountains. Cass is also special in the fact that she is immune to the Blueleaf virus and has survived being bitten by a zombie. This makes her take more chances with her life than she might otherwise.
She finds some short term security on an island off the coast of California until the Beaters (zombies) finally figure out how to swim. The story turns into another race against time, zombies and other humans to find another safe spot to raise her child.
Cass and her gang, including two lovers - Smoke and Dor, fight for their lives and attempt to make it to the mountains - the rumor is that the zombie-making plants never made it past the mountains and that life is normal on the other side.
Smoke had been in a coma for weeks now and Cass has stopped fighting her attraction to Dor, who has become a comfort to her as she slowly falls off the wagon and back into a bottle. (With all those zombies around so would I!) After Smoke wakes up and everyone flees the island in front of yet another zombie rampage, decisions must be made, dark secrets are found out, zombies attack many and it's hard to tell at times which side the humans they run into are actually on.
Toward the end of the book Smoke lets Cass in on a secret that could easily make the entire world hate him if it got out. The question is.....will Cass now hate him?
The story has plenty of action, plenty of zombie killing and just enough lust to keep you engrossed through the entire story.
I do highly suggest you read the first two books in the series first - there's a lot of background information that's very helpful to making the story flow easily. You could find yourself floundering a bit if you don't have the previous story tucked away in your mind's back closet.
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Reviewed by Idgie. If you would like to have the Dew review a book, please contact me at dewonthekudzu@gmail.com
