A NATIONAL BESTSELLER!!
Elle is a survivor. Since the collapse of modern society, she's been living in the remains of downtown Hollywood, California, foraging for food and fighting for her life. And then everything changes. After she is forced out of her home, she heads north. What she finds is a group of bunker survivors, unlikely comrades, and the hope of a safe haven. Together, they journey toward the dregs of civilization, facing starvation, imprisonment and death. They are alone, but they are ready. Day Zero begins today.
A novella, the first installment in The Zero Trilogy, a novella series complementing the international bestselling Collapse Series.
I received this book for free from Author Gifted in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Find the Author: Website, Twitter, Goodreads
Day Zero by Summer Lane is a story of perseverance, attitude, conquering your fears, and growing both physically and mentally when set against the worst that humankind can throw at you. All of that is wrapped up in a young girl who finds herself alone at the end of the world, trying to survive in a city that is too big for her, against enemies that outnumber her.
When the world ends, where will you be? who will you be with? Will you be alone or with family and/or friends? For Elle it was leaving her family behind to leave with an aunt and uncle. When she realized that her mother and father were not following her, she returned to the city to find them. What she found instead was bands of individuals who would like nothing more than to use her for their own benefit.
What she finds on one of her foraging trips is may be seen as a testament to the strength of man, or for Elle, a possible hindrance to staying hidden, and alone in Hollywood. When she is forced to make a decision regarding her new found associates, will she choose the one that will allow her to be safe, or the one that puts her back in the den of the enemy to save someone she barely knows. Her decisions are paramount to not only her survival but the survival of those who unknowingly are thrown into her past and her future.
After burning the last remaining bridges she has in Hollywood, Elle and her new found friends must decide what they are going to do now that they are homeless, foodless, waterless, and on the run from some very bad guys. Elle to her benefit is a strong female character who is both lucky and destined to have something bad happen to her, becomes the pseudo leader and decides the best course of action may also put everyone in mortal danger, I mean more mortal danger than they already are on a daily basis living at the end of the world.
Like I said before, Elle is your typical teenager, who knows gymnastics and martial arts, I mean she did live in Hollywood, so I assume that her parents had some money that allowed her those extra-curricula activities. Where she is not a normal teenager is that when the infrastructure went south, she did not bemoan the loss of technology. I would be bemoaning the loss greatly, and I am an adult, or at least I pretend I am. We all have to have our vices don’t we? The question that I have after finishing this book is two fold. First, where is the second one because you can’t drop a bomb and then sit back there and laugh. Yes I am looking at you Summer. Second, it got me thinking, would I survive? How would I handle the end of the world, could I still find chips? You know the important things.
Overall this is a good book, with a strong female character, the right amount of conversation to narration, and a strong plot that is driving primarily through the entire book. I enjoyed it, enough to read the second one and maybe even the third, depending on how the second one ends. Yes I am looking at you Ms. Summer 🙂
About Summer Lane
Summer Lane is the #1 Bestselling Author of the Collapse Series, which currently includes State of Emergency, State of Chaos, State of Rebellion, State of Pursuit, State of Alliance, State of Vengeance, State of Destruction and the upcoming State of Fear in June 2016. She is also the author of the # 1 Bestselling adventures of the Zero Trilogy, Day Zero, Day One and End of Day.
She authored Collapse: The Illustrated Guide, a #1 Bestselling graphic companion to her original series.
She owns WB Publishing, a digital publishing house devoted to releasing exciting adventure and survival stories.
Summer is also the founder of Writing Belle, an online magazine dedicated to the art of storytelling. She is a consultant, creative writing teacher and journalist. Check out Writing Belle for interviews with upcoming authors and insights into the world of publishing! http://writingbelle.com/
