This book was seriously intense. Maybe its the aftermath of COVID that makes reading about deadly viruses that much more real and terrifying - but this one definitely left me feeling like the situation in the book was all too possible.

Franklin is a young man who falls on the autism spectrum. Shortly after his parents leave for a vacation in Puerto Rico, an engineered virus comes out of nowhere and kills almost all of the world's population. Franklin is pretty much in the dark about what has happened because of an ice storm that takes out the power and any access he had to the news. After a few weeks of being alone, he encounters the first other living person he's seen since his friend left his house the morning everything fell apart.

Patrick is a little older than Franklin and has a complicated and murky past. But he is intensely relieved to find another living person. He and Franklin quickly bond and find mutual attraction (which isn't something either of them have truly felt before).

Throughout the book - the characters deal with the extreme trauma of the situation - and all that comes with this sudden extinction level event. The story is entirely told from Franklin's perspective - which is skewed by his lack of understanding of other people's facial expressions and body language - not to mention his very black and white understanding of people and their words.

This book is part one of an overall story - it doesn't leave us on a cliffhanger per se - but we are left wondering what comes next and by the feeling of a broader danger lingering outside of the small community they are building.

This book is definitely for those who loved things like the Next 28 days, etc. It definitely produces some high anxiety moments!

I received this as an ARC from Netgalley, but these opinions are all my own

Wow! What a great beginning of a new series!
I really can't wait to read more about Franklin, Patrick and other residents of Paradise.

This is a super fast paced, post-apocalyptic story featuring a wide range of colorful characters. I wasn't sure if I'd be ready for a book about some serious epidemic right now, but it is really a good, enjoyable story.

I loved how the author chose Franklin, an autistic boy, as a main character, it made the story so much better ❤️(and also more dramatic and sometimes just simply hilarious). This book has it all - love, drama, comedy, horror (all those bodies just being there...), whatever You're looking for.
i was sucked into Franklin's world right from the start. It is written in a way that made me wonder what i would do if I was there.
The story is full of surprises and it's impossible to get bored.

I won't lie that i liked all characters, i didn't warm up to Loris or Emily (she's nuts), but i will miss Stan. Franklin and Patrick are adorable and i can't wait to read more about them, their life on the farm and to get to know new members of their little community.

* I was gifted an ARC of this book and this is my honest review #NetGalley *

Franklin is a young gay man on the autism spectrum. He’s never really outed himself, but he’s been told–by his one and only girlfriend–that he’s gay. He lives in rural Maine with his parents, who have left him alone for a week’s vacation to Puerto Rice. Franklin is weeks from turning 18, and his best friend, Tyler, is coming over to spend the weekend at his house. Tyler seems to want a physical relationship with Franklin, but Franklin’s issues with over-stimulation and touch aversion are an obstacle to Tyler’s lusty ideas.

Just before Tyler leaves the following morning, after a night that should have been awesome but was mainly uncomfortable and awkward, Franklin catches a new report of a deadly virus spreading from Asia. He gets the “shelter in place” warning and advises Tyler to stay with him, but Tyler’s too frustrated to stick around. And when the power goes out and his parents do not return, well, Franklin makes the best of it–for weeks. Until Patrick sees the smoke coming from his chimney and knocks on his door.

Patrick is a 21 y/o demisexual man whose spent the last three weeks watching nearly everyone in his small Maine town die. He holed up in the town library, which had some primitive living quarters in part of the original 200 year old structure. He’s shell-shocked and so happy to see another living person he’s in dire need of human physical contact–even if Franklin struggles with this at first. He also has the hard job of explaining to Franklin, who is a very literal person due to his autism, that the world is overwhelmingly devoid of humans, and that Tyler and his parents are likely dead, too. Their interactions are fraught with so much anxiety, but they each know they need to shelter together to make it through this nightmare.

Over the next several days Patrick and Franklin develop a camaraderie, and a budding attraction. It’s hard for both of them to connect emotionally and physically, but time and isolation help fuel their needs. And, they are respectful of one another, although Franklin really does not understand “gray ace” or “demisexual” as concepts, and that creates issues. Patrick continues to explain that he’s not usually attracted to anyone, but if he develops an emotional connection that he could become sexually attracted, and he’s starting to feel that way about Franklin, who is attracted to Patrick, but lacks the emotional-savvy to express himself in all the ways he might like. He gets overwhelmed, and when they meet others he’s afraid that Patrick might start feeling sexual to them, as well.

This story is really about communication and survival. Franklin and Patrick need to communicate with one another, but also with the few new people that they meet. They see new opportunities, and they have to weigh and discuss options, to ensure that they are going in a good direction–while also giving up the hopes of returning to any part of a ‘normal” pre-virus life. Allusions are made to the COVID crisis, and how that informed the populace to “shelter in place” in the opening scenes, maybe saving Franklin’s life. It’s unclear how the virus worked, or who would have been spared, but one thing is apparent: survivors are not going to have an easy go of things in this after-virus period. So many automated processes are going offline: water, sewage, electric, gas production. All the dead lay in heaps around the streets and towns. Food in stores is rotting, bringing forth swarms of scavengers and vermin. This was all well-detailed in Franklin’s precise, orderly point of view. I really loved how Franklin continued to use the skills he learned in therapy to help him cope with non-verbal cues, and context cues, to really demonstrate his empathy and help him cope better.

Patrick is a good guy with some dark secrets. Some of the folks they meet are wary of him for those reasons, though Franklin’s love for him grows to be strong and steady. They will not be separated–at least if Franklin can avoid that he will. Theses young men have some off-page sexual relations, where the focus is always on building their emotional bonds tighter. And, by finding new survivors, the stage is set for further stories, with a coalition of people growing in a stable living area–an old Shaker commune in the woods of Maine called “Paradise”. Franklin grows to be a leader there, his analytical brain facilitating learning how to operate the long range Ham radio equipment to connect with other survivors, as well as managing the livestock barn. He and Patrick seem to be front and center with the new civilization that’s growing up there, but there are shadows of marauders on the horizon, as well as natural predators returning to the area, now that people are no longer encroaching.

This is the beginning of a series, and I would definitely read on.