I love the way the characters were developed in this novel. I routed for mostly all of them to be okay in the end. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. However, most of them were able to successfully battle the force that was trying to kill them. Not my favorite type of subject, e.g. extra-terrestrials, paranormal, but I was fascinated by what could happen to the world if they truly existed.

Claire and her brother, Poe, were on a camping trip with their father. The one who is passed out drunk in front of the fire. Poe insists on going into the woods to explore and Claire reluctantly goes along even though it is pitch black and they have no idea where they are going.

In the next minute, the Montana woods explode. A blinding light and a pulse of energy knock them down the mountainside leaving them injured and not at all sure what has happened to them. Their father is screaming aliens and after that their mother divorces him and keeps Claire while their Dad keeps Poe.

Even apart they feel connected somehow. Something has happened to them and they both handle it by self-medicating and ignoring the whole thing. Until a tragedy occurs and Claire must return to Montana for answers.

This is a story of life and death. Near-death experiences taken to the next level. What does happen at the moment of death? And what happened to them as kids? The answers will blow your mind.

Always a pleasure to read Rice.

NetGalley/ : May 10th, 2022 Thomas & Mercer

I liked this book, but it was a different read for me. a little on the alien side. But I do, and always have, loved Christopher Rice's writing and his characters. I would read anything he writes.

"Evidence of the afterlife. And they'd all kept it a secret for ... how many years?" Decimate is an exploration of what happens when we die. Through an interesting tale of two children impacted by a mysterious blue pulse, and their father's subsequent attempts to be heard through the cover-up of what it was, the novel posits a theory of what happens to our consciousness when we die through the use of consciousnesses interrupted. It's a nicely contemporaneous novel, where disasters are live streamed: "Smartphones, devastating the world one instantly delivered tragedy at a time."

The two lead characters, Claire Huntley and Poe Huntley, are likeable and well developed. Poe is blunt about his recovery from the problematic use of non-prescription drugs: "I know this won't come as a shock to anyone, but I didn't have a drug problem for must of my life 'cause I was great at managing my feelings." His sister manages her life after the traumatic event with less self-awareness and prescription drug problem. Both of them must work together to get to the bottom of the mystery of what happened to them as children, and how it continues to affect them as adults. What they find out has ramifications for everyone: "the end of physical life might not be the end of human consciousness."

Decimate packs a lot in - it's fast-paced action, it's a little bit philosophical, it's got a psychopath where preexisting mental illness meets a traumatic brain injury inflicted as part of family violence, and it's got Nazis. Yeah OK, it stretches believeability but not in a such a terrible way I got annoyed with it. I quite liked reading it.

This was a book that I really wanted to enjoy, but the fantasy aspects of near-death experiences as written were not believable. Claire and Margot are a very likeable and well written characters, but the remaining characters are too much of the fantasy. I received an ARC from NetGalley, and the opinions expressed are my own.

This book was kind of like The Addams Family.. It's creepy and its kooky, mysterious... Ok you get the idea..

I am really torn with this book. There are things I liked, things I loved and things i didn't like at all. I think this review is going to be one of those where I just spill my thoughts and let you decide. I am not going to do any kind of synopsis because (a) the editor can do a better job than me and (b) I have NO idea how to summarize this book. (see first sentence of my review)

THE GOOD
The writing was excellent and you could just picture what was going on.
The world building was great. So much of this book required some real visualization and the author did a great job helping you along with that.
This book proposes a theory of what happens after death and it was really intriguing. I read this a week ago and still keep thinking of this idea he has..
I really liked the characters and got involved in each of their stories.
There were times you were not sure who was good versus bad, and then you realize maybe you don't know, because that's not really what this is about.
I kept the pages turning because I needed to know what was going on and what would happen next.

THE NOT-SO-GOOD (I wanted to do the good, the bad and the ugly, but wasn't sure what the difference was between the bad and the ugly)
I really got confused several times and would have to go back and figure out what was going on.
There were almost too many stories going on at the same time - the brother/sister history, the afterlife, the secret people who were protecting the forest, the bad guy, the current, the past... It was sometimes just too much. - like a brain overload...
It felt really long. I would sometimes feel like I was reading and reading and would look down and think "not even halfway - how is that possible?"

Overall, it was worth the read. The story was really good and I just love the concept. But buyer beware - this is a mind bending journey..

Thank you to the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review.

I'm still processing how I feel about this book.

There's lots of creepiness in true Rice (Christopher OR Anne) fashion, but the story goes back and forth between groups of people that has the reader trying to catch up and figure out what they're reading about.

If you're a fan of sci-fi creepiness, and keep track of lots of characters that are seemingly not connected, then you'll probably like the book.

This was outside my usual genre but I’m so glad I read it. Decimate will devil keep you captivated!

Book 107 of 2021 — thanks to @netgalley I got to read an advance copy of this coming Christopher Rice book. Poe, one part of the brother-sister main characters, is possibly by favorite Chris Rice character since Adam Murphy in Light Before day, a broken and beautiful piece of walking sarcasm. The news of Anne Rice’s passing while reading her son’s new book about afterlives was an irony that coloured the read. I hope the carnival of her memory deck is fully realized and that she has gone on to somewhere magical and wonderful. #gaybookstagram As for this book, it’s definitely worth picking up — a great cast of characters, flawed and molded, coming together and blooming towards the final confrontation

I liked this book. It had an intriguing concept, and it moved at a nice pace. I thought it was quite interesting to take near death experiences and try to apply some actual science to them. However, a few things did keep this book from being a homerun for me. Number one, the basic premise seemed unnecessarily convoluted. There were so many rules to the phenomenon at the heart of the book that it was hard to keep track. Also, because the story did attempt to blend both supernatural and science, I had to say the reasonings for things that happened didn't really follow any logic that made sense to me. I also felt some of the supporting characters were a little thin and could have been fleshed out. There were a couple of scenes near the end that did have a wonderful action feel and came across as very cinematic, to the point that I could see them playing out in my head like a movie. So a fun and engaging book, but one with flaws.

Unlike most of the other reviews (as of this date), I didn't care too much for this book. Mostly because it was boring (and confusing). I felt like I was in an X-Files seminar given by a Professor talking in monotone for 8 hours straight with no bathroom break. The first 25% of the book has no action except what I would classify as a prologue scene. Then, up to 60% is ALL backstory. The rest has some good action (if you can make it there), but we stay in Agatha's backstory for a lot of it still. I think this book would have been much more appropriate as a series because the ultimate conspiracy supernatural parts are too complex, hence why most of the book is just explanation. I would appropriately give 2.5/5 stars, with a possible 0.5 stars for some of the nicely written language.

I received this ARC for an honest review. OMG!!! This book is awesome! Christopher Rice KNOWS how to tell a story. I loved every word.
This story is about a brother and sister, Claire and Poe. When they were kids, they went on a camping trip with their father, and they were in an accident that changed them. What kind of accident? Well…you need to read the story. Because of the accident, their parents divorced. Claire lived with her mom and Poe lived with his dad. In their teens, Poe became addicted to drugs and started moving around. Claire became a school teacher. After their mother’s funeral, Poe finally got clean. He wanted to meet up with Claire to apologize his actions at the funeral. He didn’t make it…why…you have to read the book. I won’t say much else because I will give away too much.
This story takes you on a ride. Christopher Rice does a great job of having you feel empathy towards “the villain” of the story or was he just a product of what was done to him? You feel for almost all the characters.
I didn’t want to put the down the book. I highly recommend this book!

Christopher Rice carries on the family name, and takes his own turns, with a story that is thrilling and enjoyably supernatural. A perfect gift for fans of this genre, and the promise of more to come from this author.

By far one of my favorite reads of 2021! This book was the perfect mix of supernatural and thriller and I devoured it in a single day. Rice did an excellent job weaving in the nuances of difficult family relationships, and the impact of a lifetime of choices.

Supernatural? After life? Conspiracy’s? So much happens in this book, it can become confusing.I’m not sure how I feel about this book.

Rice again proves the humans are the worst monsters and has found his niche for sure. Conspiracy with a bit of the supernatural - and musings of the afterlife and the energies in between - all combine for an engaging story that keeps you there until the somewhat satisfying end - or is it the end?