Lurking within the twisted pages of this novel are some of the most graphic, violent scenes guaranteed to turn your stomach. It did mine. Humanity, as it had been known had taken a detour to slither on down the dark side. In this well-written narrative Bowman alluded to the depths that some of our population would sink to under stressful conditions. Live or die, it was every man for himself. Sad.

America had become unhinged. Our nation had unwittingly entered into an undeclared second Civil War. Millions of Americans perished at the hands of their neighbors. Lawlessness spread throughout the land. An apocalypse had engulfed the country.

There was no peace. In the danger zones, it was a relentless struggle just to see another day. The maddening, scenes traced the lives of several groups of wary survivors from different parts of our embattled country; agonizingly, they attempted to claw their way through this horrific tragedy. In the end, there were no winners. There never are.

My thanks are offered to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Its is all in the title readers. This second civil war scenario has been kicked around for years but now in the age of enlightened violence it seems sadly far too plausible. The author does a good job of describing a possible scenario that occurs with overwhelming violence and in an instant where our country eats itself and its own. Very tough pages here.

This novel takes place in the near future of the United States. An event happens that is labeled “it.” What the event is was never really described. There are five characters in this novel that you will follow as they experience the United States after “it.” There are two major warring groups — one is what is left of the United States government and the Republic of Texarkana. There are other groups that have emerged but there are still parts that are no-man’s land. Those lands are governed by anarchy. There is violence in those lands with no laws.


The novel is well written. As I read this novel, my being became fearful. Why? I could easily see the United States becoming this. The description of the United States for the average person is scarey if you not live in the right area. However that area can be taken over by the wrong groups. There is much violence, destruction and sex slavery. It is a dark novel. It giave me a view of a stark reality which has given me much to think about.

This is a difficult book to read, given that its basic premise is the breakdown in law and order in a near-term future USA, which the author suggests is a potential consequence of the polarisation of American politics. Straughn Bowman sees this polarisation leading to ever more extreme characterisations of the other side in politics and the mutation of political opponents into class enemies, and what he sees as a potentially inevitable slide into anarchy and civil war. Certainly, the first signs of such a shift in political discourse are visible in many western democracies, seemingly fomented and encouraged by social media trolls and bots operating from countries that seek to undermine the stability that has largely been enjoyed in the west since 1945. Bowman is a skilful writer of action prose and spares the reader hardly at all in terms of the impact of deadly violence on human bodies and human society. Indeed, many readers may find some passages unnecessarily graphic in the way that gratuitous violence is depicted. A complementary skill is the author's well-honed ability to tell a story through episodes in the lives of a handful of characters that stitch together remarkably effectively. In the end, though, this reader was left with an uncomfortable feeling that an important story relating to a potentially clear and present danger was being somewhat exploited as an everyday military/action thriller. A word of warning - this first book in a series ends very abruptly with no story line resolved. A brilliant move if you want to sell book 2, but mightily frustrating for the reader!