Book Review: Last Light by Terri Blackstock (Restoration Novel #1)

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Engrossing premise; kept me engaged

Cons: Mostly one dimensional characters

The Bottom Line:

When the lights go out

You will be hooked on story

Characters weakish

It's the End of the World as We Know It

Several years ago, we faced the alarmist who predicted that Y2K would end our civilization as we know it. And of course there was the end of the Mayan calendar last year.  Fortunately, their doomsday predictions that modern technology would fail were proved wrong. But what would happen if everything we rely on stopped working? That's the idea explored in Last Light, the first novel in a four book series.

Deni Branning and her father Doug had just landed at the Birmingham airport when the power went out. But it wasn't a normal power outage. Cars wouldn't work and cell phones died as well. In fact, ever piece of modern technology had failed.

The two manage to get home, where they find the other four members of the family waiting for them. But there they realize their problems are just beginning. With no access to the outside world, they don't know what is happening elsewhere. How wide spread is the power outage? How long will it last?

None of this sits well with Deni, who was scheduled to start a new job in Washington DC in a week. Her fiancee is still there, and she desperately wants to get back to him.

But the Branning family has other issues to deal with - like day to day survival. With no water and no stores, how will they survive?

And things just get worse when Deni and her younger sister find the dead bodies....

This book is absolutely engrossing. I found myself caught up in the scenario, wondering how I would survive if modern technology stopped working. While there were some convenient plot points (their neighborhood is around a lake, for example), it was handled very well. Most of the time, I found myself completely caught up in their day to day struggles. And so much of what they faced rang true. And the murder storyline only added to the intrigue. The story did stall ever so slightly in the middle, however, when it became too much about survival and very little happened in the other storylines. That didn't last long, and soon things picked up for a climax that had me turning pages as quickly as I could.

My bigger complaint is the characters. They are a bit one dimensional most of the time. Deni is a spoiled brat who does little but whine. While I found her whining annoying most of the time, I did have to sympathize with her desire to get to her fiancee. Frankly, I found her parents annoying on this point since they seemed to dismiss what she said about wanting to be with him out of hand. Her brother is a rebellious teen. And the villain was fairly easy to spot. Even though the characters are never fully developed, I really got hooked by the story and came to care for them.

This is a Christian novel. As a result, there are some spiritual storylines, and the Bible is quoted quite a bit. Some will find it preachy, but I enjoyed watching the characters struggle with how they should respond to this as Christians.

The writing in the book could have been a little smoother. There was a little bit of telling instead of showing. This was something I noticed only near the beginning. As I got hooked on the story, the writing seemed to smooth out for me.

Yes, the book had some flaws. But they didn't get in the way of me enjoying the story. If you want an entertaining read that will make you think, pick up Last Light.