The Day After Never – Purgatory Road
Purgatory Road is the second in the The Day After Never series by author Russell Blake. In it, our hero Lucas again faces overwhelming odds to save those closest to him while staying one step ahead of some very nasty people. In this dystopian novel, the world population has been devastated by a global pandemic. More than half the population have succumbed and a great many of those left have sunk to brutal levels to survive…generally at the expense of others. Lucas finds himself pushed to help the two who he saved find their promised land before they themselves were found.
“During the BVA, subjects are placed in traumatic situations. While government studies show that the vast majority of subjects recover completely given the right medication, most show symptoms of Acute Stress Disorder in the immediate aftermath, often during the test. ASD is similar to PTSD in many ways—patients suffering from the former will be diagnosed with the latter if the symptoms persist—but with a focus on dissociative symptoms. These include, but are not limited to, derealization and depersonalization—nothing around you feels real, not even your own thoughts or emotions. Detachment, emotional unresponsiveness, and a general feeling of numbness.”
I’m not sure what to say about this novel. It seems to be very popular, but it just was not for me. 
Imagine walking innocently down the street, a pretty woman hobbled by an injury is struggling out of a dry cleaners store. You offer your assistance. She smiles. Then two armed men take you both prisoner. We’d probably freak out, but we are not Jack Reacher. In Die Trying by Lee Child, Reacher is kidnapped by thugs and driven for days in the back of a van with this woman, obviously a woman dear to someone very important; oh and she’s a trained FBI agent.
“Thomas’s left hand shook as he drew the bow. He was dry-mouthed, frightened. He knew he would shoot wild so he lowered his arm and released the cord’s tension. Remember, he told himself, remember everything you have ever been taught. An archer does not aim, he kills. It is all in the head, in the arms, in the eyes, and killing a man is no different from shooting a hind. Draw and loose, that was all, and that was why he had practiced for over ten years so that the act of drawing and loosing was as natural as breathing and as fluent as water flowing from a spring. Look and loose, do not think. Draw the string and let God guide the arrow.”
The Day After Never by Russell Blake takes place in the Southwestern United States. America is torn apart by a pandemic flu that kills a large portion of the population. Anarchy rules in this Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian novel. Pockets of civilization dot the countryside barricaded against the lawless groups that roam; looking for easy prey.
In The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Piem, young 