The Remaining

Book number one of a six book apocalyptic science fiction series. There are another two series in the same universe with the main character. I read the well printed and well bound MMPB published by Orbit in 2014 that I purchased new in 2014 from Amazon. There is also a novella that prequels the series in the book that I read. I am reading the second book in the series now and have ordered the third book in the series.Captain Lee Harden of the US Army is a member of the US Special Forces. His duty is to live in his remote US Army built home with a steel and lead concrete bunker underneath it. Any time the US government gets nervous, he goes down into his bunker with his dog and locks the vault door. He then talks with his supervisor daily over the internet until released by his supervisor to leave the bunker. His duty is to stay in the bunker during any event and come out thirty days after he has zero contact with his supervisor. Then it is his duty to find groups of people to restore order in his portion of the USA.Then one day, Captain Harden has been sitting in his bunker for a couple of weeks and his supervisor does not call. A plague has been sweeping the planet and things are getting more dire by the day. Apparently the infected do not die but their brains are mostly wiped out. Zombies. A A month later, Captain Harden and his dog emerge from their bunker to find a total disaster with infected roaming the countryside.The author has a website at:

While many bemoan the rise of eBooks there is a lot to be said in favor of the shift away from paper. One of the best aspects of the new electronic age of publishing is the increasing viability of self-publishing. A growing number of writers are finding success self-publishing their works as eBooks either on Amazon or through Apple and then self-promoting those books via the web. Amazon allows readers to download portions of a book to try it before plunking down their hard earned cash on an unknown author making it easier to try new authors. Self-publishing authors can also publish free or nearly free short stories to entice and hook prospective readers on their work. D. J. Molles' The Remaining series is an example of the potential for success with self-publishing in the digital age with over 10,000 copies sold and an avid following eagerly awaiting each new installment in the series.I'm not sure how I first found out about this series and to be honest I initially passed on this book but after repeated references and positive reviews on some of my online haunts I finally broke down and bought the first book in The Remaining series. My backlog of reading material is currently huge so even after I purchased it it sat, ignored in my queue. While trapped behind enemy lines recovering from pneumonia in the People Republic of Colorado I needed a little escapist fiction; some light reading to distract me and this book seemed to fit the bill.It did. A little too well.Ok, first a disclaimer. As I have said in my previous book review, if you are looking for the next great American novel, if you are looking for the next Hemingway or Faulkner, this book is not for you.The book is a nice twist on the zombie apocalypse theme. Captain Lee Harden is a member of a top secret program designed to rebuild America after an apocalyptic event. The book starts with the good captain in a secret bunker constructed under his home weathering a global pandemic with his dog Tango. The pandemic is caused, we learn, by a virus the experts have named FURY. While I find the idea of a virus that devastates its victims brains leaving them hyper-aggressive zombies perfectly reasonable. I find the idea of an elite corps of ex-military men equipped and tasked with rebuilding the USA after a near extinction event farfetched. Yeah, I'm a bit off I guess.Outside of the difficulty accepting the basic premise the characters are a little flat as well. While Captain Hardin is fairly well rounded the rest of the characters are pretty basic and predictable. Nevertheless, they are still well enough written and depicted that I found myself on edge when they were in trouble. As long as the characters are well enough defined that I find myself invested in them that's good enough for me and Mr. Molles was able to build that empathy.The story is well told, especially the action sequences and is well-paced. It is a quick read. The key, for me, when reviewing a book like this is whether I enjoyed it and whether it would leave me wanting to read more from the author. The Remaining did both of those things. As I said before, maybe a little too well.The book is a bit short and (spoiler alert) ends with a cliffhanger. Combine that with a well told tale and despite my backlog of reading material I purchased and read the next two books in the series immediately.I read them back to back over the course of a week and a half or so. Fortunately, mandatory time off from work while recovering from pneumonia meant that the temporary addiction to this series did little to interfere with work, blogging or family time.If you like a nice take on zombie, post-apocalyptic, or action stories in general, The Remaining is a good read and I highly recommend it.-Cranky

The Remaining by D. J. Molles is a digital publishing sensation. It has more than 900 reviews on Amazon and is being filmed as a movie. People who say the Internet hasn't done much for new authors need to watch this star rise. Author D. J. Molles, has made great use of the Internet to get his book talked-about. You can check out his blog here or Facebook page here. The Remaining is also the best example of TEOTWAWKI (The End OF The World As We Know It) fiction on the market.Appropriately, the novel begins in an underground bunker. Capt. Lee Harden, United States Army, belongs to a secretive project known as Project Hometown. The government has constructed secure bunkers below ordinary looking buildings in each of the lower 48 states. In the event of a national emergency, an operative will be sequestered in the bunker with secret orders only to be opened if there is no communication with their superior after 48 hours. Each operative, known as a "coordinator", is to remain in the bunker for 30 days after the last communication from their superior. The bunker has everything needed to keep the operative safe and secure for the duration of the emergency.Harden is in the bunker this time with his trained dog, Tango. He's been sent down into it because a new plague has broken out. This is not the first time he's been sent down in the bunker and Harden expects the whole emergency will end shortly, as it usually does. Shortly after his descent, most of the news feeds begin to go out. All he can do is stare at a plaque which reads "The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday". After waiting the required length of time, he opens the box where his orders are stored, finds a thumb-drive in it, and loads the drive on his computer.What he discovers is the nature of the plague. Known as Febrile Urocanic Reactive Yersinia (FURY), a new bacterial disease is raging across the United States. Incubation is within 24 to 48 hours. There is no known cure. Victims begin to loose their ability to reason and turn into predatory animals, attacking anything in sight. In essence, the Zombie Apocalypse has begun (although in all fairness, the world "zombie" is never used in the book).His mission has begun: link-up with groups of survivors and restore order.The novel spends a lot of time discussing the various weapons and supplies Harden takes with him to the surface. The author has done his homework extensively in this area. For instance, did you know a polymer magazine is prefered for an M4 assault rifle because it can carry 30 rounds and won't jam? I didn't. Finally, before the 30-day mark, he suits up in his chemical warfare gear and leaves the bunker.He's nearly killed by a screaming infected with a knife, but manages to take her down. Mofett is good at foreshadowing the action, such as noting the area around the house was trampled, which should have warned Harden. He does learn a valuable lesson: the infected have incredible strength and won't respond to pain. The best way to take them down is a shot to the head.The remainder of the book has Harden on the move constantly, helping people when he can. Not only are the infected a threat, but the world is running rampant with warlords and savages. He barely manages to save the life of a young boy whose father is gunned down by crazed rednecks. Again, the detail in Harden's techniques on taking out an opposing force are incredibly detailed.The novel never lets up. Just as soon as you think Harden and the survivors he's helping are in for a moment of peace, something else attacks. It can be mobs of the infected or warlords with captured weapons. This book is relentless. I read it in one day. It never fails to hold your attention.The author has some insight into combat as well:"...A gunfight was a game of chessthat happened in the span of a few short seconds. You didn't have time tothink, so you made your moves and hoped your training and instincts were betterthan the other guy's. At that brief second in time, Lee knew the initiative andthe advantage had gone to his attacker and that if he waited too long, hewouldn't be able to get it back."There are two more books in the series. Molles is writing the fourth one currently. He's also announced he may end the series at book five. The Remaining is an excellent first book from a new author. Highly recommended.[...]