Random Things Blog Tour - A Savage Generation

I just adore all the great titles Flame Tree Press has released this year and today I'm happy to be part of the blog tour for one of their most recent releases.

TITLE: A Savage Generation

AUTHOR: David Tallerman

PUBLISHER: Flame Tree Press

PUBLISHING DATE: September 12, 2019

FROM GOODREADS: Sickness is ravaging America, driving the infected to savagery. Petty criminal Ben Silensky is determined to get his girlfriend Carlita and son Kyle free of the quarantined city they live in, enough so to risk a foolhardy crime and then to team up with Carlita's equally desperate cop cousin Nando. Once they're out, Nando is certain they'll find a place in the open prison where his uncle works, unbeknownst to him already become a survivalist colony named Funland under the management of entrepreneurial convict Plan John. In Funland itself, guard Doyle Johnson is shocked when his ex-wife abandons his son Austin into his care. Fearing the vulnerable position he's been placed in, he recruits the help of Katherine Aaronovich, the former prison's doctor. But Aaronovich's traumatic past has left her with vulnerabilities of her own, along with radical theories on the nature of the epidemic that will place all their lives in jeopardy. As the last vestiges of civilisation crumble, Funland may prove to be the safest or the most dangerous of places, depending on who comes out on top - and what can't be held together will inevitably be torn apart. 

MY THOUGHTS:  So let's get this out of the way.  I've seen some other reviews compare this to "The Walking Dead" and while I can see it, I happen to really enjoy that show so it really didn't bother me.  So basically we have an end-of-the-world dystopian where people are struggling to survive against the "zombies."  You have your typical morally grey characters and a new civilization  trying to regain their balance in an old prison setting.  You also have the kids, who are a big focus of the story, and who are trying to make their own way while the adults around them are on the verge of self destruction.

I found "A Savage Generation" to be a very action-packed, speedy read.  I was invested in what was happening to most of the characters.  I felt an attachment to some while others I not-so-secretly wished would meet then demise.  I also really liked the seeing Funland develop and grow.  Like I've said of many books and movies of this nature, it's usually not the creatures you have to watch out for because you know what to expect of them, it's the "monsters" that the humans become.  My main issue with the novel is that I sometimes found myself lost amid too many characters - especially in the beginning. I did eventually find my ground though.

If you like dystopian and survivalist tales, this is one you might want to check out.  I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for what this author comes out with next.

I want to thank Random Things Tours for this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

RATING: 3 PAWS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: David Tallerman is the author of the comic fantasy novel The Black River Chronicles: Level One and its first sequel The Black River Chronicles: The Ursvaal Exchange, the Tales of Easie Damasco series (Giant Thief, Crown Thief and Prince Thief), and the Tor.com novella Patchwerk. His comics work includes the absurdist steampunk graphic novel Endangered Weapon B and the Lovecraftian horror miniseries C21st Gods.

David's short science fiction, fantasy and horror has appeared in over eighty markets, including Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, Nightmare and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. A number of his dark fantasy tales have been collected as The Sign in the Moonlight and Other Stories.

He can be found online at davidtallerman.co.uk.