First published in June of 2013, Paul Anthony Jones’ second book in his sci-fi/horror post-apocalyptic series was entitled ‘Extinction Point: Exodus’.
DLS Synopsis:
As she looked down upon the Earth from the International Space Station, Commander Fiona Mulligan watched as patches of red slowly blossomed across the entire circumference of the globe. And gradually, day by day, the world was slowly suffocated beneath a veil of red death.
Meanwhile, Emily Baxter and her Alaskan malamute companion, Thor, are making their way northwards to the Stockton Islands; positioned off the Northern Coast of Alaska where Emily has learnt the climatologist, Jacob Endersby, and his team of fellow researchers are waiting for them.
However en route a powerful red storm forces them to seek refuge in a nearby house, located in the rural folds of a deep valley. And it’s here, whilst they take cover in the microclimate zone afforded by the natural design of the land, that they come across their first living survivors. A small family unit, with the father, Simon Keller, looking after his young son, Benjamin, and his twelve-year-old daughter, Rhiannon.
But, when they discover that across the nearby fields alien trees with milky-white sacks sprouting from under their limbs are growing, Emily knows it’s time to move on. She had encountered these same vast globes in the alien forest on the outskirts of Valhalla. Huge bulbous sacks which filled Emily with such dread at the festering malice growing from within. However, time is running out for Emily and her new found friends. The vast red storm is drawing closer by the minute; its oppressive scarlet clouds casting a death-like shadow across the land. And out in the neighbouring fields, the mutated alien trees have just disgorged their contents.
It’s time to get moving again before it’s too late. The journey for survival continues…
DLS Review:
Like with Jones’ first instalment, ‘Extinction Point’ (2012), this second book is drenched from head to toe in H. G. Wells inspired post-apocalyptic madness, along with a fair-old-scoop of John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’ (1982) thrown in for good measure. Yes indeedy, it’s another good-honest helping of horror-rich-sci-fi with a textbook journey across a post-apocalyptic America.
Interestingly, and possibly due to a number of comments following the publication of the first book in the series, Jones quite quickly abandons the ‘cycle-all-the-wall-to-Alaska’ shenanigans and actually allows his protagonist to take on board the sensible idea of figuring out how to drive a car in order to speed the whole journey up. Let’s face it – the whole bike thing was an interesting concept, but not really all that sensible. And Emily has proven time and again that she’s not exactly dim – so eventually moving on to a motor vehicle was really the right move to take.
With the plot already firmly set in place, this second book was in the position to hit the ground running as far as pace and action goes. And Jones certainly does just that. From Chapter One (following the whole Commander Fiona Mulligan Prologue), Emily is off on her journey, with the intensity of the situation constantly nipping at her heels.
Jones has plenty of twists up his sleeves with this instalment. Firstly we have the introduction of a small family of fellow survivors. And then Jones throws in an ‘Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers’ (1956) angle that just elevates the horror threat to a whole new level.
Yes yes yes. There are plenty of twists and turns and revelations within these here pages for the reader to really get their collective teeth into. From one blistering burst of adrenaline-pumping danger to the next one, the novel hurtles on and on; never really stopping for much more than a sleepless night’s worth of rest before it’s on again to god knows what horror that’s awaiting them.
The ending, although you’re likely to see the slight ‘twist’ coming from a good hundred miles off, is still delivered in a tight and plot-defining way. It plays a final hand that has the reader desperately wanting to see what Emily et al’s next move will be. And as such, full kudos to Jones for truly ensnaring the reader in what is certainly proving to be one hell of a post-apocalyptic journey.
The book runs for a total of 304 pages.
© DLS Reviews
Other ‘Extinction Point’ instalments:
- ‘Extinction Point: Book One - The End’ (2012)
- ‘Extinction Point: Book Two - Exodus’ (2013)
