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"Sean MacKillick was the last person on earth you wanted looking after a group of vulnerable children in a post-apocalyptic wasteland."
The 3rd in the 'Afterblight' saga centres on a posh British boarding school for boys. After the Cull has run its course, the surviving pupils flock to it because they have nowhere else to go. The 15 year old hero Lee thinks the school will be a refugee until his father, who survived the Cull, can make his way back from Iraq to take care of him. But the school quickly turns into 'Lord of the Flies' territory when school bully Sean MacKillick declares himself the leader.
Any opposition is squashed and MacKillick provokes armed conflicts with vigilante neighbours and a blood cult of cannibals. Lee vows to take down MacKillick but Lee only has his father's army stories and his '24' DVDs to guide him on how to stage a revolt against an armed and dangerous leader. As time passes, Lee develops a skill for killing, he's very very good at it. Soon there's all out war between all sides as events head for a blood soaked violent showdown.
"He'd thrown in his lot with a bunch of tweed-clad fascists who probably thought The Cull was all the fault of immigrants."
This is the best of the series so far. It's gripping and very, very good. It has some pitch black humour as well. More is added to the 'Afterblight' mythos: there is a mention of The Clergy, hints of something sinister called Operation Motherland and set-ups for future books. There are several hilarious references to 'Eastenders' and 'Surviours'. Plus the ending is unexpected and intriguing.
"On the whole I try to avoid picking fights with people, especially people who are clearly insane, daubed with blood, and carrying a huge f##king knife, but I was now doing exactly that, armed with only a detachable piece of flushing toilet."
This is highly recommended, I will be reading the 4th book in the saga 'Dawn over Doomsday' when it is published.
P-Con VI March 27th/28th/29th 2009
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