They hear the most silent of footsteps.
They are faster than anything you’ve ever seen.
And They won’t stop chasing you…until you are dead.
Amy is watching TV when it happens, when the world is attacked by Them. These vile creatures are rapidly devouring mankind. Most of the population is overtaken, but Amy manages to escape—and even rescue “Baby,” a toddler left behind in the chaos. Marooned in Amy’s house, the girls do everything they can to survive—and avoid Them at all costs.
After years of hiding, they are miraculously rescued and taken to New Hope, a colony of survivors living in a former government research compound. While at first the colony seems like a dream with plenty of food, safety, and shelter, New Hope slowly reveals that it is far from ideal. And Amy soon realizes that unless things change, she’ll lose Baby—and much more.
In The After Review
Demitria Lunetta delivers a surprisingly entertaining tale in In the After. From your initial contact with the (insert standard PA monster trope) that she turns on its head to the constant wondering of “What’s her crazy” that she plays as we follow the main character’s tale, the basic elements are not unique but the twists she puts on things are unexpected and entertaining enough to keep you reading to find out how things end.
The evolution of the monsters is, looking back after finishing the book – almost laughable, but the way Lunetta tells it, you buy it with almost no reservations or reactions of disbelief – though I will admit to a tiny disbelieving snort at one point. I’ve read a book by Eric Ortlund that tried a spin on this particular version of monster, and it didn’t go well at all. Lunetta, however, struck the perfect note of funny-scary and paced the reveals of the monster’s origins so that there was enough story in between them that your brain was given time to digest and accept each piece of the puzzle . I appreciated that she didn’t go overboard in descriptions and that the cliché betrayal, that was of course included, didn’t end as expected. I was quite satisfied with her take on it.
Overall, though the main character has no real presence of which to speak – I can’t even remember what color hair she has! – the action is well-paced, the plot well-spun, and it was an enjoyable read. I was a little disappointed to see that it was the first book in a duology, honestly, because the ending is almost deliciously ambiguous. It was obviously done the way it was to leave the door open for the second book. That book, In the End, is already out . It’s probably good, but even though I did like In the After, I didn’t like it enough to pick up the final book.
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Title: In the After | Series: In the After #1 | Author: Demitria Lunetta | Publisher: HarperTeen | Pub. Date: 2013-6-25 | Pages: 455 | ISBN13: 9780062105455 | Genre(s): Young Adult & Horror | Language: English | Triggers: None | Rating: 4 out of 5 | Date Read: 2016-3-19 | Source: Library
