Two years have passed since mankind faced extinction. Brian Rhodes and his cousin, Steven, are leaving the protection of their underground bunker for the first time, after a cataclysmic war and unrelenting disease ravaged the earth.

On the other side of the North American continent, young Simon Kalispell is leaving the safety and seclusion of his cabin deep in the woods, traveling with his aging canine companion, Winston.

For individual reasons, these men are traveling east, where the fragmented lives of a small number of survivors will soon be decided by the choices of a corrupt few.

Simon Kalispell and Brian Rhodes are not yet aware, but the strength that resides inside them will soon be tested, and destiny will call for their fates to be forever intertwined.

@GoddessFish, #Dystopian

”For centuries, artists have attributed their masterpieces to dreams, yet so much of our dreams remain shrouded in mystery, forgotten. Now, both artists and ordinary people will be able to record their compositions in full detail. We could have their art created, painted, framed and delivered. Not only are we creating whole new fields of science, but also an entirely new genre of art will emerge. Sleep art…”

I keep a white pad on the nightstand by my bed because every so often I have a dream that is so vivid, so interesting that as soon as I wake up I know I have to jot down my impressions or by the time I’m in the shower all that I remember of that dream will simply float away with the hot mist. Wouldn’t it be nice if our minds supplied us with a URL that we could use to get back to where the memory of a dream is stored? I’ve had whole plots of short stories handed to me by a nighttime muse. The mind does amazing things when the clutter of our awake lives has been temporarily shuttered in the attic or discretely swept under the Persian rug.

When Sage contacted me and asked me if I would be interested in being part of this blog tour, I immediately recognized the cover of the book, something that I had purchased sometime last year, but hadn't had a chance to read yet. Since it was something I had planned to read anyways, I went ahead and said yes. And I'm glad that I did. And irritated with myself for waiting so long to read this.

I enjoyed this book. It was an interesting story line, the main character (Ben) captivated my attention (especially the emotions that he had about the death of his wife) - when the story line changes from just a guy seeing a new doctor, I kept reading and reading. Now, there were parts where things were a little far-fetched, where the writing needed some help (a second edit would be a wise decision), but all-in-all the story was good, different, and I enjoyed reading it. I would also read more from this author - I love the way he describes things, the detail that he adds.

One lesson to be learned from this book: If there's this shady trial going on that's trying to recruit you and the reward is far too big: don't trust it, it must be a trap.

Benjamin earns his money by participating in all kinds of trials, usually sleep pattern tests and sleep deprivation studies. Now I don't know how it works in this field, but it's very unlikely you can pay your bills from participating in clinical trials for drug development, or so I'm told. Anyway, Benjamin gets an offer he can't refuse, that allows him to travel the world and look at paintings. A lot.

The book started really interesting. Although it's clear from the beginning that something is off, it takes quite some time to get to know exactly what. That however, is also where its weakness lies. The whole point of experiment, it didn't make sense to me in the end. Which was a shame, because I was really liking it. Another thing that bothered me, it was tied together to closely. Everything was connected, and although it took me some time, the revelation at the end was expected.

But it was a fast and entertaining read. I would read the author's next book.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!