Synopsis/blurb....
When Daniel Miller wakes up one morning, something has gone terribly wrong. The power is out. The phones are dead. The house is silent. The street is shrouded in fog. Both his partner and their adopted daughter are missing. So are their neighbors. And so is everyone else in the world. Daniel Miller is the last person left on Earth... or is he?
From award-winning, best-selling horror writer Brian Keene comes this quiet, chilling, supernatural short tale.
A slow-burner of a long short story.
A man wakes alone in his bed and irritation and annoyance at his partner for not waking him, soon turns to puzzlement - the house is empty, the power is out, the cell phone doesn't work, he can't pee. This puzzlement escalates to fear and despair over the next few days - or is it days? How can he tell? The clocks have stopped. His food has no taste. The neighbours are missing. Dropped things make no noise.
A hopeful encounter with his adopted daughter sows further confusion, as he can't connect with her. Eventually all is revealed through a conversation with a neighbour's troubled child.
I really enjoyed this one, maybe because it was so different from my staple reading preferences of the past 30 years or so. I don't honestly know whether I tried to solve the mystery of what was happening or whether I didn't bother to try, just content to follow Daniel's efforts to discover what had happened to him and the world he knew. What sort of post-apocalyptic nightmare he had woken from?
In hindsight the ending was all so obvious and fitting.
Great writing, an interesting story, one with ever-increasing tension as Daniel learns his fate.
4 from 5
I've a couple more from Brian Keene in the Audible library which I will look forward to in future.
Read - October, 2020
Published - 2011
Page count - 54 (1 hr 20 mins)
Source - Audible purchase
Format - Audible
This one sounds really intriguing, Col. It sounds like one of those stories that relies heavily on strong character development, but that can be a very good thing. And the mystery of what happened sounds engaging. Perhaps not your usual fare, but I'm glad you liked it.
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed a couple of things from this author now and I'm glad I've broadened my reading hoizons a bit to include him.
DeleteI'm sure I'd like this one. I'd be more than curious to know why Daniel Miller wakes up alone one morning.
ReplyDeletePrashant, I think you would like this one.
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