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Sanctuary (The Dark Days Series Book 2)
![Sanctuary (The Dark Days Series Book 2) by [Christopher Cole]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41pfWNY1BIL._SY346_.jpg)
Dark Days- Sanctuary, by Christopher Cole is the second book in his thrilling post-apocalypse book series. The book is set in a dystopian land and follows the story of a few survivors trying to sustain themselves in an undead infested world, but the story is more than survival and bloodshed. Its focus is on the relationship between the characters in the aftermath of death and its implications on the survivors. A group of people, including Sonny and his friends, are trying to find a safe sanctuary, all the while fighting the zombies. They find a safe haven in Fort Gold Rush. The city was built to protect residents from the zombies and predators secured behind walls. The sanctuary has A Good Place vibe to it, but will this blissful state last, or does fate have more adventures for them?
Sonny, our protagonist, is a 12-year-old boy trying to protect his friends and missing his own family while trying to figure out the world around him. The second protagonist is an older adult, Grim, who is on the lookout for someone to pass his knowledge to. The story revolves around the connection between the two. While Sonny is innocent and pure, Grim is cold, callous, but good at heart.
I was able to connect to the character’s point of view and I also loved the message of the story, but I felt that the structure could have been improved with some editing that would remove some of the repeat sentences and keep the story concise.
I still found myself immersed in this emotional story. The characters were intriguing, but I felt that their actions and relationships were black and white, in a post-apocalyptic dystopian world I wanted things to be a bit more grey in areas that would allow the mind to wonder.
This book reminds me of AMC’s The Walking Dead in it’s ability to explore characters in a high stress situation, which is intriguing on its own, but then add in a bit of NBC’s The Good Place and you have a unique zombie apocalypse story the likes of which gives readers plenty to be entertained with.
I would recommend Dark Days- Sanctuary to rabid fans of the zombie apocalypse genre. Readers will find a unique story to get lost in and, with a bit of editing, this could easily be one of the best post-apocalyptic stories I’ve read this year.
Pages: 292 | ASIN: B08L84KY32
Outbreak – Book Trailer
Cities are bombed out ruins and wilderness is humanity’s new home. The undead roam the earth, and the new world order is about the struggle to survive. Sonny Daniels begins an emotional and physical journey of personal survival and protecting those he loves.
While survival is a constant struggle, Sonny’s most desperate fight is the struggle preserve some semblance of a compassionate soul. Sonny and his parents are caught in the zombie outbreak in upstate New York. After the passage of the first year, their base is attacked by bandits and their safety has again been compromised. Fearing for their loved ones, Sonny’s parents send him and his orphaned childhood friends, Ashley and Carrie, to Fort Denver Colorado on a military plane.
When Fort Denver is overrun with zombies, the three are alone in a zombie-infested wasteland without the army’s protection, forced to rely upon one another and a handful of equally desperate survivors they encounter along the journey. Sonny is determined to do whatever it takes to protect Ashley and Carrie while finding a safe place to call home, but survival can force you to make dark decisions.
In This Dark Zombie Wasteland
Outbreak follows a group of friends trying to find a safe home in a zombie wasteland. What was the inspiration for the setup to this thrilling story?
I think it was a combination of different stories, but the main inspiration for this story is the same inspiration that made me start writing – a book called Everlost by Neal Shusterman. It was an amazing story of this boy and this girl trying to survive in a mysterious limbo world while seeking personal answers. The book pulled me in and I was developing the spark that would later ignite the writer in me. I started writing and re-writing while brainstorming what works and what doesn’t.
Sonny, Ashley and Carrie are all well-developed characters. What were some ideas that guided the groups development and relationship?
I looked and analyzed stories that weren’t just good, but great and why they were great stories. I looked for what made characters likable. Likable characters are ones that readers care about. They want good things for them and feel the intensity when they are in danger. In this dark zombie wasteland, it’s easy to lose humanity and resort to savagery. So, the idea that kids so young are not only fighting for their own survival but are fighting for their humanity. The way it is, if you have something you care about, then fight for it. Just like these three, Sonny, Ashley and Carrie fight for each other.
This novel did a great job of exploring friendships and connections between people. What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Some of the themes that were important to explore in this book were figuring what to let go and what to hold on to. In a way, that’s part of growing up but the dark side in the book is in a zombie wasteland, children have to grow up faster. So, letting go of childish things like the joys of just being a kid for their own survival is something Sonny and the girls had to figure out and decide. The things they hold on to were things like love, friendship, courage, kindness, and the fire that keeps them alive inside are important because in certain environments like this, it’s almost all they have left.
This is book one in your Dark Days series. What can readers expect in book two?
In book two, readers can expect different things and familiar things. Without giving spoilers, the main character Sonny finds someone who has suffered loss in a severe way that most people can’t recover from. He helps her and in a way, it helps him be part of her family.
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While survival is a constant struggle, Sonny’s most desperate fight is the struggle preserve some semblance of a compassionate soul. Sonny and his parents are caught in the zombie outbreak in upstate New York. After the passage of the first year, their base is attacked by bandits and their safety has again been compromised. Fearing for their loved ones, Sonny’s parents send him and his orphaned childhood friends, Ashley and Carrie, to Fort Denver Colorado on a military plane.
When Fort Denver is overrun with zombies, the three are alone in a zombie-infested wasteland without the army’s protection, forced to rely upon one another and a handful of equally desperate survivors they encounter along the journey. Sonny is determined to do whatever it takes to protect Ashley and Carrie while finding a safe place to call home, but survival can force you to make dark decisions.
Outbreak: The Dark Days Series
![Outbreak (The Dark Days Series Book 1) by [Christopher Cole]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51qYv+Wg+GL.jpg)
The first installment of Christopher Cole’s Outbreak: Dark Days series follows Sonny as he finds his preteen world turned upside down at the hands of a mysterious zombie outbreak that has sparked mass, sanctioned evacuations of families and individuals to military-run communes. Little does Sonny know that once his family and friends, neighbors Carrie and Ashley, depart from their New York state homes, their lives are set to change indefinitely as they battle outbreaks and learn tough lessons about growing up.
The flow is fast-paced, while still providing enough visual detail for the reader to follow each event and action. The characters are well-developed, even considering that the main protagonists, Sonny, Carrie, and Ashley, are all middle-school aged. It is easy to empathize with the many internal conflicts they are faced in the midst of difficult decisions, the most extreme being making choices that can lead to life or death. Readers can feel the deep humanity of each child, yet at the same time are gently reminded that all three are children who genuinely do not know everything, nor should be expected to. The bond the children share with each other is just as simple, yet poignant. It is a pleasure to witness the richness of the children’s character development and interpersonal bonds as they traverse through various trials.
The grammatical errors, however, were rampant throughout the book and at times were distracting from the plot and the action. Every couple pages had some kind of punctuation or use error; for instance, “your” when the contraction “you’re” was supposed to be used was a common error. I also saw a few spelling errors, but these were far less interspersed.
I love the plot of Outbreak: Dark Days, the doomsday theme is certainly relevant in 2020, with some elements such as quarantine being very relatable to many at present. In creating a rich range of emotions and thoughts in the trio of children, Cole invites readers to reflect on their sense of humanity and consider their own reactions to the different challenges that Sonny, Carrie, and Ashley encounter throughout the book. I recommend this book for readers of young adult age and up due to the use of adult language.
Pages: 213 | ASIN: B089CHBN2G
