Chuckles Mini Reviews Catch Up

I review everything I read, on my blog and on Goodreads. Most reviews are of a decent length but sometimes you don't have much to say about the book because of its length or you DNFed it or various other reasons. In cases like that it makes sense to write a few mini reviews in one post and clear them out your way! So lets catch up with reviews for serial novels from May and June this year.

1) William Scanlon-Will Of Man #1
All electricity on Earth has been slowly and sporadically disappearing. Cars and modern trains stop where they are, ships lay dead in the water, the unprepared suffer in the harsh and unpredictable Michigan weather. People are forced to adapt to a world without electricity. Due to the collapse of government and public order, many areas are now ruled by tyrants and militias. Follow a family of four from the beginning of the blackouts to the final total blackout that sends the world back to the dark ages. Discover what happens when the family’s small town is overtaken and they are forced to leave into the unknown. Follow each family member as they are separated and forced to find each other in a strange and dangerous new world.

I wasn't greatly impressed with this one. Firstly it was written in a diary style which I'm not a great fan of. It was written by teenage Tyler who talks a lot about his school subjects and the changing relationships with former friends. There is a pile of angst about getting on the bad side of the school bullies and the trouble it causes him, and he keeps reminding us how brave he was throughout. It got a bit much and I wondered if he wanted a medal! We also got his dreams. We got his obsession with Hailey and the start of their relationship. Then it was the trauma he felt when someone dared to disagree with him in class. There is endless detail of every triathlon competition he trains for and competes in. That got very dull. There isn't much mention of his family and we get the very odd mention of a brief blackout. It wasn't very exciting and I got bored, and I found the ending a bit unsatisfying. Overall, not a series I'd want to continue with. 2 stars.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18680324-will-of-man---part-one

2) R deLyndesay-Trace Of Survival #1 
Isaiah has spent his adult life serving his country. Now that he’s toward the end of his middle years his country has fallen into collapse. He has spent years preparing for this collapse. He and his friend Reggie must get their children out of their homes in the cities and move them to the homesteads that they have established near the Natchez Trace southwest of Nashville, But it isn’t an easy task. They have to content with a fuel shortage, food shortages, terrorists, no electricity, thugs and a government out of control. They have spent years preparing but will their preps be enough? 

It didn't take long to DNF this one. It was one long rant against everyone that the author seemed to hate and I got tired of that very quickly. It rants about the declining morals of America and reduced belief in God, slags off the Pro Choice lobby and same sex marriage, goes on about liberals forever using the racism card and conservatives being picked on, rants about the US going communist and people on welfare being beneath contempt, socialists being evil, it goes on about gun owners and terrorist black leaders, anti-muslim and migrant stuff, FEMA dictators...it was never ending! It lines up to have a go at Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, talks about how Iraq and Afghanistan should be nuked...If there is a story in there somewhere in the 51 pages it passed me by. I expect a certain amount of politics in prepper books but this is the worst I've read in a very long time! 
1 star.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20553317-trace-of-survival-vol-1 

3) Edward Chilvers-The Forever Rain
When a rain storm lasting eighteen months floods most of the United Kingdom a newly married couple and their infant daughter take refuge on the family farm on the high ground of the Sussex Downs. But as the days go by and the storm shows no sign of stopping a ship that seems to herald their salvation may instead prove to be their undoing.

This one has four short parts and was actually fun to read. Helen and Tom were on their honeymoon in Windemere when the rain began and flooding sent them home early. They flee to his grandparents house on high ground in the hills and stay safe as the UK floods and rain never stops. Tom becomes obsessed with surviving and gathering supplies to save his family, to the point where he views even the idea of meeting other people as the worst thing that can happen. So when a cruise ship runs aground, Tom sees a chance to get more supplies but what if it brings him into contact with other people?

Tom isn't the nicest guy in the world but he isn't meant to be. He is obsessed with the safety of his family as people die all over the country but his stubborn insistance on doing everything causes him to bicker endlessly with Helen. The dialogue is a bit too formal and not the way we generally speak but it didn't annoy me that much really. I was fascinated with what was going on in Tom's head as this story progressed, to a point where I wanted to read the other three parts, which I also enjoyed. It is not a literary masterpiece but I did find it entertaining and I enjoyed the twists. 3 stars. 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17878770-the-forever-rain