A YA/Female Driven 28 Days Later

3.5 out of 5 stars

In my title of this review I said it was a YA/Female Driven 28 Days Later, let me explain that a little.  First, the easy part.  It’s a lot like 28 Days Later.  The virus that was released is a “rage virus” and the people are pretty calm until provoked (or they know that you are there).  There weren’t as many of them (or seemingly so) as in the movie(s) but they seemed to attack with a similar ferocity. The YA and female-driven part was the fact that the story is told from a young females perspective.  Not quite YA (except for the 17-year-old who I won’t name) but close enough to feel that way.  It almost had a little feel of “Girl With All The Gifts” too but in a different way form that storyline.

The story itself was good but was slightly unbelievable.  Some things went together a little too well.  The characters gelled and trusted a little too easily and the hasty modifications to the virus (all three times they were mentioned) bugged me a bit.  The science in this was lacking, but I don’t think that Lockwood was trying to write a “sciencey” (what I would call a Bio-Thriller) tale, but more set the stage for the virus and its spread across Seattle and more.

Elaina was an interesting character.  Someone who people probably wouldn’t like outside of the circumstances that she was thrown in and (of course) the odds were stacked against here her — she was surprisingly likable.  Sure, there were parts where I thought ‘oh you’re so naive’, but I know that Lockwood threw those curveballs in to make sure she didn’t seem too mature or old.

I would consider the virus itself one of the main characters, and I thought that it was better than some but not overly original.  I like that it just didn’t say “zombie” or that the people weren’t instantly sick/dead/killing other people.  I also liked that Lockwood tried to explain how it got out and how it spread.  I assume that some of the other details around the virus (and its spread) were kept from this book to make the other books more mysterious.  Upon finishing this story I can tell that Lockwood has more in store for the three main characters.

Overall, Point of Transmission was a good starting book that was a little rough around the edges. I had some issues with it but I’ve read a lot of books in both genres I would put this in and it missed just slightly on both.  But, with that said, I did enjoy reading it and I do want to know what happens to the characters, so that says a lot about its potential.

The narration done by Chris Andrew Ciulla was good.  I had no issues with it and I felt that he was able to move the story along nicely.  I did enjoy listening to it partially because of his narration.

Book Description:

Point of Transmission (Morgan Strain #1) by Max Lockwood
Narrator: Chris Andrew Ciulla
Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
Series: The Morgan Strain #1
Published by Tantor Audio on November 28th, 2017
Genres: Bio-Thriller, Post-Apocalyptic
Also by this author: It Began (Zero Power #1), Red Devils: The Front 2, Point of Proximity, Point of Destruction
Also in this series: Point of Proximity, Point of Destruction

About the Author:

Max Lockwood writes suspenseful, post-apocalyptic thriller and dystopian fiction while living in New York.

Growing up with parents who were preppers and always planning for the worst, but hoping for the best, got him interested in writing in the first place. “What would happen if the world were to change?” is something he asked himself his whole life. Until one day he decided to put it down on paper.

His stories will have you reading on the edge of your seats…you have been warned!

Brian
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