Title: Long can do better
Review: 'The Descent' was riveting, scary, and seemed all too real. I was hooked from the first page.Conversely, 'Year Zero' isn't compelling. Having steeped myself in post-Apocalyptic works by reading 'The Stand', I find 'Zero's characters shallow and unsympathetic with the possible exception of Nathan Lee Swift. Ochs is a caricature; there's the requisite deformed mad scientist; a girl genius with no heart at all. (She creates a creature, knowing it will surely be destroyed once discovered.)In attempting to cover a broad period of time and place, the book doesn't dwell for long on one place or one person. The plague itself is never described or shown long enough to create the sense of horror, dread, and end-time that we need to feel.In the end, I could never grab hold of any of the characters for long. In the end, even Nathan Lee shook me off his coattails.
Is this product review negative?