Refuge

This book was originally published in 5 parts. The following are the reviews for each part, compiled together here.

Night of the Blood Sky:
Small town New Hampshire. July 4th. Most of the town is emptying out to go to the fireworks in a nearby town, a few are staying behind to either get drunk or get frisky. Nothing too earth shattering.

And then the church bell starts ringing... without anyone pulling it!

When the bell stops ringing, the town itself appears to be the same... except that somehow everything outside the borders of the town has... changed. Buckle in your seatbelts, because things are about to get wild!

Darkness Falls (w/ Daniel S. Boucher):
Book 2 of the Refuge Saga opens with a new primary character waking up from a drunken stupor to the new “reality” of life in Refuge. The church bell has once again sounded, and now a darkness has fallen, along with ash falling like snow and covering everything. Thanks to Book 1 taking care of the setup, this book dives right in to the mystery and action. More creepy, more monsters, and more heartache than Book 1, this is an excellent continuation of the series!

Lost in the Echo (w/ Robert Smartwood):
This series just keeps getting better and better. Each book building on the last, in this one we finally get a few answers, including the last words of the book.

In this one, Refuge starts out fairly peacefully - a welcome respite from the dark and ash of the previous book. Frost decides the town needs heavier weapons in case big bads like the ash monsters come back, and the only place that might have what they need is the abandoned National Guard depot on the edge of town.

But is it really abandoned?

Ashes and Dust (w/ David McAfee):
The Refuge Saga continues, this time the town gets transported to a world that is barren and dusty, possibly from some sort of nuclear explosion that seems to have originated from where Refuge now sits.

But then, the monsters are discovered, along with some startling revelations...

Excellent episode, and def sets up this season's season finale in book 5...

Bonfires Burning Bright (w/ Kane Gilmour):
This series was GREAT. You start off in a not untypical small NH town that happens to have a few high tech upgrades - the entire town has been switched to solar power, for example, putting the local electrician out of business. The town is getting ready for July 4, including most of the town going to the next town over to watch the fireworks.

And then, the local church bell starts ringing... (Minor point that I'm unsure about: Where I live in the South, there are FAR more than one church per town!)

When the bell stops ringing, the world outside of City Limits is completely different... and very strange. This starts a sequence that repeats throughout the series, with the town bell ringing and the town transporting to a new world filled with its own mysteries and dangers. Along the way, the people remaining in the town are just trying to survive - and later trying to figure out exactly what is happening and how to stop it. By the end of Season 1, they find out WHAT is happening, and even a bit of HOW it is happening...

But how can they stop it? CAN they stop it? Will they ever return home? How will they know it is actually home? All of this needs answered, and for those answers we must wait for Season 2 (at least!)...

Noor is an Afghani refugee who fled to a Peshawar refugee camp with her family in 1981. During her families escape from Afghanistan her mother is shot and killed and her death ends up being the reason why the family gets out of the country at all, though they never make their intended destination of America.

Charlie is an American aid worker and war vet who went to Peshawar to lead a demining project. His reasons for being there are kind of shallow as he just wants to earn some money to open a dive shop up in Belize and sees Peshawar as nothing but a good paying gig.

Refuge is the story of an unlikely love that forms between these two characters, but it is also so much more. This book was a quick read for me, it is fast paced and very enjoyable. And while it is a fast read the writing style kind of reminded me of Ken Follett books because there are so many different story lines that are woven together.

I loved reading about the supporting characters just as much as I loved the story between Charlie and Noor. Aamir Khan, Noor's father was a fantastic character. He sacrificed everything for his family and wants only the best for his daughters. Wali works with Charlie on the demining project until there is a tragic accident that leaves him minus a leg and a foot. Elma is a Dutch aid worker who ends up projecting her own relationship failures onto Charlie and Noor. Elma tries to force her will on Noor and when that doesn't work she does something unforgivable.

And then there were the sleazy jerks Tariq and Ivor. Tariq is Noor's brother. He is a religious zealot who was gotten himself involved with the Mujahideen led by a Saudi Price. He is power hungry and thinks the world owes him something and he is perfectly willing to destroy his own family to get it. I actually HATE him. And let us not forget Ivor. Everyone knows he works for the CIA but they aren't quite sure what he does. He is manipulative and self-serving and it is hinted at that he is involved in some very dark business.

Peshawar really comes alive in this book. The descriptions of poverty seemed very real to me and while I read I could easily imagine the crowded city streets, the camps and the markets. This helps to understand what Noor's life is like and why she longs for something better.

I am not going to say much more because it is hard to not give away spoilers so I will just say this. I wasn't upset by the abrupt ending but I also had no idea this was going to be book one in a series. Part of me thinks this is awesome and another part of me screamed NOOOOOO WHY CAN'T THINGS JUST BE HAPPY!

So I have signed up on the author's website to get updates on the arrival of book two and if you liked this book I recommend you do the same.

Lastly, I would like to thank the author for sending me this book as a part of the Goodreads First Reads program.

Book 1 does more than build the world, it sets the hook and launches this five book series by setting an aggressive storytelling pace. For a book to be good, in my opinion, it has to be based on characters than you love and/or love to hate. Night of the Blood Sky makes good on the strong characters from chapter one. Plus, what impresses me about the overall tale is that each book is a self contained story of its own. While each contributes to the greater overall Refuge serial, each episode is a separate, digestible tale with its own beginning, middle, and end.