Death, Storms, and Travelling
3.5 out of 5 stars
I had to take a little time from finishing this book to gather my thoughts. I would say that the book was average with some parts that were a little better than average and others that were below, which of course… averages out. Druga writes a ton of Post-Apocalyptic stories with themes running from zombies to EMPs and even the return of God. The cover art on all of them is great (after posting I think I’ll look up who her artist is). And they always get me to add them to my TBR pile.
That being said, I’ll get into my review of 10:37. When I started this I was a little worried it would be similar to Last Days that I finished recently — a little too much religion for me (even if the story revolved around genetics and science-y type stuff). It wasn’t (too much) but it still had some religious parts to it.
One of the coolest parts for me was that one of the places it showed was Pittsburgh where I visited many times in my college days and even more after college and one of the main characters talked about driving down through Erie where I’m originally from. It’s nice to read about some of the rust belt cities in books like this since they are usually too small to write about.
The good of this book revolved around the character development and the storms. I wish there was a little more about the storms and how they developed, but with average everyday people surviving — there wasn’t someone there that could actually explain what was happening. Ironically, I watched Geostorm with my wife last night and that seemed to be about the same or similar issue.
The characters were likable and not depending on the situation they were thrown into. Some of them were up in the air from the beginning and I wasn’t sure how they would come back. While others were incredibly likable from the start and stayed that way throughout. Druga seems to excel at creating worlds that are both believable and a little shocking at the same time. 10:37 seemed no different.
The actual event was crazy. I won’t give too much away, but it was really well written and shown from numerous points of view. I wasn’t sure what had happened and neither were the characters. The absolute loss of life was staggering too. I’d be curious to read another book (or even a paragraph) explaining how much life was actually lost. I hoped that Druga would cover that in the epilogue but she didn’t.
Overall, a seemingly new take on the post-apocalyptic genre and a mid-grade Cli-Fi book (a term I just learned recently) with good character building and an interesting world.
This was my first audiobook narrated by Kyle Tait and I thought he did a really nice job. I had no issues following the story and thought that he helped make the story.
Book Description:
10:37 by Jacqueline Druga Narrator: Kyle Tait
Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
Published by Self Published on November 7th 2017
Genres: Post-Apocalyptic
Pages: 186
Format: Audiobook
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In a single moment of time, ninety percent of the world's population drops dead. Throats closing, they choke, and unable to breathe, they die within seconds. It is just the beginning.
Judd Bryant, a survivor who does not succumb to the horrendous death, is a talented man with a zest for living. He faces his darkest hour until he finds a purpose in the form of Dawson, an eight-year-old boy with an unusual gift.The unlikely pair set out to find others, only to realize that each passing day is increasingly more dangerous than the one before. Their road becomes an obstacle course filled with unimaginable disasters.
I received this book for free. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Also by this author: What Tomorrow Brings, Last Days, No Man's Land, FaultedAbout the Author:
Jacqueline Druga is a native of Pittsburgh, Pa. She is a prolific writer and filmmaker. Her published works include genres of all types but favors post-apocalypse and apocalypse writing. Currently, she is in production of Beginnings Web series, which can be found on Amazon Prime.
A single mother of four, Jacqueline is also a musician. She resides in a small town outside of Pittsburgh with her family. Of all her accomplishments, Jacqueline is most proud of being a grandmother. Her grandchildren reside with her and are the light of her life.
I’m going to try a few audiobooks this year. 6 1/2 hours sounds like a good length to me. I tried one before and it was 17 1/2 hours long. I read quickly and though the narrator was good, it sounded too slow and I became frustrated.
Yeah, I feel like I’m one of the outsiders. I really enjoy a good 6-8 hour audiobook.
The easiest recommendation for audiobooks is The Martian (RC Bray is a freaking master). Also, I really liked Sleep Over recently, I keep thinking about it even after finishing 3 more books after it.