Well I'll be damned. I have no idea what I was expecting buying this on sale from Audible and totally judged it based on the cover art- but what actually happened totally caught me off guard in the best possible way .

Not only is Carey a skilled writer throwing in painterly descriptions with palpable emotions which contribute to strong, realistic characters- but the pandemic that has affected the world and essentially created a worldwide zombie army, is fully backed by specific scientific details. I totally believed it.

I should say I don't frequent sci-fi reads, mostly because it's not believable. I don't want to be removed from the real world, I want to be scared with the accuracy of a fictional alternative. I thought it couldn't get better than [a:Emily St. John Mandel|2786093|Emily St. John Mandel|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1397057120p2/2786093.jpg]'s [b:Station Eleven|20170404|Station Eleven|Emily St. John Mandel|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1451446835s/20170404.jpg|28098716] and yet Carey's novel comes dangerously close.

I was terrified on behalf of the characters' well-being and scared as a human who could also be overtaken by a deadly fungus. Very hard to put down. Can't wait for the next one.