Resurrection Day

Resurrection Day (Brendan DuBois)


Ooooh, I did not like this book. The setting is interesting - it's the 1970s, and America is still reeling after a nuclear exchange during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In this world, the US got hit by enough nukes to destroy Washington DC, NYC, Florida, and, um, Omaha, Nebraska, losing 10 -12 million people, while the USSR was completely destroyed in return.
The problem is the execution. There's a passage I just couldn't get past where our hero is explaining to a Brit that America feels guilty, comparing the nuclear exchange to when a neighborhood bully throws trash into your yard and in return you shoot him, murder his family and burn his house down. My problem here is that the person saying this had his entire family killed in the incident he describes as "throwing trash in your yard". On top of that, a big part of his character is that he was in the Army doing radiation cleanup and saw horrible things that haunt him to this day. So would he be comparing all of his family dying and the haunting, terrible aftermath that makes up his largest character trait as throwing trash in someone's yard? What?
One more complaint and I'm done. The author hints that England is getting ready to invade the US, taking advantage of the US' weakness even 10 years on after the bombs and missiles fell. However, the author also states that the US is now the only nuclear power left in the world, with all the other countries having voluntarily given up their nukes. I couldn't get past this either: England is going to militarily challenge and attempt to invade the world's only nuclear power? What?
(To be fair, maybe the Brits have some counter measure, like they secretly have their own nukes - but the author attempts to build tension by hinting at this invasion, and since he does not address the nuke issue, this comes off as a damp squib and frankly a waste of pages.)
Take a pass on this one.


Grade: D-