Author: John Gilstrap
Genre: Fiction/Mystery & Thriller
Publisher: Kensington Books
Publication Date: February 23, 2021
Book Description: From John Gilstrap, the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Jonathan Grave novels, comes Crimson Phoenix—first in the new Victoria Emerson Thriller series. With America brought to the brink of destruction, one woman becomes the last hope of a nation and its people . . .
Victoria Emerson is a congressional member of the U. S. House of Representatives for the state of West Virginia. Her aspirations have always been to help her community and to avoid the ambitious power plays of her peers in Washington D. C. Then Major Joseph McCrea appears on her doorstep and uses the code phrase Crimson Phoenix, meaning this is not a drill. The United States is on the verge of nuclear war. Victoria must accompany McCrea to a secure bunker. She cannot bring her family.
A single mother, Victoria refuses to abandon her three teenage sons. Denied entry to the bunker, they nonetheless survive the nuclear onslaught that devastates the country. The land is nearly uninhabitable. Electronics have been rendered useless. Food is scarce. Millions of scared and ailing people await aid from a government that is unable to regroup, much less organize a rescue from the chaos.
Rating: 2 Stars
Mini-Review: The premise of this book had all the makings of great dystopian novel. When the story opens we meet Victoria who is a congresswoman, and she is being escorted with two of her sons to a secure location, because the world is on the verge of nuclear war.
The setup for this story, sounds great, however the story fall short of the high level I was expecting. For the majority of the book, I felt like I had more questions than answers the entire time I was reading. It was confusing with multiple characters, and we were never really told how this war even starts.
This is the start to a new series, maybe it will get better, however, I will not be continuing on, as I actually don’t really care to find the answers to questions the author left with us.
Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Obsessed Bookaholic 