Kara's Book Cravings: End of Days Series (Books 3-5)

 

If you haven't read my review on the prequel and first two books in the End of Days Series, you might want to go do that now. You can read that post HERE. 

All caught up? Good! Let's dive into books three through five...

GRIP OF TERROR is the 3rd book in this series, and we're back to Cass and Isaac's story. They are still trekking toward her parents' compound, fighting against the weather and the people who are doing whatever it takes to survive -- including robbery and murder. The amount of death they encounter is staggering, but they keep moving, helping those they can along the way. 

Cass's ex is still following her and attacking whenever he gets the opportunity. We also now get a few chapters here and there from his POV, and let me tell you... this dude is disturbed! He believes Cass is his and won't stop until he gets her. 

Thankfully, Isaac is still with her. Between him and her dog, Cass is well protected. Until she falls violently ill. Unable to keep walking, she's on death's doorstep. Isaac is worried about her, but he refuses to leave her. Instead, he carries her until they find shelter that's relatively safe, and then he goes in search of medicine to help her. Which means this is the perfect opportunity for the ex to attack again.

And this is when I go back to Amazon and one-click book 4. Considering I'm still waiting in the ER with my daughter, and we're going to be there for another couple of hours, what else do I have to do, right? 

GRIP OF DEATH is the fourth book, and we're once again shifted back to Charlie and Harper's alternating POVs. This time, I was prepared for this shift, and this book was much more engaging. We get to see all the small town politics in action, and having grown up in a small town myself (population less than 1,500), I found the events in this book very relatable. From the town hall meetings to the "let's come together as a community to help each other" to the church involvement... everything was spot-on. 

I did ask myself, though, why I'm bothering to read these books if I prefer Cass and Isaac's story. At first, I wasn't sure why. Maybe morbid curiosity? I don't know, but by the end of this book -- I knew. Cass and Isaac are headed straight for this town, and when they arrive, they're going to be in for quite the shock.

We see Charlie go home to her parents' compound to ask for help (she currently lives with her grandmother in town), and they turn her away. The relationship between the parents and the two girls (Cass and Charlie) isn't all rainbows and sunshine. That leads me to wonder if Cass will be welcome when she finally arrives. 

Also, Harper the nurse is fighting against small town politics to keep the local hospital open, and she's losing. People are fighting for food and medical supplies. The town sheriff has quit to form a rogue militant group to protect the town. And the townspeople are drinking contaminated water, which is causing a massive sickness outbreak. 

So, if you're keeping track... I've read the prequel and the first four books so far. I'm still sitting in the ER, and well, you know what happens next. I go back to Amazon for book 5. 

GRIP OF MADNESS is the fifth book in this series. Usually, by this point in any series, things start to feel repetitive and somewhat stale, but not with this series! This just keeps getting better and better, and every page leaves me wondering what's going to happen next. 

As I'd predicted, the four different POV character stories finally merge as Cass and Isaac make it to the small town where Charlie and Harper are living. Things are even bleaker than before. The former town sheriff turned militia-man is wreaking havoc on the town. He and his "merry band of idiots" (as Harper calls them) decided to raid the prepper compound for supplies. Things didn't work out quite as he'd planned, and now the struggling hospital is even fuller. I have a feeling things are going to get a lot more tense now that ex-Marine Isaac is in town. 

By the time I finished this book, my Kindle battery died. *sigh* I was stuck in the ER for another hour or so after, and my phone battery was dying, too. In total, I spent 12+ hours in the ER, which sucked! But, I'm daughter is fine, and I had the chance to read what's so far a really fantastic series. 

Stay tuned for my thoughts on the remaining three books in this series. And then I have some thoughts about the overall format from a marketing standpoint.