It began with a bear trap. In terrible pain, teenager Andrew can hardly take another step when he discovers a cabin in the middle of the woods. Is there anyone inside? Will they shoot him now that the world has slipped into an apocalypse that’s claimed 75% or more of the population? Andrew decides he’ll chance it, and meets another boy his age, also alone.

This boy named Jamieson or Jamie for short, is organised. He even has electricity from solar panels on the roof. Before she died of the flu, Jamie’s mum taught him to hunt, cook, dress wounds and anything else he might need in the looming disaster for the world.

At first wary of each other, Andrew and Jamie slowly begin to relax in each other’s company. Andrew is carrying a terrible secret, and is 100% sure this good Samaritan who took him in and probably saved his life – will hate what he has done.

Jamie is struggling with the things he can’t do, even in order to save his own life. Sure, he’s a big guy for his age but his outsides don’t portray his insides – a gentle, kind, scared teenage boy.

Together, they are faced with armed packs of people – keen to take all they have, hungry exotic wild animals, white supremacists, and those who the apocalypse have sent mad. Their internal battles involve being gay and falling in love with a straight guy, toting a rifle they believe they will never fire, and the aftermath of decisions made in a moment.

A journey, first made in atonement, then in response to a kindness, leads them across the Eastern Seaboard. Challenges are thrown in their way by nature, other survivors, and their building confusion about each other. In the end it is others and a terrible event that finally shakes them into acting on their feelings.

Not just another apocalypse story, Erik J Brown’s love story held me from cover to cover. The unspoken feelings between these uncertain teenage boys were tense and made me yell – “Oh my god, just tell him already!” The action scenes made me gasp out loud and read faster, and the storyline was never predictable (besides their attraction).

I have to admit, with so many apocalypse movies out there, I was expecting a stray zombie or two. It was much more realistic without them, especially as the flu that hit the world’s population in this book, came after Covid. The author didn’t originally want to have Covid mentioned, but it made the whole plot even more real.

People have gathered together in groups, some violent, some controlling and some possibly as normal as they could be in the circumstances. Even without zombies, the setting is a scary place, not knowing what is around the corner, who might be watching them from abandoned towns they pass through, or what they might find when looking for a place to sleep for the night, as they travel.

Looking forward to the sequel – The Only Light Left Burning out in Aust/NZ Late May 2024 

Author – Erik J Brown

Age – 12+

(2022, Hachette, Apocalypse, Flu, Virus, Annihilation, Population slashed, Queer Romance, LGBTQ+, Fear, Love, Hope, Kindness, Wild Animals, Travelling on Foot, White Supremacists, Bigot, Guns, Running from Danger, Eastern Seaboard, Survival, Control, Power, Civilisation, Duology, Series, Action, Regret, Secrets, Dystopian)