Book Review: After the Cure

I grabbed After the Cure by Deirdre Gould eons ago when it was free on Amazon as a kindle. It hung about on my kindle for months until I went on vaca. Ahh, sweet time to read.

Basic Summary (Courtesy of Amazon):

Eight years ago the December Plague swept through the human population of earth. The Infected were driven mad by the disease, becoming violent and cannibalistic, killing even those closest to them without hesitation.

Six years ago, the tiny surviving community of Immune humans found a cure, and the Infected began to wake up and realize what they’d done. And what had been done to them.

Over time, society began to rebuild itself. Now it is ready to judge those responsible for the Plague. Nella Rider, the court psychologist, and Frank Courtlen, a defense attorney, are trying to establish the truth. But more depends on it than they know. They race to find the answers they need before the fragile remains of humanity vanish for good.

My thoughts:

I really liked this take on a zombie apoc book. The crisis is over. Everyone is back to human. All that’s left is to live with the memory of the things you did. What can I say, I love a good psychological thriller. And this was.

The pacing was a little lacking for me. A bit repetitive and sometimes felt illogical. But it wasn’t bad enough to make me stop reading. I did like the characters. I liked some of the things casually mentioned and wished they had been explored more fully.

I wasn’t really all that shocked by the twist. It was obvious but at the same time I wasn’t disappointed either. Perhaps the writer wanted you to know. If so, well done. LOL

Then we get to the end. And the whole thing was ruined for me. It was a fab book. But she jams in the teaser for the sequel. Which makes everything the two main characters just managed to pull off worthless. The whole book was for nothing. Why did I read this exactly?

I get it. Every indie and small press, heck even medium press author is being told “think series, that’s how you get and keep readers.” I feel the pressure too. In this case, it smacked of marketing ploy and defeat. I hated it. Made me not want to read the rest of the series.

Perhaps if you read this book, stop before the last chapter. LOL