I like post-apocalyptic novels as much as the next guy, jeez, Hunter Shea certainly takes the cake for bleak!

Don’t let that scare you away, though. Shea’s Tortures of the Damned is a damn fine read, and one that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

The book is about a devastating attack on the East Coast, where the power goes off, and then we are hit with a chemical attack. The chemicals kill most living things in the area…but those left alive are contaminated, and quite different.

The action centers around Yonkers, where the Padilla family and their neighbors, Buck and Alexiana DeCarlo, are trying to survive in this new world thrust upon them. With Daniel, the patriarch of the family, trapped in the city when every goes down, he makes it his mission to get back to his family. He sees the madness grip the citizens of the city first hand, as they trample and stampede their way to their own safety, with no regard for anyone else.

The eldest Padilla sibling, Rey, works at the nearby racetrack, and watches as a noxious cloud of chemicals seep in, and change the usually docile horses into something…else. Once he and Dakota, his crush, escape from the turned animals, they make their way back to the Padilla residence, along with Daniel, to regroup.

Buck Clark invites the entire Padilla clan into his bomb shelter, which he built way back when, just in case something like this ever happened. Though they are all safe inside, within a few days, they get restless, and need medicine. The world they venture out into is not the same as the one they knew before, however.

I’ve read a lot of post-apocalyptic novels in my life. Most of them are good, but sometimes, after so many, things begin to blur, and they all look the same. However, Shea brings something new to the table, with making the adversaries not zombies, per se. Instead, different animals, usually harmless to us, have turned into blood-thirsty, rampaging killers. Rats attack in a gigantic group, trying to get to them. Hawks attack from above. Family pets are not family killers. It’s really quite disturbing.

And Shea does a great job of turning the own thriving cityscape into a desolate wasteland, of sorts. The few survivors that do roam the streets are a bit off, and it shows the lack of hope and massive despair that has overtaken the city.

I enjoyed the characters, for the most part, but at times, they seemed pretty one-dimensional, with each person bringing their own “skill” into the fold, to help the rest survive during these crazy times. That said, there was enough there for me to care about each one, and the really stand out characters really DID stand out.

Shea also knows his way around an action sequence, as well, keeping me reading more and more, even well past my bed time. And I wasn’t joking earlier about being bleak…this novel does have its triumphs, but they are usually ripped away shortly after but a massive punch straight to the gut.

I have to be honest, I’ve never read Shea before, but after Tortures of the Damned, I will be making my way through his back catalog. This book is fast-paced, full of tense moments, and well worth the read. Definitely check it out.

Thank you to Hook of a Book Media & Publicity for providing me with a review copy of this, in exchange for an honest review.

You can purchase Tortures of the Damned on Amazon, and where ever books are sold.