Apocalypse Idaho by Rich Lundeen

*Note: This review was originally published on GoodReads on May 28, 2015, but has been edited since. You can read the original review here.*

The Good:
Apocalypse Idaho gave the appearance that it was going to be pretty straight forward horror novel in the beginning, but it took some weird turns with the quickness. The weird turns were great! I appreciated that aspect about the book; I never truly saw where the story was heading which kept me engaged. The characters seemed like a well-rounded demographic. The way they played off of each other lent itself to some much needed comedic relief in what could ultimately be seen as a treacherous fate for the town of Rockwell (even if it was a little ridiculous, in a good way). I laughed out loud at many parts of this book, and the humor was right up my alley. 

The Bad:
Not much bad with book, per se. The typical typos that come with a self-published book took me out of the story momentarily, but I could generally overlook that. I know the digital versions have since been corrected. What I will point out is this: with the marriage of Johnny and Autumn Sparks freshly dissolved, I can understand that it would take time for one or both parties involved to adjust - Autumn clearly moved on but Johnny didn't. To me I didn't feel Johnny's need to find Autumn as urgent as I probably should have. I felt like he cared to find her because he felt like he should, like it was his responsibility, I didn't necessarily get the true sense of "love." Johnny's portrayal as the good person he was makes sense to me, and for that reason I could see him trying to find Autumn to ensure her safety and survival, but coming from a relationship standpoint I never quite felt as if he wanted to save the marriage and his wife as much as he believed he should. That was a heavy weight to carry throughout the narrative, and I don't feel like Johnny's driving force forcefully drove him.

I will say that the line "It's like a Michael Bay movie where the camera is shaky and the plot unintelligible" on page 137 had me laughing pretty hard and made the entire read worth it.

The Judgement: 
Apocalypse Idaho was a fun book and presented itself in an interesting way with its phrasing and pop culture references. Never once was I bored or felt like I was growing tired of where the story would lead. I enjoyed the book and I look forward to at the very least checking out anything that Rich Lundeen writes in the future.

3 stars out of 5

You can purchase the trade paperback or digital version of Apocalypse Idaho here.