I received a copy of this title from LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review.
I was very pleasantly surprised by this title. I have read a lot of apocalyptic fiction (a lot!) and it has been very hard lately to find a new approach to the genre but Hill’s take on the end of the world was a very welcome and entertaining read. The main character is mid-career IT professional Will Hale, who is teaching a seminar in an unfamiliar city when he and his students start feeling sick. When Hale wakes up, he has no idea how long he was ill or what has happened around him. Hill shines when he is describing the psychological progression that his character goes through as the realization that everyone around him is dead becomes apparent. A large portion of the novel consists of flashbacks that relay Hale’s history, underscoring the importance of his family to his ongoing mental stability and overall well being. Hill’s approach to how an everyday person with no survival training would be able to function in a world turned upside down with no warning is extremely well done. No zombies, cannibals, or meteors, just an unknown illness and a desperate desire to get back to loved ones. ( )

Desolation is about a plague that kills off most of humanity. It's a bit boring, as there is no real action or danger. Just one man trying to get back home, and the boring details of going to convenience stores or auto dealers and stealing a truck. No zombies. The ending was a downer, but it's honest. ( )

I loved the descriptions of Will discovering what had happened and figuring out things. I thought the author did a great job of helping us figure out what had happened along with Will. I was definitely rooting for him all along the way. The ending was disappointing and made me feel like my investment in the story was left hanging. ( )

Desolation by Brian Hill isn't what I thought it would be. I expected a physical journey as Will tries to get home. This was more of a mental journey. It was well-written and engaging. The author did a good job of keeping interest in this mental journey. The ending...NOPE, not my cup of tea. I won't say more so as not to spoil it for others. I just found it highly disturbing.

Poor. a quick ripoff from Covid if it were worse, but not believable, and lacking plot or details. I think it's attempting to be a techno-thriller, but throwing in a few bits of how to use search engines doesn't qualify for this, and the only suspense or thrill is in whether the protagonists family also survive. Something the reader really doesn't care about. The family are only introduced through a series of flashbacks (a writing style I detest), late on. Other than the flashbacks it is at least competently written without obvious grammar and spelling errors.

An IT teacher recovers from a severe virus to find he's the only one who's survived in an entire city. He attempts to make his way home rather than look for other survivors, and does so by cooking himself hamburgers from scratch despite admitting to not having any cooking skills. Also involves a very convoluted way of breaking toughened glass instead of just hitting it with a hammer.

Poor do not bother. ( )