Assessment:
Plot/Idea: Homebound is an enjoyable suspense thriller with well devised central characters and a tense and gripping plot. Packed with relentless dramatic tension, Adkins's storyline is consistently intriguing and maintains the reader's interest throughout.
Prose: Adkins's text is assured and confidently written, building tension effortlessly with sharp and dynamic rhythmic sentences . The attention to detail is extremely convincing, brilliantly helping to augment the level of suspense and impending doom.
Originality: Homebound is a straightforward suspense thriller that is well presented and easy to read. Written with confidence and gusto, Adkins's text remains compelling even if the plot development is at times obvious.
Character/Execution: Written from the perspective of the two main protagonists, father and daughter combo Rob and Ann, the text benefits from exposing these two contrasting viewpoints. Adkins also writes a fine supporting cast of characters who add an element of depth and dynamism to the story.
Date Submitted: July 31, 2024
Rob’s journey finds him grappling with the morality of his actions to protect his daughter, as he navigates through a landscape devoid of transportation and communication, scavenging for resources and avoiding confrontation with those who have turned to violence in the absence of law and order. In the same vein, Ann, increasingly frustrated by campus restrictions, fights the manipulative Sergeant Williams and her violent accomplice, John, in her efforts to return home, fearful that the lockdowns, surveillance, and uncertainty have become her “new world.”
Adkins’s first-person narrative, alternating between Rob and Ann, builds tension effectively, immersing readers in their emotions and experiences, while the novel’s focus on the psychological and emotional effects of the apocalyptic event provides a profound exploration of humanity on the brink of chaos. As Rob reflects that “personal morals will change when you experience enough need, greed, or danger,” he also wonders just how far he’ll go to save Ann, a fear that’s justified as his quest progresses. Homebound is not just a story of survival but a study on the lengths people will go to protect those they love.
Takeaway: A father and daughter fight to reunite after a devastating EMP strike.
Comparable Titles: William R. Forstchen’s One Second After, Harley Tate’s The Darkness Trilogy.
Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-
In Adkins’ novel, a Texas husband, father, and outdoorsman goes on a quest to rescue his daughter from a locked-down university after a mysterious event renders electronics useless.
Middle-aged Rob Anderson is heading toward San Antonio, Texas, on his annual deer-hunting trip when a mysterious “event” causes all electronics, including most motor vehicles, to fail. Communities find themselves cut off from the rest of the world in what Rob correctly intuits is some kind of electromagnetic pulse attack. He quickly foresees supplies running out and society crumbling into violence, banditry, and factionalism; his priority becomes getting to Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, and retrieving Ann as soon as possible. Ann’s campus, meanwhile, has been occupied by Homeland Security forces, who restore some electricity via generators and promise a return to normality—if everyone obeys them. “For as long as I can remember, my family has always been very independent and taught me...to think things through and to not just go along with the crowd,” Ann narrates, and soon her dissent makes her a target as she rebels against the overnight takeover. Early on, Rob, who also narrates, denies that he’s a “prepper,” but his actions seem to prove otherwise; he soon turns lethal to defend himself and his loved ones, and although he finds allies with a similar grassroots ethos of family, God, guts, and ammo, he’s dismayed by the killer he becomes. Over the course of this dystopian thriller, Adkins effectively delivers a narrative that’s more akin to a Kevin Costner vehicle than something inspired by the machismo of Rambo: First Blood Part II or Soldier of Fortune magazine; as a result, this yarn is likely to play well for readers of most, if not all, political persuasions. The author’s pacing and handling of suspense is on-target throughout. By the time the open-ended finale rolls around, readers will find that some key questions remain unanswered, but it won’t stop them from waking up at reveille for likely sequels.
Survivalist what-if fiction that satisfyingly sets up a planned dystopian action-drama series.
Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2024
ISBN: 9798889826958
Page Count: 266
Publisher: Fulton Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Categories:
DYSTOPIAN FICTION | SUSPENSE | GENERAL & DOMESTIC THRILLER
