Smorgasbord Posts from My Archives – Past Book Reviews 2019/2020 – #PostApocalyptic – Blackthorn by Terry Tyler

I have read some amazing books in the last two years and I would like to share them again with you, updated with the authors most recent releases and their biography.

As a fan of Terry Tyler’s Project Renova series and follow on novels, I was looking forward to Blackthorn set 115 years after the virus wiped out most of humanity. And I was not disappointed.

Please note that Blackthorn will be FREE between 23rd – 27th January 2021.

About the book

The UK, year 2139.

One hundred and fifteen years ago, a mysterious virus wiped out ninety-five per cent of humanity.

Blackthorn, the largest settlement in England, rose from the ashes of the devastated old world. It is a troubled city, where the workers live in crude shacks, and make do with the worst of everything.

It is a city of violent divisions, crime, and an over-populated jail block, until a charismatic traveller has a miraculous vision, and promises to bring hope back to the people’s lives.

Blackthorn falls under Ryder Swift’s spell, and the most devoted of all is the governor’s loyal servant, Lieutenant August Hemsley.

Twenty-one-year-old Evie has lived her whole life in the shacks. She and disillusioned guard Byron Lewis are two of a minority who have doubts about Ryder’s message. Can they stand against the beliefs of an entire city?

My review for Blackthorn December 2019

I have read all the books in the Project Renova Series that follow the survivors of a virus that wipes out most of the population of the UK. Blackthorn has risen from the ashes and promises sanctuary in return for hard labour and obedience.

Characters in this book set  a hundred and fifteen years after the outbreak, carry familiar names to those we have met before in previous books, and some bear the traits of their ancestors, occupying positions of power, often by manipulation and violence such as the governor Wolf Thorn. This familiarity extends to include the narrators of the book, loyal lieutenant to the governor August Hemsley, Evie from the poverty ridden shacks, and Byron Lewis one of the colony’s guards.

Despite harsh rules and their enforcement, Blackthorn is a troubled colony and Wolf Thorn is looking for resolution. This miraculously appears when charismatic traveler Ryder Swift brings the promise of redemption and faith to the citizens, from the humble shacks of the disillusioned and impoverished workers, right into the governor’s mansion.

Very few can deny the fire and passion that this golden-haired orator brings to the people, and with only a few dissenters, massive changes begin to take place in the dynamics of the colony. Some of which hide an evil and deceit that only a handful begin to glimpse behind the fanfare.

As with all Terry Tyler’s books, the characters are believable, even when they are not likeable.The world that they live in is vividly portrayed and you are invited to utilise all your senses to appreciate the living conditions from Stinky Bottom to the relative luxury of the shacks to the dank prison blocks.

This post apocalyptic world is not a comfortable one to inhabit, whether behind the walls of Blackthorn, or out in the small settlements struggling to survive nature and predatory gangs. You might grow enough food, but there is always someone coming along who is willing to use violence to take it from you. This encourages people to put up with the bare existence in the confines of Blackthorn, in return for its relative safety.  To turn a blind eye to the dark nature of those in charge, and to accept without question the miracle that is being offered to them of a brighter future.

Can those with doubts change the direction that this reformation is taking? Or will they disappear as so many have before them?

When I have finished a book I like to think about what I have taken away from the story. Clearly we live in a world today that seems often to have a very thin veneer of civilisation, but the reality is that we do have structure, most of us have access to education and health care,and live in safety. Billions of us are privileged and have more than enough for our needs, and yet there is always that drive to have more.

But all it takes is one virus!

You can try to imagine what it would be like to survive in a world where all that we possess and love has been stripped away, or you can read Blackthorn and the other Project Renova stories and get a disturbingly believable look at the future. #Recommended

Read the reviews and buy the book: Amazon UK – and: Amazon US

A selection of other books by Terry Tyler

Read the reviews and buy the books:Amazon UK – And : Amazon US – Follow Terry Tyler: Goodreads – Blog: Terry Tyler Blogspot – Twitter:@TerryTyler4

About Terry Tyler

Terry Tyler is the author of twenty-one books available from Amazon, the latest being ‘Wasteland’, the sequel to ‘Hope’. She is currently working on ‘The Visitor’, a post-apocalyptic murder mystery set in the same world as her Project Renova series. Proud to be independently published, she is also an avid reader and book reviewer, and a member of Rosie Amber’s Book Review Team.

Terry is a Walking Dead addict, and has a great interest in history (particularly 14th-17th century), and all things post-apocalyptic/sociological/cultural/anthropological, generally. She loves South Park, Netflix binges, and going for long walks in quiet places where there are lots of trees. She lives in the north east of England with her husband.

 

Thanks for dropping in today and I hope you have enjoyed my review of Terry’s book and will head over to Amazon to check out all of her work.. thanks Sally.