Author: Dayna Lorentz
Series: #1 - No Safety in Numbers
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: May 29th, 2012
My Rating: 3.0 out of 5.0
When a strange device is discovered in the air ducts of a busy suburban mall, the entire complex is suddenly locked down. No one can leave. No one knows what is going on.
At first, there's the novelty of being stuck in a mega mall with free food and a gift certificate. But with each passing day, it becomes harder to ignore the dwindling supplies, inadequate information, and mounting panic.
Then people start getting sick.
Told from the point of view of two guys and two girls, this is a harrowing look at what can happen under the most desperate of circumstances, when regular people are faced with impossible choices. Some rise to the occasion. Some don't.
And for some - it's too late.
At first, there's the novelty of being stuck in a mega mall with free food and a gift certificate. But with each passing day, it becomes harder to ignore the dwindling supplies, inadequate information, and mounting panic.
Then people start getting sick.
Told from the point of view of two guys and two girls, this is a harrowing look at what can happen under the most desperate of circumstances, when regular people are faced with impossible choices. Some rise to the occasion. Some don't.
And for some - it's too late.
My Review:
No Safety in Numbers is a rather odd book, and while I am mostly on the fence about this book. I was hoping this book would be such a turn around and while there was some potential in this book. I mean what could possibly go wrong with a whole terrorist attack/bombing and a shopping mall. However, there was something that kept me reading a hope that it'd get better, but frankly it just wasn't there.
I am looking at some of the characters, who frankly confuse me. There are those who wander around and manage to survive; those who join gangs to survive; and yet there are those who for some reason are still manning their jobs. Which is what confuses me the most, and makes this whole book start to crumble. I mean I get the whole wandering around and the gang bit, but those who are still at their job is just unbelievable. I can see staying for a few hours, but those staying for more than a day in hopes of getting paid better are just straight ludicrous. In the real world people would abandon their post, and go about their daily life.
Second bit, those inside the mall are way too passive. Lock me in a mall and as people start dying and food running short, there would be a mob. I would be uneasy, and expect answers. Yet in this book, they all seem to stay quarantined like good little sheep and while some start to question the end result is just far too little too late. I honestly can't say it is accurate or remotely realistic.
When people start trying to escape it's not something simple like breaking a ground level window with something. However they try to do something drastic that ends up in either getting them killed or maiming someone. One attempt was trying to climb up through one of the sky windows and it frankly didn't work. There was an attempt at driving a car through one of those lovely garage gates, that ended up driving straight into a cement wall. It was all so silly and dumb, but at while the attempts were made, there just didn't seem much effort or realism behind them.
I would love seeing this book or a similar idea done by a different author. The idea is sound and great, but there's just something off about this version. It was more of a silly dumb book, and while it didn't do it for me, maybe there is a young adult who will enjoy it. Don't get me wrong, I am going to finish the series, against my better judgement. I just wish there was something more and better from this specific novel.
I am looking at some of the characters, who frankly confuse me. There are those who wander around and manage to survive; those who join gangs to survive; and yet there are those who for some reason are still manning their jobs. Which is what confuses me the most, and makes this whole book start to crumble. I mean I get the whole wandering around and the gang bit, but those who are still at their job is just unbelievable. I can see staying for a few hours, but those staying for more than a day in hopes of getting paid better are just straight ludicrous. In the real world people would abandon their post, and go about their daily life.
Second bit, those inside the mall are way too passive. Lock me in a mall and as people start dying and food running short, there would be a mob. I would be uneasy, and expect answers. Yet in this book, they all seem to stay quarantined like good little sheep and while some start to question the end result is just far too little too late. I honestly can't say it is accurate or remotely realistic.
When people start trying to escape it's not something simple like breaking a ground level window with something. However they try to do something drastic that ends up in either getting them killed or maiming someone. One attempt was trying to climb up through one of the sky windows and it frankly didn't work. There was an attempt at driving a car through one of those lovely garage gates, that ended up driving straight into a cement wall. It was all so silly and dumb, but at while the attempts were made, there just didn't seem much effort or realism behind them.
I would love seeing this book or a similar idea done by a different author. The idea is sound and great, but there's just something off about this version. It was more of a silly dumb book, and while it didn't do it for me, maybe there is a young adult who will enjoy it. Don't get me wrong, I am going to finish the series, against my better judgement. I just wish there was something more and better from this specific novel.
