Rage Within by Jeyn Roberts

 

Published: September 2012

Published: Simon and Schuster

Pages: 368

Copy: Library

Summary: Goodreads

In this apocalyptic sequel to Dark Inside’s “well-balanced, realistic suspense” (Kirkus Reviews), four teens continue the struggle for survival as they face a world gone mad.

Aries, Clementine, Mason and Michael have survived the first wave of the apocalypse that wiped out most of the world’s population, and turned many of the rest into murderous Baggers. Now, they’re hiding out in an abandoned house in Vancouver with a ragtag group of surviving teens, and trying to figure out their next move.

Aries is trying to lead, but it’s hard to be a leader when there are no easy answers, and every move feels wrong. Clementine is desperate to find her brother Heath, but it’s impossible to know where he’d be, even if he is still alive. Michael is still haunted by the memories of his actions during his harrowing struggle to survive. And Mason is struggling with something far worse: the fear that he may be a danger to his friends.

As the Baggers begin to create a new world order, Aries, Clementine, Mason and Michael will have to trust and rely on each other in order to survive.

It has taken me a while to get around to reading this sequel to Dark Inside, not sure why.  Yet again, Ms. Roberts takes the reader on a wild ride.  We get to reconnect with the characters and situations that occurred

The events occur in a complex apocalyptic future and are narrated through the eyes of 4 teens, Mason, Michael, Clementine and Aries.  Then there is 'Nothing' who narrates the odd chapter and really gives me the collywobbles.  Who is this Nothing?  Is he/she going to betray the others? At the end of the second book, we still don't know, so I'm assuming there will be a big reveal in #3. 

With so many different pov's I find it a little confusing sometimes, and I have to admit that it took me several chapters to get back into the world and remember what had happened.  I do have one question though.  If the 'Baggers' are supposed to be so violent, mad and sociopathic, how come they are the ones that are getting organized and running around in all white vans, and not the 'regular' survivors?  I'm still not sure about that one.

There are some interesting events that occur - no spoilers this time and the action is yet again tense and engrossing, but I didn't find Rage Within quite as spellbinding as Dark Inside.  I'd definitely recommend it for lovers of the genre though.  Just make sure you read the series in order, or you will be completely lost.

Dark Inside by Jeyn roberts

Published: November 2011

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Pages: 352

Copy: Received for Review

Summary: Goodreads

Since mankind began, civilizations have always fallen: the Romans, the Greeks, the Aztecs…Now it’s our turn. Huge earthquakes rock the world. Cities are destroyed. But something even more awful is happening. An ancient evil has been unleashed, turning everday people into hunters, killers, crazies.

Mason's mother is dying after a terrible car accident. As he endures a last vigil at her hospital bed, his school is bombed and razed to the ground, and everyone he knows is killed. Aries survives an earthquake aftershock on a bus, and thinks the worst is over when a mysterious stranger pulls her out of the wreckage, but she’s about to discover a world changed forever. Clementine, the only survivor of an emergency town hall meeting that descends into murderous chaos, is on the run from savage strangers who used to be her friends and neighbors. And Michael witnesses a brutal road rage incident that is made much worse by the arrival of the police--who gun down the guilty party and then turn on the bystanding crowd.

Where do you go for justice when even the lawmakers have turned bad? These four teens are on the same road in a world gone mad. Struggling to survive, clinging on to love and meaning wherever it can be found, this is a journey into the heart of darkness – but also a journey to find each other and a place of safety.

'Dark Inside' was a powerful read. It was very dark indeed, but I felt that there was always a tiny spark of hope that kept going, for the characters and the reader.  Most apocalyptic novels start several years after the 'event', but not this one - the event is the book. 

The story is written in four voices, those of Mason, Aries, Clementine and Michael, so it really is four separate stories.  There is so much going on that just occasionally I had to stop and re-organize my thoughts over who was who and doing what, but ultimately, it was fairly easy to sort out and extremely interesting to see the same event from four different perspectives.  Each of the characters is struggling to cope with total upheaval and the dangers of insipient madness.  Why have most of the survivors gone crazy? Was the event natural? What caused it?  Lots of questions.  There are other characters who come and go - some nasty, some surprising, some sad, but all interesting. The story is extremely fast paced and gripping.  My heart was pounding as the kids escape from the 'baggers' by the skin of their teeth.

At different times throughout the book I felt I was channeling Stephen King (the Stand), Terry Brooks (Armageddon's Children) and Susan Beth Pfeffer (Life As We Knew It), but while the story reminded me of each of them, ultimately, it was really nothing like them at all. Leanna over at Daisy Chain Book Reviews (check out her wonderful review) classed Dark Inside as "apocalyptic horror all the way - very dark and brutal, truly scary and not for the faint of heart", in one of her comments and I couldn't agree more.  It is an absolute must for fans of apocalyptic fiction - I'm sure you'll love it as much as I did. Dark Inside is the first in a trilogy and I for one can't wait for the next installment.