H10N1 - M. R. Cornelius

RATING: THREE STARS

The world has been thrown into disarray by a coordinated terrorist attack that unleashed the deadly Korean Influenza virus, H10N1, across the globe. Not even the terrorists could have predicted just how destructive the virus would be and humans have been all but eradicated. There are just a few thousand left across the world and civilisation has ended. There are no workers to produce new foods, medicines and electricity. The lucky survivors are fighting for whatever is left, desperate for help from the scant few hospitals that are still able to provide it.

Dr. Taeya Sanchez is one such medic and works in one of America's last remaining hospitals. The staff there are overworked and the only way they are able to help their patients is through assisted suicide, making the pain of H10N1 disappear forever. When Taeya finally has enough and speaks out against the new regime, she is forced to flee her sanctuary at the hospital. She is plunged into a brave new world that is ruled by the gun, surviving only because of the help of an unlikely alliance with a defecting supply gather, Rick DeAngelo.

The Good
M. R. Cornelius has done a fair job with this story and both of the main protagonists are interesting, telling the story from different mindsets. They quickly form a love-hate relationship which Cornelius develops throughout the book as their friendship turns into something more, despite both of them not really wanting it to and disbelieving that the other likes them in a romantic way.

The story itself is also exciting, with lots of action and surprise events, but Cornelius has stayed away from the traditional viewpoints of post-apocalyptic worlds. The book isn't all about violence and people fighting for resources, which features in the book only as pivotal events. Instead, the book is more of a journey of self-redemption, love and survival, which is nicely refreshing.

The Bad
Sadly, some of the characters in H10N1 are a bit bland and stereotypical. Some of them are villains for no real reason and do things which don't actually benefit anyone, even the antagonist themselves. This does make the book slightly implausible at times and, as a reader, I just had to suspend my disbelief and roll with it.

Cornelius' prose it also lacking in description and focuses more on events and dialogue. This does help keep the story moving at quite a fast pace, but it's difficult to imagine the world around the characters some of the time and he often uses generic description to set the scene, such as 'cars pulling up in a forest.'

My Thoughts
Overall though, H10N1 was an interesting read and I enjoyed it. It was more of a story about love and redemption than a grisly post-apocalyptic horror of murder and violence and M. R. Cornelius has a few nice ideas about what living in such a world would be like.