Review: Chasers (Alone #1)

Chasers (Alone #1) by James Phelan
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian
Release Date: November 2010
Buy Links:

Amazon

Book Description:

The trip of a lifetime just turned into the end of the world.

When Jesse crawls out of the wreckage of a subway car and emerges into daylight, he’s greeted by a living nightmare. 

An unexplained force has destroyed New York City, turning skyscrapers into ash, cutting off all power and communication.

Jesse and his new friends, Dave, Anna and Mini are dazed but unhurt. The other survivors are not so lucky. 

Every human being they encounter is infected, gripped by an unquenchable thirst that drives them to monstrous acts of violence.

Somehow, Jesse has to escape. But first, he has to stay alive.

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Chasers by James Phelan wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but I’m actually glad about that. I’ve read a lot of Dystopian type books and so many of them have similar plots. But Chasers was different. I really liked Jesse. As far as main characters go he’s incredibly relatable and I like that he’s got fears and is full of uncertainty. I mean for god sake the world was just attacked and blown up!

Phelan did a great job of keeping the story moving, from the very first chapter Chasers was action packed and full of intrigue. I genuinely enjoyed the plot of this book and the thought of all these kids living in the Rainbow room is pretty awesome. I enjoyed how Phelan showed the day-to-day activities and how now that the world was in ruins they needed to change the way they did things.

It’s interesting to see what changes in people and how things that weren’t always important become important in disaster. I’ve gotta say the twist towards the end of the book was not something I was expecting at all, but it totally explains something that was bugging me through the entire book. And it Blew. My. Mind. For real.

I was literally stunned and had to re-read a few pages to make sure that what I was reading was what I was reading if that even makes sense. So, bravo Phelan, you totally through me for a loop and I loved every second of it. Also I want to know what’s going on with those Chasers who waved. I thought that was hilarious and interesting.

All in all I really enjoyed this book especially the end and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good dystopian novel. I devoured this novel in a day and I’m looking forward to reading book two as soon as I can get my hands on it!

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Author Bio:

James Phelan was born on the 21st of May, 1979, in Melbourne, Australia. His creative spirit was nurtured from a young age, and he credits his overactive imagination to being exposed to authors such as Roald Dahl and Paul Jennings, as well as such works as The Hobbit, Treasure Island, The Jungle Book, Tales of the Punjab, Siddhartha, and The Little Prince.

As a teenager James discovered a love of geo-political thrillers, of being entertained and informed on topical global events. James cites influences on the Fox series from reading such authors as Alistair MacLean, Clive Cussler, Jeffery Archer, Ken Follett, Tom Clancy, Jack Higgins, Robert Ludlum, John le Carre, Ian Fleming, and Jeffery Deaver.

In 1995, aged fifteen, James started his first novel, which he went on to develop as part of his major VCE English assignment in 1996. A thriller involving a terrorist attack on the 2000 Sydney Olympics, James eventually abandoned the storyline when Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six was published in 1998. While this story idea died, the lead protagonists of Lachlan Fox and Alister Gammaldi lived on as James went in search of another introductory tale for these series characters.

After high school James went on to study in Architecture, and then English Literature, eventually graduating with a PhD in Writing. It was during his masters degree and while working at The Age newspaper James developed the idea that would become his first published book, and would lead to seeing his novels in print.

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