*contains spoilers*
This book was good, but it was also lacking in places. The idea of the book was fantastic. As far as "vampire" books go, this one was definitely one of the most original ones I've ever read.
The basic premise is this:
Suddenly, for no apparent reason that anyone can fathom, all of the kids all over the world start dropping dead. Sick kids, healthy kids, black kids, white kids, smart kids, and dumb kids -- any kid who has yet to hit puberty -- including those still in the womb -- suddenly just die. The world, of course, is thrown into panic and chaos. There aren't enough funeral parlors or mortuaries to handle every dead child in the world, so large, mass graves are dug by city workers and volunteers, and the children are laid to rest inside of them. Furthermore, there aren't enough paramedics or trained personnel to pick up the dead, so the job falls to more volunteers and the city's sanitation workers -- the garbagemen, in other words.
Some people blame science/body chemistry/etc. Others claim it is a divine punishment from God. Whatever the reason, the fact remains that all the children are dead, and because the unborn children still in the womb are dying, too, it is a safe bet that within a hundred years tops, humanity will be extinct unless scientists can find a way to cure this new disease they are calling Herod's (which I thought was a clever name.) Since -- as they eventually find out -- it IS caused by a disease (a parasite, to be specific) rather than God, it takes a few days for the disease to sweep across the globe and kill every child. So, three days after the first child dropped dead, the last child finally dies somewhere in India. And all across the world, the adults go out to hold candlelight vigils for the deceased.
It is during one of these vigils that, as suddenly as they'd dropped dead, all the children (miraculously?) wake up once more. Those who hadn't been picked up simply wake up in their homes. Others begin crawling out of the large mass graves, all looking for their parents. At first people believe it to be a miracle, but shortly after the kids awoke and hugged their parents, they all start dropping dead again.
Finally, it is discovered that feeding the children blood will keep them alive for short periods of time -- a couple hours at best per pint of blood. Then the novel takes on an even darker tone as it becomes focused on just how far some parents would go to keep their children alive for another hour.
This examination of the human psyche -- especially as it relates to our parenting instincts -- is what made the book so interesting to me. It wasn't simply the horror story or the cool, catchy plot that I enjoyed. It was watching how society fell apart.
The thing the author of this book did better than ANYTHING ELSE was accurately portraying human nature if, in fact, humans were confronted with this type of insanity in real life. I believe that people would behave VERY MUCH like the characters in this book behaved, and that -- more than ANYTHING else -- was what made the book so utterly terrifying.
Some parents and doctors and citizens eventually began to think rationally, and decided to let their children die in peace, just as I feel that some people would if this were to happen in real life.
But others went crazy and stopped at nothing -- NOTHING -- to give their children more time. Furthermore, the other thing that DiLouie did perfectly was describe not just how individuals handled the loss, but how specific groups in society banded together to perform unspeakable acts in the name of saving their children.
For instance, one of the most horrifying scenes in the novel is when one of the characters is picked up by the police. He isn't taken to jail, however. Instead he is taken to what basically amounts as a body farm, where masked police officers were harvesting blood from dozens of people. At first, they started by offering parole to criminals already in the system in exchange for several pints of blood -- more than they could stand to give and still live, but the criminals didn't know that at the time. After they used up all the criminals in the system, they went out and rounded up homeless people that no one would miss. Again, what made it SO SCARY was the fact that I can totally see that happening if this kind of thing happened in real life.
In fact, one of the most chilling lines in the whole book was when the officer in charge let one of the men go, warning him not to call the police and try to report them because they were the police, and they'd know about it. Then they'd find him, and he'd not be lucky enough to be let go twice.
The only reason I say that the book was lacking was because I would have liked to have seen a bit more balance between those characters who decided to let their children die with dignity rather than murder for them and the characters who would do anything for their children. There were PLENTY of the latter, but only a very few of the former. In my opinion, it made the book a bit less believable because I believe that, in reality, there are at least a FEW MORE decent people out there who would see sense and reason in such a horrible situation. I would have really liked to see more of those "good people" and the struggle -- both internally and externally -- they must have gone through. It really would have rounded out the book nicely for me.
Also, the ending -- which I'm not going to spoil for anyone -- was a little less than satisfying for me. I liked it. I really did. But I think that it could have been a lot better.
Still, overall, a DAMNED good read.
This book was good, but it was also lacking in places. The idea of the book was fantastic. As far as "vampire" books go, this one was definitely one of the most original ones I've ever read.
The basic premise is this:
Suddenly, for no apparent reason that anyone can fathom, all of the kids all over the world start dropping dead. Sick kids, healthy kids, black kids, white kids, smart kids, and dumb kids -- any kid who has yet to hit puberty -- including those still in the womb -- suddenly just die. The world, of course, is thrown into panic and chaos. There aren't enough funeral parlors or mortuaries to handle every dead child in the world, so large, mass graves are dug by city workers and volunteers, and the children are laid to rest inside of them. Furthermore, there aren't enough paramedics or trained personnel to pick up the dead, so the job falls to more volunteers and the city's sanitation workers -- the garbagemen, in other words.
Some people blame science/body chemistry/etc. Others claim it is a divine punishment from God. Whatever the reason, the fact remains that all the children are dead, and because the unborn children still in the womb are dying, too, it is a safe bet that within a hundred years tops, humanity will be extinct unless scientists can find a way to cure this new disease they are calling Herod's (which I thought was a clever name.) Since -- as they eventually find out -- it IS caused by a disease (a parasite, to be specific) rather than God, it takes a few days for the disease to sweep across the globe and kill every child. So, three days after the first child dropped dead, the last child finally dies somewhere in India. And all across the world, the adults go out to hold candlelight vigils for the deceased.
It is during one of these vigils that, as suddenly as they'd dropped dead, all the children (miraculously?) wake up once more. Those who hadn't been picked up simply wake up in their homes. Others begin crawling out of the large mass graves, all looking for their parents. At first people believe it to be a miracle, but shortly after the kids awoke and hugged their parents, they all start dropping dead again.
Finally, it is discovered that feeding the children blood will keep them alive for short periods of time -- a couple hours at best per pint of blood. Then the novel takes on an even darker tone as it becomes focused on just how far some parents would go to keep their children alive for another hour.
This examination of the human psyche -- especially as it relates to our parenting instincts -- is what made the book so interesting to me. It wasn't simply the horror story or the cool, catchy plot that I enjoyed. It was watching how society fell apart.
The thing the author of this book did better than ANYTHING ELSE was accurately portraying human nature if, in fact, humans were confronted with this type of insanity in real life. I believe that people would behave VERY MUCH like the characters in this book behaved, and that -- more than ANYTHING else -- was what made the book so utterly terrifying.
Some parents and doctors and citizens eventually began to think rationally, and decided to let their children die in peace, just as I feel that some people would if this were to happen in real life.
But others went crazy and stopped at nothing -- NOTHING -- to give their children more time. Furthermore, the other thing that DiLouie did perfectly was describe not just how individuals handled the loss, but how specific groups in society banded together to perform unspeakable acts in the name of saving their children.
For instance, one of the most horrifying scenes in the novel is when one of the characters is picked up by the police. He isn't taken to jail, however. Instead he is taken to what basically amounts as a body farm, where masked police officers were harvesting blood from dozens of people. At first, they started by offering parole to criminals already in the system in exchange for several pints of blood -- more than they could stand to give and still live, but the criminals didn't know that at the time. After they used up all the criminals in the system, they went out and rounded up homeless people that no one would miss. Again, what made it SO SCARY was the fact that I can totally see that happening if this kind of thing happened in real life.
In fact, one of the most chilling lines in the whole book was when the officer in charge let one of the men go, warning him not to call the police and try to report them because they were the police, and they'd know about it. Then they'd find him, and he'd not be lucky enough to be let go twice.
The only reason I say that the book was lacking was because I would have liked to have seen a bit more balance between those characters who decided to let their children die with dignity rather than murder for them and the characters who would do anything for their children. There were PLENTY of the latter, but only a very few of the former. In my opinion, it made the book a bit less believable because I believe that, in reality, there are at least a FEW MORE decent people out there who would see sense and reason in such a horrible situation. I would have really liked to see more of those "good people" and the struggle -- both internally and externally -- they must have gone through. It really would have rounded out the book nicely for me.
Also, the ending -- which I'm not going to spoil for anyone -- was a little less than satisfying for me. I liked it. I really did. But I think that it could have been a lot better.
Still, overall, a DAMNED good read.
