The Big Empty

This is the story of the U.S. after a terrible plague has wiped out most of the population. The government has been taken over by a virtual dictator who uses the military to keep law and order, an order which tends to involve shooting people who commit almost any crime at all; sometimes even killing them.

The "big empty" refers to the middle of the U.S., an area from Pittsburg west to around Reno, Nevada, which has supposedly been evacuated with people moved to the east or west coasts. The central U.S. is now patrolled by soldiers who have orders to shoot anyone they find; by The Slash, a group of vicious gang thugs, and by a mysterious city.

The book involves the story of seven teenagers who end up journeying together to find this safe place. The teenagers include:

1. Keely, a high school student who doesn't think much of the type of education given students any more. Her mother works in a lab, but often has to do regular medical doctor-type of work due to the shortage of regular doctors. Keely seems to be a pretty nice girl.

2. Diego, who spends most of the novel shot and trying to survive his wound. He lives in the Big Empty area, but beyond that we don't find out much about him.

3. Michael, a young man who was coping the best he could. He went to break up with his girlfriend and things went wrong from there.

4. Maggie: His now ex-girlfriend, a girl whose amazing ability to complain is in inverse proportion to her intellect. (Translated: she's dumb as a brick). A most thoroughly unpleasant character.

5. Amber: fifteen, pregnant, trying to track down the father. Not above stealing what she needs.

6. Irene: lives in the Big Empty, finds and takes care of Diego. Not much character development other than that.

7. Jonah: sort of a handyman.

The group is in search of a place called Novo Mundum.

This is a really good story and quite interesting. There is obviously a lot that needs to be explained and hopefully will be in the other books in the series, but for now the story of the seven teenagers is good. Kelly and Amber seem to be the most interesting characters, and the story of what they have to go through to try and find this mysterious city, and what the U.S. has become after the plague is a story that definitely keeps your attention. A very good first novel for the series.

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