M. R. Cornelius

It was a pleasure to read an action-packed page-turner like this with a strong, smart, Hispanic female lead who doesn't fall into the 'hot teenage girl kicking butt in a mini-skirt' cliche, and instead demonstrates several models of 'strength' with enough flaws to feel very human. The terrifyingly plausible post-apocalytpic collapse of American society turns the peril settings up to the max, and every time you think you can relax, something else lurches out of the shadows to challenge Taeya show more and Rick and keep them fighting for their lives. I didn't entirely love the ending, but I am glad that the author did choose to leave them with something somewhat positive, to balance out all the grimness en-route. show less

When Dr. Taeya Sanchez mouths off a few too many times to her boss, she knows she is getting ready to be fired. Unfortunately, the entire population is infected with a deadly virus and she doesn't have very many options. Just one, actually. Fill up a stolen truck with as many supplies and food as she can get and hope to make it somewhere safe before either getting caught, killed or catching the disease herself. The only problem with her plan? She is now stuck road tripping with the show more ego-maniac Rick DeAngelo, another hospital worker set on escaping while he still can.

H10 N1 is almost like an adult oriented dystopian novel, my favorite! We pick up the story after the virus has spread everywhere and we learn bits and pieces about it as we go. People are dying off like crazy, either they have contracted the virus or they are so scared they are killing themselves before it gets to that point. I knew as soon as I read the prologue that I was going to like this book. It starts off with a suicide assistance hot line and we go along as a caller discusses her husband's suicide with the hot line worker. At first, I thought she was calling to stop herself from committing suicide herself. Nope. I think my husband must have thought I'd lost it because I was talking to the book as the worker talked this lady into poisoning herself. I didn't see that coming. I knew right there that this was going to be a fun read.

I really enjoyed getting to know Taeya and Rick, and I loved their banter. When we first meet Taeya, she kind of comes off as snotty or stuck up. I'll admit that I didn't like her at first. Rick, on the other hand, I didn't mind as much even though he was clearly high on himself. Once the two were thrown together and had to actually communicate, I saw that neither of them were what I first thought them to be and I truly did connect with them. We get to hear from both Taeya and Rick, each of their parts told in alternating chapters which I love. I find it adds to a story when we get to hear from the main characters involved.
The only issue I had, and it is purely only my opinion, was some of the language. I don't think you will find any words in this book that you wouldn't find in maybe a romance novel, but I am very uncomfortable in my own skin and certain talk just turns me off. Again, this is my own opinion and honestly, I've been called a prude more than once so don't go by my opinion alone. There actually isn't a lot of this language, I think I just pick up on it because I'm not used to it.

Anyway, if you love a good thriller or are a fan of dystopian, give this one a look. The writing is solid, the characters are raw and honest and find themselves in some pretty intense situations that are sure to keep you turning the pages. show less

I really wanted to get into this book more than I did. The writing was very good and the author seemed very knowledgeable about the things she was writing about (at least to the untrained eye!) But, "H10N1" decidedly felt like two separate books: the first part post-apocalyptic, the second part almost romantic. I really liked where the first part of the book was going but found myself losing interest in the second part. I also was thrown quite often by the way Rick's parts of the book were show more narrated - he seemed a little too over the top, too extremely sexist, etc. I think Cornelius has a promising future as an author, but this particular book fell a bit flat for me. show less

This is a science-fiction book for people who don't like science-fiction. While it had some elements of science fiction, the heart and soul of the book is really about the relationships that Robert had/has with others (or at least that is what I got out of the book). Robert's growth throughout the book is what really kept me hooked in this book. The cryogenics parts of the book were definitely fascinating as well. I loved what Robert did at the end and was actually tearing up. I would show more recommend this book to others and I look forward to reading more from M.R. Cornelius. show less