Through Darkest America-Extended Version

Through Darkest America by Neal Barret Jr. is set in a post apocalypse America several years after a nuclear war. The star of the book is a 12 year old boy named Howie. Howie lives with his family on a farm. In this alternate reality there are no big cities anymore and there is no wildlife with the exception of birds which the holy scriptures call unclean and some strange hairy creatures called horses which are very different from the horses we know.

Howie believes that the government is always right, his dad is the wisest man around, his mother is the most beautiful woman in the world and his sister is a pest. Things change quickly though because a revolution is coming and Howie has to grow up and he quickly realizes that the world is show more very different place then he believed it was. Through Darkest America is a coming of age story set in a post apocalyptic world where everyone seems to have an agenda and no one can be trusted.

During the course of this book and within a short period of time you watch Howie go from a boy to a man, you see him survive a couple of horrible tragedies, fight in a couple of battles that he didn't want to be a part of and watch him get tortured for information he doesn't have. What makes this story great is you really feel for Howie, you feel for him as he asks his father to explain things he doesn't understand and you are rooting for him as he tries to escape from a city during a war between the loyalists and the rebels. Through Darkest America was originally released in 1988 and recently was rereleased through Biting Dog Press. I think this book deserves to be considered a classic.

When I started to read it, right away there was a scene that made me realize that this book could be considered horror just as much as it would be considered speculative fiction. At one point Howie is told by his father to go see to the stock that they are taking to be slaughtered for meat. As the author is describing the stock you suddenly realize these aren’t pigs or cows. The stock is humans. So this book transcends genres, it works as a horror novel, a science fiction book and its an action adventure story.

Another part of the book that really stuck out for me was when Howie and a female companion were trying to escape a battle in a city they try to escape on horseback and during this tense moment in the book the woman throws up on Howie after getting motion sickness. I loved how the author threw in a funny moment as the book was reaching towards its climactic end.

This book is very dark and there really isn’t a happy ending but at the same time it is a very well written fast paced adventure with a lot of suspense thrown in. I loved how Howie is forced, to soon to become a man and how little by little he sees that everything he believed as a child was wrong. you also see his quest to figure out what is right in this world and a new place to call home. I highly recommend this book. show less