This story shared a lot of background and with the aftermath in Barnes' "Directive 51", though the plot through the post-apocalyptic world is different and the antagonists have different goals. Not a bad read. ( )

I read this book on a 'trust me' from a friend and I am sooo grateful to that friend. It is a fascinating fictional account on what might happen if a terrible disaster rendered the country without those things we now consider 'givens'. (read a galley of the original published version) ( )

This is one of the worst apocalypse books I have read. The premise was good with oil eating microbes gone wild but these authors have no idea about the breakdown of society in a disastrous event.

Wooden characters, stereotypes, written in 2-4 page chapters (76 of them!!)and ridiculous scenarios combined with gratuitous violence in places... yes there should be violence but this was simply used for shock value... it was not part of the story... which it should have been. Millions of people just seem to disappear... the characters spend much of their time wandering deserted streets at times with little or no confrontations to worry about...main characters don't even carry knives for protection.

If you like apocalypse books... this is one to pass. ( )

The characters are flat caricatures, it was too easy to tell who the Bad Guys & Good Guys were going to be. Women were either ugly & too smart, or enticing (even if smart). Couldn't really call it post-apocalyptic, since half the book describes how the environmental meltdown occurs--all the regulations & safety features (that of course major corporations have in place) are useless in the face of human error & malfeasance. And the scenario isn't well thought out---months after the destruction of petroleum-based products, with no transport of goods, people stilll haven't run out of food, or paper towels, or...hey, how are they cooking food? Out in the desert areas of NM, still have plenty of wood for fires?
Without wantiing to appear sexist, I'd still have to say it was written for men: lots of military action, hierchical decision-making, to say nothing of the (above) portrayal of women. ( )

A genetically engineered oil-eating microbe mutates and eats all the plastic in the world. This was a great premise, but this book didn't live up to my expectations of the aftermath of such a disaster.-- Tim ( )