What Came After by Sam Winston

3 stars

The main character, Henry Weller, is a good guy.  He is a good husband and father; someone that one could look up to as a role model. As he maneuvers through the government-collapsed America, poisoned soil and corporate-run society the landscape of the story begins to scare you.  Maybe this is because I don’t read dystopian novels, but it scared me.  Chemicals poisoning our food so much it has to be sanitized after pulling it from the ground prior to eating it.  The Zone is where the lower-class lives and they eat what they can as they cannot afford to have their food sanitized.  Thus, there are many medical abnormalities found in The Zone.

Henry does a favor, fixing a rare Hummer vehicle, for a rich man.  In return, the rich man, Carmichael, takes a picture with Henry and his daughter, along with Carmichael’s son.  Carmichael writes that he “owes him one” on the picture.  This seemingly inconsequential act starts the story on its way.

Henry starts to walk with his daughter to New York to get Carmichael to have Penny, Henry’s daughter, sight fixed by doctors the rich are privy to.  The journey, turmoil and desperation that Henry goes through to ensure his daughter’s sight is restored.  The book revolves around Henry’s love for his daughter.  What is stronger than that?  Nothing, as Henry shows through the disastrous environment in which this story takes place.

I took a horror pictures class from the 1940s to the 1970s when I was at college.  Yes, it was an elective class, but I did learn something I hadn’t thought about prior to this class.  Horror pictures are based on society’s fears.  Such a simple idea; what else could make a great horror flick?  Well, with the documentaries I’ve watched, blogs I’ve read, news etc about chemicals, organic versus non-organic, cattle feeding I can see why this would be a scary or dystopian novel.  I recommend it.