A mysterious illness wipes out two thirds of the population, leaving the very few that are immune to fend for themselves. The narrative focuses on Walt, who ventures from New York City to the west coast after his girlfriend Vanessa dies, and Raymond and Mia who live a uniquely comfortable life farming and scavenging in Los Angeles.

Breakers was so good that it gave me new neuroses. After the population was taken out so quickly, I stayed away from dense crowds, and spent sleepless nights thinking about how fragile our carefully constructed society really is. If you are sensitive to health anxiety or anxiety in general, Breakers might be a little too intense for you.

My favorite aspect of this book was the choice in protagonists. The world is so interesting that Robertson could have gone in a lot of different directions, but he chose two protagonists that begin the story as regular, if reprehensible, people. Walt’s first reaction upon finding Vanessa dead is to grope her breast one last time, and soon after the illness breaks out Raymond gets involved in the black market, and then takes advantage of the looting that’s a result of the mass panic. However, by the time they meet, all three protagonists have been strengthened and improved by circumstances, which I thought was a very good move on the author’s part.

This is the first book in a trilogy, and is available for free on Kindle. Please support self-published authors like Edward W. Robertson and check it out!