Going Home is the first installment in the Home series written by the author who goes by their pen name, A. American. The novel is unlike any other I have read, and did its job with gluing me to the pages.
On the cover of the book it is written “mature audience” and this is indeed a fair warning. The novel contains cursing, however not overdone. And there is most definitely violence. However, aside from these factors the novel is action packed and enjoyable to read.
The novel starts out in first person with the main character, Morgan, who is a doomsday prepper to say the least. He lives in Florida with his wife and three daughters and does everything he can to be prepared for any major event that will significantly impact their usual way of life.
Whenever he leaves the house Morgan brings one of two preparation bags with him should something happen when he’s not home. In these bags are numerous items that he may need, should something happen such as weapons, tools, and more importantly food and water.
The author’s description of this meticulous personality sets the tone of his mental state throughout the novel. The reader gets the picture that Morgan is someone who is ready for anything, or at least tries to be. He is the guy that everybody else goes to in a major situation to find out what to do – mostly because he is the guy who doesn’t panic, and actually analyzes the situation staying calm; which the author gives numerous examples of this exact situation throughout the book.
As for the imagery and how it is written, it is detailed enough for me. It is not overdone which is one personal preference of mine. For example, in this case the author gives the reader enough description to give their imagination a starting point, but the rest is up to them. The author leaves them with the freedom to decide what exactly Morgan is going through while on his journey – what everything around him looks like.
The characters, however, are a different story. Unlike the scenery, the characters are described down to how thick their beard is. The people Morgan meets along his voyage all have their own personality – no one character is at all like the other which is amazing. Each person in the novel has something about them that is unique – maybe it’s a habit the author assigned them, or a style of speech, or possibly even a certain sense of humor that seems a bit odd compared to the norm.
Unfortunately, throughout the novel there were some typos and wording errors that were able to make it through the editing process. At some points the reader may backtrack to the beginning of the sentence to re-read it and come to find that they did not read it incorrectly, but in fact the sentence was worded incorrectly or weirdly and does not flow very well. Small things like this pop up numerous times in the story, and take your mind away from the action for a split second but have little effect on the quality of the story. The only misfortune the reader receives from this is the knowledge that such an amazing book has impurities. However, the book is as stated nonetheless – amazing and highly enjoyable and is recommended to anyone who likes the post-apocalyptic world where nothing seems certain and mystery surrounds the entire story from beginning to end.
