On The Third Day [Paperback]

This was overall a very tense and gripping story. The idea of an unexplained infection turning large parts of the population into emotionless zombies and a small few becoming violent isn't especially original however it is very well done here. I felt the sense of panic, tension and loss was very well realised. The sense of it being quite close to what could happen in the real world was quite disturbingly well described for me.

The choice to spend most of the book with one family and follow their journey works very well as the family's characters felt very fully formed to me and the feeling of being a fly on the wall with them works especially well. It really gave me a sense of their day-to-day survival routine, the boredom, the desperation and the terror of it all.

I was all set to give it 5 stars until I got to the final third of the book. At this point it moves away from being just about the family and includes a camp of near by survivors trying to work together. While some of the camps new characters are likeable and effective at adding a bit of action it's just as it build towards a big finish I felt it didn't really need that, it was working fine for me as the day-to-day life of a family tested in situations they could never have predicted. The final third also spoils it a bit for me as it also goes suddenly dreamy and abstract which for me didn't fit the gritty tone I had pictured through out.

The book itself is a bit of a massive beast to look at broken into 4 huge chapters (the first two being about the family and making up about two thirds of the book, the last two chapters making up the last third and involving the camps survival efforts). However, each chapter is broken up into to short sharp sections using the books 'III' logo which I found great for making progress when the working week gets a bit busy.

First published in 2010, Welsh author Rhys Thomas (hailing from the glamorous location of Pontyclun no less) delves head first into the post-apocalyptic subgenre; cashing in on the recent renewal of interest in this bleak situational concept. Indeed, the book's cover blurb markets the novel as "28 Days Later meets The Survivors "(sic). In many aspects of the novel this comparison is a reasonably good representation of what's on offer here. However, for the more post-apocalyptic savvy amongst us, you can throw in much closer comparisons such as `Among Madmen', `Hater', `Cell' and dare I say early elements of `The Passage'? Throw in the heavy emotional end-of-days turmoil of `The Road', `Earth Abides', `The Rift' or indeed `On The Beach' - and you pretty much hit the nail on the head.

The tale follows a collection of everyday individuals who struggle to survive within a world that is unceremoniously brought to its knees by an inexplicable illness dubbed The Sadness, that once contracted, drags the infected into bottomless depths of despair, occasionally pushing them to unprovoked acts of mindless violence, until after the third day, they succumb to death. Amongst the havoc, panic and chaos that this spreading illness is causing, Miriam Asher together with her stepbrother Joseph, attempts to protect her young son and daughter, after her husband is taken by The Sadness. The family struggle with day-to-day survival amongst this new violent and uncaring world.

After travelling to the rurally set and somewhat isolated location of Joseph's seaside cottage, the family attempt to start off a simple self-reliant life for themselves, away from all the unpredictable madness that has consumed the world.

When a huge ship crashes into the coastal shores that their cottage overlooks, a flood of survivors take to the beach; onto which the beginnings of a new community starts to form. However, not everyone left unaffected by The Sadness is so peace-loving. Clad in black, with gas marks obscuring their features, an army of merciless killers are scoring the land destroying crops, plundering shops and brutally murdering everyone they cross. The world looks bleak for every last survivor. Their individual judgements are at hand...

From the very outset of the novel, Thomas leans heavily towards the downbeat emotional conflict and strain on the lead individuals, setting down a bleak atmosphere for the story to draw a path through. The result is a powerfully character driven storyline, that carefully treads through a complex array of emotional levels that are portrayed by the handful of principal characters that the storyline is formed upon.

Although Miriam and her family are the constant thread that the tale is based around, a number of other often hazy subplots and parallel running storylines are interwoven around their story, creating a complex tale that flutters between a multitude of miniature sub stories and vague glimpses of `something else'.

The surreal and dreamlike quality of Thomas's writing style creates a perfect breeding ground for an atmospheric apocalyptic setting, with ideas of biblical retribution bounded around here and there, as well as much vaguer open-ended sequences, set down to allow the imagination of the reader to embark on their own individual paths.

The story haphazardly builds towards a collection of dramatic finales, each one clumsily set amongst the overall dominating direction of the story - the ever-increasing threat of the marauders in black. To this aspect of the storyline, The Sadness takes a sudden backseat.

The tone of the novel is set at a constantly depressive low; with moments of relief and joy few and far between amongst the overwhelming misery that is portrayed. The unavoidable bleakness quickly becomes claustrophobic and utterly oppressive, which is maintained and drawn upon throughout the length of the tale.

Thomas often wanders off the path of his story, choosing to spend a number of pages on characteristically insightful dream sequences, emotionally driven thoughts and mysterious glimpses of a possible answer to the background question of `why?'.

All in all, the novel is a triumph of bleak and depressive post-apocalyptic fiction. The story is well written, with skilfully developed characterisation and a powerful and gripping plot. However, the structure to the tale often becomes too loose, with meandering subplots that ultimately leave the reader feeling outside of the storyline and potentially loosing interest.

Although the suggestive glimpses of `something more' are intriguing and encourage the reader's imagination to run loose on the possibilities, the overuse of this ploy has instead resulted in a slightly unsatisfying conclusion to the tale. This however, does not overshadow the powerfully emotional strength of the tale, or indeed its masterfully delivered post-apocalyptic atmosphere.

The novel runs for a total of 520 pages.

This is one of the best novels I have read in years...so touching and gripping. Utterly unique end of the world fiction. A superb read for people with soul.

I cannot recommend this enough, just be of the right mind set when you read it.