Customer Reviews

The Judas Syndrome

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This is a pretty intense book that I think will polarise readers - they are either going to love it or hate it.
It deals openly with a number of subjects that more conservative readers will be uncomfortable with, including fairly prolific drug use and some fairly harsh language. Although the main character and his friends are teenagers, this is not a children's book by any means.

For me the book had some excellent points and a couple of jarring notes. I'll start with the negatives first, since I think firstly they are pretty minor & easily fixed in future books, and secondly - what I didn't like is not going to apply to everyone.

1) Too much back-story. The first couple of chapters could have been condensed without losing the overall feel for the characters. Got to say though - absolutely LOVED the first page - Joel speaks.

2) I had trouble distinguishing between character voices, especially where there was a lot of dialogue. To me this was because they all seemed to have the same style of speaking for long periods of time. Not always, but enough that I had to flip back a couple of times to check who was speaking.

3) A lot of dialogue came across more as personal philosophy or thought instead of conversation between people - interesting, but not something I come across often and it did tend to jar me out of the story a bit.

What I loved:

1 - The concept was brilliant. I've read a number of post-apocalypse type books; this one struck me as quite different to the run-of-the-mill stuff.

2 - Joel. For me this guy was the perfect anti-hero - difficult to like, remarkably easy to sympathise with. No attempt at covering his flaws or making him a saint. What really struck me was watching this guy devolve slowly into utter paranoia and self-hate, and eventually self-destruct in every sense of the word, while constantly trying to do what he thinks is right. Joel in the end is the personification of the apocalypse, and I thought this was beautifully done.

3 - Stinky. How can you not love a talking skunk/avatar?

4 - The ending. I really, really liked it - very powerful way to end this story, and for me it made perfect sense in light of both the book and Joel's character.

I'd recommend it, although it takes time to get through. This is not a cute or fluffy book and there are some pretty hard hitting scenes in it that will stay with the reader for a while.

There must be a balance between books and their endings. Some must end happily and others are destined to go the darker route, such as The Judas Syndrome by Michael Poeltl. We are introduced to your average teenagers that are carefree and optimistic about their futures. In an attempt to put off summer jobs and escape the gloom brought on by threats of the apocalypse, the group of teens gather for a camping weekend. Upon returning home, the teens are forced to discover that the threats came true and the world has fallen victim to nuclear attack. It is clear to see who the main teenagers are as they are forced to grow up and plan for their survival. Joel is deemed the leader of the group although he never saw himself as the leading type. Other main characters are Connor, Sara, Eric and Jake. Most of the other teens in the group stay as secondary characters. I am certain that the secondary group will have their time to shine in the second book to this series. There is a lot of drug use throughout the book and at first I figured it was just kids being kids. I expected drug use to be the furthest thing from the kids minds while they are trying to survive so I was surprised that not only was it an important part, but the leading cause of Joel's insanity spree. The reader should expect that beginning with the title, this book will have to end on a sad note in order for a more positive message to shine through. Friendships and inner turmoils are put to the test...the Judas test. I am curious to see where the survivors lead in the second installment. There was mild adult language, heavy drug use, and somewhat bloody descriptions, so this book is better suited for an adult audience.

I love post-apocalyptic books, and the idea of a group of teenagers being left alone after a seemingly worldwide nuclear terrorist attack to fend for themselves is a story-line made in my personal book heaven. And in the beginning they react exactly as you would expect a group of teenagers to react thrust into a scary, rapidly changing world - they pretty much go on a permanent bender (hey, I'm sure it wouldn't just be teenagers overindulging in the face of the extinction of humanity!).

And in some ways, The Judas Syndrome is a perfect reflection of just how people would act in such circumstances, but there are a few parts of the book that I struggled with. Firstly, sure, these kids have had experience in the outdoors, but they also seem to know one hell of a lot about defending themselves and how to use weapons with deadly accuracy. There are also some passages of dialogue that don't particularly ring true (like the use of words such as 'pertaining' and 'vessel' to describe a body)- they sound far more mature and use far more complicated words than I would expect of a group of heavy-drinking, drug-smoking kids.

But about half-way through The Judas Syndrome I got really sucked in - as events inside and outside the house start to spiral out of control, emotions run high and shocking decisions are made. Suddenly the pace of the story picked up considerably, and like driving past a car crash, I just couldn't look away.

In short, the storyline itself is unique and interesting, but there are a few details in the execution that need a little more fine-tuning.