Furies Rising (Book One: Hollow Valley): A Gripping Dystopian Adventure

Furies Rising (Book One: Hollow Valley) is a dystopian narration by Andrew Lyons. The story trails Lukas as he contends with the challenges of survival in what appears to be a post-apocalyptic pandemic. Lukas and a team of survivors are coerced to overlook the peripheral feelings of affection, jealousy, and self-centeredness as they navigate through hurdles that greet them from Camp Hollow Valley up to the very end.

Spoiler Free Plot

Lukas and the other survivors of Camp Hollow Valley are on the run after Hollow Valley was ravaged by two men in military fatigues acting strangely, grunting, and sort of twitching. What seemed to be a regular camping activity turned into a fight for survival. The survivors escape from the zombie-like military men who were later known to be furies, seeking refuge in what seemed to be a secured military base. However, this security is soon short-lived.

Many unresolved mysteries linger in the minds of the survivors of Camp Hollow Valley despite the briefing from Colonel West. Lukas senses that there is much yet unrevealed, such as the promise made by the first soldier zombie to meet him again during their struggle while escaping from Hollow Valley and the reason behind the two furies wearing military uniforms.

As the current military base holds its last stand against the tenacious furies attempting to break into the base. The survivors are soon disheartened to discover that the evacuation plans excluded them as they were deemed a group of mere civilians who were perceived as valueless for the fight against the ravaging attack of the furies.  

Lukas and the other survivors are on the run again, losing members of their group one by one to the fury attacks. They finally decide to head for Mexico, having been informed by Connel West that the furies had a problem crossing water.

All along, the first soldier from the camp attack has had them on trial, and he seemed to have infected Lukas with a unique painful stinging sensation that worsened when he was close by. The roads also were largely blocked by vehicles in a typical post-apocalyptic desolation setting. Amidst all these hurdles and the unbearable loss of loved ones, they set to travel to Mexico, in hopes of asylum. Can they escape the furious trail of Soldier One? Do they make it across the border or is their resilience cursed with futility amidst a predestined doom?

My take on Furies Rising (Book One: Hollow Valley)

Furies Rising (Book One: Hollow Valley) is a gripping narration filled with nonstop action and tension. The imagery gets violent and gory but not in a bad way, but rather in a manner that will be appreciated by fans of escape and tension-filled horror novels.

Andrew Lyons’s descriptive prowess shines throughout the narration, giving a movie-like feel to the reading experience. The conundrum in the book is also excelled by the characters’ decisions. Lukas who had feelings for Jules, his brother’s girlfriend, gave no attention to this when the crisis began. Leaving the said romance hanging and not properly attended to throughout the narration. I find this, particularly as an intelligent deviation from the romance tension in young adult narrations.

The story is so thrilling that the reader is left with a lot of hanging suspense that remains unresolved beyond the pages of the book. For example, Andrew Lyons never made it clear why Soldier One was able to track the survivors no matter how far they ran. The characters only speculated that it might be because of some sought-after tracking infection he released in Lukas during their fight during the camp hallow way escape. He also never stated whether Lukas’s parents survived the plague. Whether Caleb (Lukas’s elder brother) died or was turned to a fury, remained an enigma even at the very end to Lukas and the reader. These unresolved conflicts make the narration linger in the mind of the reader even beyond the last page of the novel. Making you want to know what happens to them and look forward to the next book in the series.

Despite the gore and the many tragic events, the narration remains so intriguing that I found myself just plowing through the entire book in a couple of days.

I highly recommend this book and give it a Must Read Seal of approval.

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