I’m enjoying this series for the most part but I do have to keep reminding myself not to get annoyed at the rather obviously contrived scenarios. The characters keep making incredibly stupid mistakes, the majority of which they really should know how to avoid by now, especially with Ben’s Army Ranger training and experience plus everything else they’ve already been through. The result is that it’s painfully obvious at times that the author is adding these contrived scenarios not only to set up for a future scene, but also to bulk out the story and make the series longer. It’s funny that the books are still so short even after all of this finagling.
One thing in particular really, REALLY annoys me, though: if your dog is not obedient enough or well trained enough to obey voice commands the first time you give them, it shouldn’t be off leash, especially in a dangerous, unpredictable, post-apocalyptic world. If these people could just figure out this basic tenet of responsible dog ownership, they could already have avoided some really dangerous scenarios. Not to mention keeping the dogs from drinking the obviously polluted rainwater that could very well be contaminated by radioactive fallout. And yet I’m not sure I’ve heard them even mention the word at any point in this series. Surely they could have found or looted a few leashes and collars by now, especially after the last place they were in. How could they not have figured this out by now? 🤔