I loved the realistic sense of struggle and healthy dose of paranoia to survive. And I loved the sense of family adoption of Joel’s friend, Aly.
The serious scientific reality that the author ignored was that he ignored the likely presence of fallout in the areas where he mentioned ground burst occurred.
Ground burst radiation explains why Fukishema is still radioactive and why Hiroshima, an air burst is not radioactive and is inhabited today and is free from relevant radiation.
As Luke approaches Pittsburgh where ground burst has occurred nearby, he seems unconcerned about the danger of irradiated earth which would irradiate their human bodies and the sole canine body.
it’s remarkable to me that an otherwise educated writer would overlook such a probability along the way. And that even I would possess a highly rated $50 NR 750 radiation counter and Luke apparently, so far, in book 4 has none!
Luke should be avoiding ground burst areas and even avoid collecting water from ground burst areas nearby!
I love the humanity and story line but please, more science!