Wormwood is a fairly standard post-nuclear apocalypse story. The bombs drop, and our protagonists survive. I liked the beginning of the story with Nate and his awkward romance of his coworker, Jeanette. Eventually they rejoin the survivors in the firehall of the city, and the focus widens. I was a bit disappointd as no other characters in the group really get any character development other than Simon. Simon is the religious fanatic with control issues and delusions of grandeur, who charms the masses and takes over as the defacto leader of the town. He seems to be purely evil, and a bit of a one-note character too. Nate and a group of the most physically able bike out to Maine to try to get help from the National Guard there. That journey was very interesting and introduced another big threat, the Black Swarm – a group of ruthless men that are terrorizing the groups of survivors across the state. Nate’s group unwittingly put the Swarm on the trail back to the town, and now the need for official help is even more urgent. The ending of the book is rather abrupt, abd is left on a bit of a cliffhanger, so I guess you’ll have to read the next book to see what happens.

As far as the plot – this is the usual PA plotline: disaster, survivors bond, are separated, then reunite at a time of threat. There are really only a few fully fleshed out characters: Nate, Jeanette, and Simon. The writing is great in some places but overall tends toward repeating the same things over and over, or saying that something is the case rather than showing it. For example, Nate’s panic attacks and anxiety seemed unrealistic, as though he was overstating them, and they seemed to go away almost magically when the disaster happened. I guess I never felt the panic in the writing. It could use a good editor to tighten it up. There is a lot of detail to keep the reader interested in the immediate actions of the characters, and the effects of a nuclear attack seem well-researched. Unfortunately, the storyline feels predictable and doesn’t offer any unexpected or unique twists to set this book apart form many others. It’s an entertaining but ultimately pretty forgettable read.

The narrator, Kevin Pierce, does a good job or the narration. His voice is clear and even and he gets the pausing and pacing correct. His performance defintely added to the enjoyment of the book for me.

NOTE: I received a free copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.