Ashes, by Ilsa J. Bick, is an amazing book about a young girl called Alex who develops a brain tumor ‘The size of a tennis ball’ as Ilsa puts it, just a year after the death of her parents. She tries many things to get rid of the tumor e.g. PEBBLES, and Radioactive Chemo. but nothing seems to work. After becoming tired of ‘puking her guts out’ she decides to go to Lake Superior in Waucamaw to scatter her parent’s ashes. However, things do not go as planned. After only four days out in the wilderness, a disaster spreads through, at the very least, the whole of America. Electromagnetic Pulses. Teenagers go bad and the dogs are used to detect the presence of the blood drinkers. Alex discovers that she has also got back her smell, which she lost thanks to the tumor, only now it is much more accurate. She meets Tom and Ellie only be split up when raiders come to take their stuff. Tom is badly wounded so Alex goes in search of any survivors that she can find. She finds Rule where all the survivors have come together. When she returns with help for Tom, he’s gone. She is kept in Rule pretty much a prisoner and whilst there she meets Chris. Alex almost forgets about Ellie and Tom until a surviving boy turns up to Rule. Doctors try to save him but it is hopeless. Never the less, the sight of the boy reminds her of the people to whom she owes her life. With the help of Jess, a woman who appears to be normal on the outside but actually has many mysteries within, she escapes the boarders of Rule only to discover a terrible secret.
‘The truth hit her like a hammer. Rule wasn’t fighting them. Rule was feeding them.’
This is a breathtaking book that I was unable to put down until the very last page. It kept me on the edge of my seat and the suspension was almost unbearable. It ends on a cliff hanger and I can’t wait for Shadows (BOOK 2) which is due to come out next year.