Review: 2700 Miles by Norbert Reichert

 2700 Miles

by Norbert Reichert

After a nuclear holocaust, a mutated virus sweeps across the nation. Scientists find a cure, but not enough medicine is left to manufacture it. Frank and Simko leave their small community in a decrepit old semi truck, one of the few vehicles still working, to search through what is left of civilization for medical supplies.

My Take:

Radiation from a nuclear holocaust produces a mutated virus that threatens to wipe out what is left of humanity. Scientists at what's left of the CDC race to find a cure, but even after one is found, supplies are too low to manufacture it. Simko and Frank leave the shelter of the barricaded facility in an armored semi, to raid hospitals around North America, to retrieve enough supplies to save a remnant of society. But the anarchy outside threatens to destroy them at every stop. 

 

Content:

Drug Content:

PG-13 - Characters are attacked by drunken raiders. Crystal meth is mentioned, the effects of drugs described, as is getting high.

Violence:

R - There's a good deal of graphic and gratuitous violence in this book. People are hunted like animals, and skeletal remains paint a stark portrait of the depravity of the human soul. Wounded humans are gunned down, run over, burned alive. Human cannibalism is a concern. Murder for sport is common.

Language:

PG-13 - Jesus' name is taken in vain 6 times. God's name is taken in vain 25 times. Various other swear words are used periodically throughout. It's liberally salted with a significant dose of language. 

Adult Content:

PG-13 - There are multiple references to gang rape, sex slaves, and necrophilia.  Nothing occurs onscreen, though.

Christian content:

The Virgin Mary is mentioned, and there are several instances where characters pray. Some characters struggle with the overwhelming desire to do what is right, in a world where only the evil seem to survive. Even in such a harsh world, there are some who care for and help others, and even risk their lives for total strangers. Others seem irredeemably evil, finding entertainment in killing strangers for fun. One enemy is praying over his killed son, and the characters feel hesitant to kill him while he's praying.

Final analysis:

I have to admit, while the pacing of this book seemed slow in parts, (735 pages!) and very slow to start, it was a gripping adventure once the direct action of the main characters began, and they seemed pitted against insurmountable odds. Every city they visited seemed to have its own deadly traps, enemies, and roadblocks. Some characters were three dimensional, and displayed haunting backstories and fatal flaws, while others had no depth at all. The worldbuilding was immersive, the characters reasonably real, the stakes as high as they could be. I would have given this a higher rating except for the tremendous length and pacing. Four Stars!

About the Author:

Norbert Reichert was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1977. He emigrated to Canada with his parents in 1989, and became a citizen in 1992. He went to college to became an electrical engineering technician, then soon after he started an apprenticeship in the elevator trade. Somewhere about 2011, he read a highly acclaimed book which he found unreadable, making him think that he could do better. That day he bought a laptop, and all the endless stories in his head started emerging on screen. While building the scaffolding of his first novel, he wrote the first two children's books in the Susie and Shadow series.