A BookViral Review Of Will Normal Return By Ben Kilgore

SUMMARY: A small mountain community is struck by a catastrophic event. Most in the community are evacuated by the military. A small group comes together hungry for information about what happened and why help isn’t coming. They face murders and desperate people. This is a story of survival in a lawless world until everything returns to normal.

The BookViral Review:

A post-apocalypse thriller that’s enthralling and full of suspense Will Normal Return proves a story with purpose when ordinary people are irrevocably changed by a cataclysmic event.

With an underlying sombreness, Kilgore’s plot lingers as a real and present danger over all of us and it’s hard to read without reflecting upon its plausibility. The threat from electromagnetic pulse strikes to our power and communications infrastructure and the potential devastation of a nuclear attack are very real but the possibility of limited attacks are usually overlooked in fiction. The majority of authors preferring the shock value of annihilation events but Kilgore has taken a more measured approach and it’s paid off.

Delivering a richly layered narrative we’re not given the full picture till the closing chapters and with his characters wholly isolated from the world beyond this allows him to fully explore the relationship dynamics between them. They’re all well-observed personas with interesting backstories but more importantly, each has a purpose which propels Kilgore’s story forward and he doesn’t make the mistake of elevating his characters as extraordinary individuals. They are simply survivors and through characters like Jack, Lindsey, Jan and Molly he allows the drama to build whilst allowing their vulnerability to come through. 

Sidestepping trite clichés Kilgore gives us a survival story in the truest sense of the term with unexpected narrative twists that not only entertain but lead to much reflection. A genuine page-turner it is highly recommended.