What would you do if, suddenly, the world ended? Extinction Point aim’s to answer this question, portraying a rather regular person attempting to survive a massive apocalyptic event. Where did the rain come from, and the dust? Are they one in the same? Why is it here, what is going on? Extinction Point presents you with a bevy of intriguing mysteries, looming horrors, and strange phenomenon - but, the question is: does it do this well? Honestly, I wish I could say that, yes it does. I managed to read through this novel rather fast, enjoying my time with it. I liked what Paul Anthony Jones did with the red rain, the ensuing dust, and the events that came about because of it’s arrival. He seems to have a penchant for keeping things simple and growing them into something bigger, far more sinister. Sadly, Extinction Point has a lot of nagging issues that seem to get worse and worse as the novel goes on. Firstly, I have no idea what alternate version of New York City this is, but it is not the one that exists in this world. Emily, a seemingly happy-go-lucky reporter (who doesn’t even think to have any real life problems until after the novel’s catastrophic event), can simply ride a bike around the city without issue. She can just leave said bike, with no issue. Nobody gives her a actual hard time, almost everyone is pleasant, and apparently the city is somehow safe for all to just walk around and live without issue. Perhaps Jones really liked the idea of NYC, but this is a postcard depiction. Worse yet, after the rain falls and there is some suggestion that it might be a infectious disease or not, people flock to stock up on food… which makes no sense. How would hoarding food help with this? And, to make things even weirder. Jones writes in the fact that nearly everyone just drives out of NYC - leaving the streets devoid of vehicles, and containing minimal bodies. Either this is a tidy way to minimize gore, or just not very well thought out. For all the good that comes from it’s main character, Emily, a regular woman who managed to snag a sweet job and afford a rather good life, her presence also serves to make things as tedious as possible. While her life beforehand is very straightforward and simple, it is never truly explored - her investigative skills ultimately adding up to be no more than simple observation, despite mention of seeing dead bodies and being in risky environments at some point in the past. Therein, her handling of the strange events that surround her is somewhat lackluster. A lot of the time, Emily simply watches events unfold, picks things up, covers holes, and watches things. And, since she seems to be one of the few people who were indoors in all of New York City, when the mysterious rain occurred, your left experiencing a long set of chapters where Emily is just eating ice cream and taking a bath, or contemplating what something is, watching it, saying weird things are weird - the excuse being that she is just a reporter, and because of this she naturally just self-documents the world around her. On the subject of the catastrophic event, the red rain - well I can’t help but feel that it wasn’t completely thought out. In the beginning, Emily avoids touching it and it’s thought that this is why she ends up being spared it’s effects, but later everyone just gets infected - switching to her being immune, rather than lucky. I don’t know why this is, and either way you look at it, there is a lot of wasted time spent on both explanations. When the rain falls, Emily avoids it, and the author goes on and on with examples of her disinfecting things, freaking out on her boyfriend for bringing it into her apartment, and dunking her hands in bleach. But, since people just die anyhow, it doesn’t amount to anything, and you are left with another set of examples showing how there is something up with her, leaving her immune. I really wanted to like Extinction Point, I really did at first. But this initial entry into the series leaves me somewhat unsure of the other books. Jones has a very engaging writing style, but he seems to skimp on the details or just add them on a whim, leading to a lot of inconsistencies. -L. BROOKS
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