Hell's Children: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller (This Dark Age)

There are a lot of post-apocalyptic stories floating around these days. Tales of zombies, of meteors, of illnesses that take the world and leave a select few individuals alive.

But what happens children and teens are the only survivors of a fatal pandemic?

Hell’s Children is a breath of fresh air in a fast-growing genre of catastrophe fictions. After hearing of John L Monk and his works on the Self-publishing Podcast, I had to admit my intrigue was overpowering and I had to find out what the book was all about.

The book begins several months after all adults have been wiped from the Earth. Our main protagonist, Jack, is the child of parents who, from his earliest days, is taught to survive. When a group of rebel children threaten to burn his house down if he doesn’t join their ranks, Jack sets out to put his apocalypse plan into motion, alongside his two best friends.

From start to finish the book is gripping. It’s an easy read that reminds me of the writing style of J.K. Rowling with a mixture of Richard Matheson’s apocalyptic world-building. The concept of a world where only those under the age of sixteen survive is immensely interesting, and the way that John tackles topics such as hierarchy, food stock, and winter survival is so grounded that it makes the whole thing seem like a real possibility. A terrifying, but real, possibility.

The characters each have their own unique skills which merge together seamlessly. The ‘will they, won’t they’ relationship between Jack and Lisa is played with just the right amount of tact. Though there were times where names got a little confusing (about halfway through the book we’ve introduced around 30 characters to Jack’s group), it wasn’t a distraction as each character has enough of a uniqueness that you’re soon back on track.

Hell’s Children is one of those rare nuggets of gold that I’ve seen from indie fiction. John’s writing is strong, fluid, and interesting. His world-building is realistic and deep with enough background to immerse you wholly, without running through the risk of over-describing and slowing down the plot.

A definite must-read for anyone looking for a fresh new take on post-apocalyptic fiction.

I read a lot of post apocalyptic books, it took me awhile to pick this one up because I just finished an 8 book series but really enjoyed this. It was a fast read, I had a hard time putting it down, it felt like a more modern lord of the flies, I finished it today and getting the second book tomorrow.

About half way through. Very well written,cant weight till end to find out who made it.