I met Scott Sigler around this time last year. Super nice guy, well spoken, and hoards of fans who couldn’t wait to ask him questions or get his autograph. While I’d heard of him, I’d never actually read a book by him.

A few weeks ago, my friend was telling me, he finally got around to reading Alive but it wasn’t as good as he hoped. Also, he picked up books two and three. What?! How did that make any sense? But now I get it.

Alive is a slow starter. The only reason I stuck with this book was the promise it got better. So much better I’d have to read book two. (Later he told me I’d have to read book three as well.) So I stuck it out. I stuck out the sometimes drawl, slow, character riddled, uber anxiety, over the top in her head book.

And I’m glad I did.

I listened to this on Audible. That being said, the last two hours I couldn’t put it down. It shifted from slow and verging on annoying to woah, there’s finally some story here I can get down with. While I won’t give it away, I will say this. If you stick it out, you’ll find yourself buying book two. I did promptly after finishing book 1.

While I wasn’t sure, for a long time, if I’d ever pick up another Scott Sigler book, I know definitively that he can throw a spin on any situation in the most unexpected of ways. I’ve been assured that the next two books are fantastic. ALIVE seems to be a lot of set up for things to come. I’m excited to see where this goes. I hope book two holds up to what’s been promised.

I open my eyes to darkness. Total darkness. I hear my own breathing, but nothing else. I lift my head…it thumps against something solid and unmoving. There is a board right in front of my face. No, not a board…a lid.

A teenage girl awakens to find herself trapped in a coffin. She has no idea who she is, where she is, or how she got there. Fighting her way free brings little relief—she discovers only a room lined with caskets and a handful of equally mystified survivors. Beyond their room lies a corridor filled with bones and dust, but no people…and no answers.

She knows only one thing about herself—her name, M. Savage, which was engraved on the foot of her coffin—yet she finds herself in charge. She is not the biggest among them, or the boldest, but for some reason the others trust her. Now, if they’re to have any chance, she must get them to trust one another.

Whatever the truth is, she is determined to find it and confront it. If she has to lead, she will make sure they survive. Maybe there’s a way out, a rational explanation, and a fighting chance against the dangers to come. Or maybe a reality they cannot comprehend lies just beyond the next turn.