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By Nancy Mullins  I love a good end-of-the-world story. Some may regard post-apocalyptic fiction as tired and overdone, but I’m endlessly fascinated; it’s a subgenre rife with possibilities, wide open for new takes on old ideas. And I don’t even mind the occasional z-word. I love a good end-of-the-world story. Some may regard post-apocalyptic fiction as tired and overdone, but I’m endlessly fascinated; it’s a subgenre rife with possibilities, wide open for new takes on old ideas. And I don’t even mind the occasional z-word.
‘The Last Days of Salton Academy’ by Bram Stoker-nominated author Jennifer Brozek starts out with an interesting premise: a prep school, put into lockdown in the days following ‘the Outbreak’ – a virus which causes zombiefication in those it infects. A handful of students and faculty remain alive and well, kept safe by the Academy walls, and sustained on a fast-depleting stash of supplies. It starts well: the perspective cycles through a cast of varied and (mostly) interesting characters, setting up – among other things - the first rumblings of a rebellion. A group of students unhappy with what they view as ham-fisted leadership at the hands of Principal Swenson decide to take matters into their own hands. Quite literally. From here, the story dives into a Lord of the Flies-esque world of distrust and paranoia. Factions are forming, and the previously cohesive micro-society begins to break down – especially when a group of students are sent outside the walls to scavenge. At this point, a very strange plot decision is made, involving a student whose storyline had previously struck me as unusual and interesting – a boy crippled by rheumatoid arthritis, whose medication is about to run out. The plot twist comes entirely out of left field, and left me scratching my head. The story then proceeds down a rabbit hole of seemingly random violence, murders which make less and less sense as matters spiral out of hand, and the trigger-happy dispatch of characters who were just becoming interesting. It’s reminiscent of the Point Horror books I used to read as a young adult – and of course, as a 30 year old (albeit a 30 year old who enjoys YA fiction), I remind myself that I am not the target audience for this story. It may be that for another reader, the high drama and unrelenting tension of the book’s latter half might make up for the increasingly incoherent plot. ‘The Last Days of Salton Academy’ has bright moments, and a great deal of potential, some of which is snuffed out before it ever gets a chance to shine. However, the ‘Walking Dead’ style slaughter and teen slasher movie paranoia may hold enough appeal for some readers that the little details are rendered essentially unimportant. Comments are closed.
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