Review of The Beginning of the End - It Starts

[Satwik Mohanty]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Beginning of the End - It Starts" by John K. Williamson.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The Beginning of the End - It Starts is a science fiction novel written by author John K. Williamson. This book is the first installment of this dystopian series and published by Page publishing. It describes the events of a nuclear war. In its prologue, four nuclear bombs were dropped on different parts of America. Millions of lives were lost, including every single high-ranking government official, except for the president. The country descends into chaos within hours. It was every man for himself. With no laws remaining to uphold civilization, it all came down to survival of the fittest.

It is a character-driven book. The story is in third-person narrative and shifts between four different scenarios. Each scenario has a few main characters around which the story evolves. The president of the United States, Jim Thomas, survived the attack as he was enjoying his vacation with his family in Hawaii. Being the only remaining high-ranking official, the responsibility of somehow balancing the nation falls on his shoulders. Henry Haynes, a medic who used to be in the army and now works as a surgeon. His time in the army gives him an upper hand as he is quick to make decisions and has all the necessary skills to survive this kind of situation. Janay Williamson, a single mother and prison guard who is late to receive the information. After realizing the depth of the situation, all she wants is to keep her boys safe. Finally, there are John Hill and Marvino Buck, inmates and best pals. They have each other's back no matter the situation. On the night of the attack, they see the opportunity and break out of prison. With all that's going on around them, who will survive?

What I liked the most were the characters in the book. The problem of having too many characters in a book is that it becomes difficult to manage them. Some get plenty of development while others don't get any. But this wasn't the problem with this book. The author did an incredible job at accurately describing and maintaining all the different characters of this book. Also, the story itself is a pretty great one. It is full of suspense, thrill, twists, and revelations. It has scenes of comedy, tragedy, romance, and violence. Not a single page of this book felt dull. It was insane from the beginning to the end.

What I did not like was the abundance of vulgar language and violent scenes. While I don't have any problem with either of these, what bothers me was over the top representation of these concepts. I know the theme is of a dystopian world, which brings out the worst in people. But the use of racial and profane language is a bit too often, and the depiction of violent scenarios is way too vulgar and descriptive. Also, the editing of the book was not perfect. It needs another round of proofreading. For these reasons, I would rate it 3 out of 4 stars.

All in all, The Beginning of the End - It Starts is an admirable dystopian sci-fi novel. I can easily recommend it to anyone who enjoys a post-apocalyptic setting. The plot's twists and turns will grab anyone's attention. And I'm looking forward to the sequel. For the general audience, some scenes of brutality can be too much to handle. This book is not for the faint of heart.

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The Beginning of the End - It Starts
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[D G M]

I like when the characters in a book are well balanced and get enough development. And the plot of the book sounds rather appealing. Thanks for sharing your opinion.

[GYRO]

I liked the plot but the vulgar scenes and profane language was a bit too much for my taste.

[Satwik Mohanty]

I like when the characters in a book are well balanced and get enough development. And the plot of the book sounds rather appealing. Thanks for sharing your opinion.

The characters were the main highlight of the book. And the author does an appreciable job at managing them. Thanks for stopping by!

[Satwik Mohanty]

I liked the plot but the vulgar scenes and profane language was a bit too much for my taste.

The book was very violent in a few scenes. I won't recommend it to anyone who is sensitive to such topics. Thanks for stopping by!