Before This Is Over by Amanda Hickie

Before This Is Over

by Amanda Hickie

In the midst of a devastating epidemic, how far will a desperate mother go to keep her loved ones safe? There is a deadly virus spreading around the world. At first it is a distant alarm bell in the background of Hannah's comfortable suburban life. Then suddenly, it has arrived on the doorstep. The virus traps Hannah, her husband, and their young sons in their city, then their neighborhood, and finally their own home. As a formerly idyllic backyard and quiet street become battlefields, fear and compassion collide. But what happens when their water supply is cut, and then the power, and the food supply dwindles? Chilling and suspenseful, at once deeply personal and terrifying in its implications, BEFORE THIS IS OVER invites us to imagine what a family must do to survive when pushed to the extreme.

Reviewed by jnkay01 on

4 of 5 stars

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Reading "Before This is Over" in Miami, just a few months after the city became the epicenter of a Zika outbreak in the United States, Hannah's reaction to a viral threat feels fresh and accurate. From her skepticism in the government's containment efforts to her smug relief when her preparations appear to pay off, Hannah's insistence that her children are more important than anyone else's family raises haunting questions not only about how far you'd go to protect yourself in a crisis, but also about whether anyone will make better decisions the next time public health is threatened on a hemispheric scale.

Read more from my AP review here: https://apnews.com/56e16a5be06e43c29c1995f8a3281bc9

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 27 March, 2017: Finished reading
  • 27 March, 2017: Reviewed