Dusk Before the Dawn

Larry Ketchersid
Infinity Publishing (2006)
ISBN 9780741430168
Reviewed by Joanne Benham for Reader Views (12/06)

Right before I started reading this book, I watched a special on The National Geographic Channel about the ancient Mayan Calendar and scientist’s interpretation of it.  The Mayans’ calendar was based on their knowledge of the skies and the way the Earth moved in conjunction with the planets. For example, they were able to make highly accurate predictions of such things as the summer and winter solstices thousands of years in advance.  The Mayan calendar ends on December 21, 2012 and scientists are divided as to whether they are predicting the end of the world or the beginning of a new Golden Era.  Then I read this book and it seems like the author has addressed this question and given a highly plausible answer. 

Joseph Davis, a medical technician at a local hospital, and his family are at the beach enjoying a day of sun and swimming when suddenly the people around him, including his family, drop to the ground in a coma.  Frantic, Joseph rushes his family to the closest hospital, which happens to be the one where he works, only to find the personnel there are also passing out.  Within minutes of arriving at the hospital Joseph finds himself passing out too, his last conscious thought of his wife and children.

Joseph wakes up in a new world, taken over by a mad scientist who has destroyed half the people on earth, forced to work for the scientist in order to keep his wife and daughters alive. 

But there’s a small group, seemingly unaffected by the scientist’s potion.  Who are these people and what magical powers do they possess that allows them to remain conscious while the rest of the world rests in a coma?  And can these few people save the rest of the human race from the mad scientist?

I enjoyed “Dusk Before the Dawn” and I hope there is a sequel planned that will answer a few questions I have, such as how long were the key characters in their comas.  Was it a week, month or even years?  That question nagged me through the whole book, so Larry; I hope you answer it in the next.

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