A Dark and Sure Descent: Being a True Account of the Long Island Outbreak
by Saul W. Tanpepper

While this did not grab me right out the box the story did still finally grab me. The main problem was that the characters were not very likeable or well thought out really. Cassie is cold and unfeeling to both her husband and child, Ramon is wrapped up in his work and does not give enough to his wife and child, the kid was just there for sympathy it seemed to me. Though the main characters were not all that great, the story itself was what won me over. There was enough happening that I did not really care that much about them, even if I did pay attention to what they did.

In the summer of 2030 the government started the roll out of the Stream, a new digital network, which is pegged to replace the internet on Long Island. They are also using the Omegamen to help set up the hardware for this endeavor. With all this happening outside Lyssa and Ramon Stemple have started new research at their lab that somehow manages to land them in the middle of a murder investigation that morphs into the deaths being linked to a new virus sweeping Long Island. Their tiny lab is said to be ground zero for the infection and even though they know its not true, the government is selling it to the masses.

The biomedical disaster that changes the world does not begin with a bang but with a bite.

I do have to qualify some of my animosity to the characters by saying that of the reason I feel so strongly about them is the fact that are written very well. But it is always better if you like the characters so that you can be more vested in whether or not they survive. The fact that I did not like them just means that other things had to keep me interested in the story because they did not. I also found the book to be overly long, it could have been wrapped up in half the time if some of the extraneous stuff had been cut out. I also found the ending to be a bit abrupt, even though it was being used to tell the story of how things started after the fact.

We get an interesting story of government conspiracy, corporate intrigue, biomedical thriller, and family drama. I would recommend this even if you have not read from the beginning. This gives you an idea of where the story will take you.

My rating: 4.25 of 5 stars

A hand reached up out of the darkness, followed by a masked head and shoulders. The coveralls pulled tight against the man’s shoulder, as if snagged on something inside the hole, so that a larger slice of skin was now exposed. Clearly visible on his neck was a wide gash. Lyssa gasped. But the snagged shirt came free and covered it up again and suddenly she wasn’t sure she’d seen what she thought she had. It could’ve been dirt or oil. In fact, it was most likely to be that. The liquid dripping down his shoulder was thick and black. It hadn’t looked anything like blood at all. “They’re not dead, honey. Don’t think that.”