The Dead and the Gone (The Last Survivors #2)

17-year old Alex Morales is a normal teenager, he attends the St. Vicent de Paul collge-prep school in New York City, worries about whether he will be class president, has two annoying sisters, and has a job at a Pizzeria.

All of this is shattered one day when a cosmic event causes chaos and destruction on a global scale. His mother who works at the hospital doesn't come home that day, his father who is visting with relatives in Puerto Rico can't be contacted, food prices rise overnight and panic floods through the people of New York City.

Alex struggles to keep him and his sisters alive when the entire city starts to fall apart. Throughout the book he is forced to make extremly difficult decisions for survival that compromise both his moral ethics and that of his religios beliefs. He does things that he would have never thought himself capable of doing.

Although, the Dead and The Gone focuses on the aftermath of the same disaster mentioned in the first Last Survivors book: Life as We Knew It,this book is definitely more raw and gritty. Desperation and the need for survival are all conveyed more sharply than in the previous book. One of the items that adds to the more cataclysmic tone of this novel, is the setting. In the previous book where the reader was in the country mor opportunities were present for survival and less danger was evident. In the Dead and The Gone, in the city there is less room for error and less opportunities, resources are harder to come by,and help is less likely to be gained. As the book progress the main charcter Alex becomes increasingly desperate in his quest to send his sisters to a safer place.


The Dead and The Gone doesn't have a first person Narration like the first book, however the day by day format is still there, which allows a sharp contrast to be drawn between the intial days after the disaster and the months following. This is a excellent Post-apocalyptical book, and a must-read, especially if you've read the first book or love post-apocalyptical reads. The Dead and The Gone would also make a great books for discussion.

Age Groups: 14 and older.

Content: References to a shopkeeper wanting to by a girl, references to people commiting suicide, references to piles of bodies and similar descriptions, characters talking about religious figures in a derogatory manner, adult characters consuming alcohol, references to characters stealing, references to global disasters

Reader reviewed by Kelsey

Wow. This book is awesome.
Devastating, depressing, heartbreaking, and tear-worthy...but still
awesome. It seems like it should be boring, because Alex and his sisters
stay in one place the whole time and don't really do anything, but it's
not. Pfeffer's writing is addictive and easy to speed through. I was
never bored while reading The Dead and
the Gone.

However,
I didn't like this book as much as the first, Life as We Knew It. I didn't like the constant Catholic
references and sporadic Spanish phrases (with no translation...I don't
know Spanish and I'm planning on never learning it, so you're going to
have to help me with this Susan). I'm not sure why the author decided to
switch to different people and place rather than keep with the Life as We Knew It storyline. But thankfully, the third book
in this trilogy is about Miranda and her family, and I'm exited to
continue her journey after the asteroid hit the moon.

If you're looking for a good book to make
you appreciate what you have and feel foolish for complaining about your
situation, this book is for you.