Five stars for pure entertainment value! I gobbled this one up in just a handful of days. Judging by reviews I've read from sci-fi fans with an extensive repertoire of books and authors that they are well versed in, this book offers up nothing new and was frustratingly lacking. I can agree somewhat. The characters were not well developed and each interconnected story jumped to the high points and then moved on to the next. But the author was still able to infuse the story with a sense of immediacy and claustrophobia and panic that I imagine anyone would experience in an apocalyptical situation. He was also able to retain a sense of humanity throughout the violence and gore. And while some of the stories worked better than others, all of them were interesting and pushed the story forward. A great end of summer read!