The Fortress: A Novel

Keepers Series, Book 2

As an 11 year old boy, Chris Bellinger was kidnapped by a violent group calling themselves the Keepers of the Forest. He survived, but something happened during that time. He wasn't sure what that was...until now. As an adult, he is about to learn what it means to be the Chosen One.

©2016, 2023 james mcnally (P)2024 james mcnally

Doomsday Survival Bunker Social Drama

A doomsday prepper odyssey with social elements that ultimately struck me as a little dull. I did not read the first book so maybe was out of the loop and this sequel does little to catch us up; but apparently there is a neat Celtic folk supernatural element of necromancy and forces of nature aligning to cause a possible doomsday plague. Behind the scenes is an epic seeming interesting subplot that doesn't often come to the fore in this sequel. The content here focused more on a bunker/ark where people would wait out a plague or debate how to handle aspects of quarantine. The plague idea felt a little on the nose following COVID. In the end of this installment the supernatural material comes back up in a more interesting way to somewhat resolve the current developments and bring it back on point to the fantasy elements in a way that felt like an opening for another installment (not a cliffhanger but more aligning the chosen one with his role). The Fortress has some pacing issues that kept me from appreciation it's ambition. Never one to fault an indie book for modest means I found the narration serviceable for what I felt the quality of this author/publisher might be but not great with a too casual monotone read on the material.