“Luck had carried us through the first three waves. But even the best gambler will tell you that luck only lasts so long.”

(The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey, Chapter 16, page 75)

Author Rick Yancey packs pages of twists and turns into an epic tale of survival during and after a cunning alien invasion. Told from multiple points-of-view (POVs), The 5th Wave is book one in a trilogy. The 5th Wave offers readers a fast-paced, action-adventure wrapped in paranoia and sprinkled with a range of deep emotions—from fear to love and horror. It’s all there.

With the first wave they took out all power. No lights. No motors. No cell phones. All grids down, just a taste of what was to come.

The second wave hits differently. Tsunami. Coastal cities across the globe wiped out. Still, the survivors press on. There is always hope, right?

The third wave decimates. A plague that kills almost everyone it touches. There’s no hiding from the pestilence they’ve unleashed.

Then comes the fourth wave. The Silencers emerge.

What’s the fifth wave? It’s the unthinkable.

Readers ride the waves of the world’s decimation with a variety of characters that include high school kids Cassie Sullivan and Ben “Zombie” Parish. Then there’s Evan Walker, a bit older and definitely different. He saves Cassie’s life, but can we really trust him? Author Yancey weaves a distinctive dystopian story that resonates because it’s just enough to have a reader thinking, hmmm, what if and yes, I could see this, crap—what would I do if I were Cassie or Ben or any other human trying to survive this invasion?

I found The 5th Wave to be a great escape book. It swept me away into its world, and that’s exactly what a good book should do. I didn’t want to put it down and I’m so happy that I have the boxed set so when I finished I was able to grab book two and soldier on with story.

You can find out more about author Rick Yancey here. And I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well-written end-of-world story told from multiple perspectives and that doesn’t lose its sense of reality.