Last Light, by Terri Blackstock, is the first in a series of books called the Restoration Series. It focuses on the Branning family, as their lives are suddenly thrown into turmoil when their city, and all its surrounding areas, suddenly loses all power. Unlike a regular electric blackout, they lose all modern conveniences. Cars stop dead on the highway, airplanes fall out of the sky, and phones go dead.
Deni Branning, a somewhat spoiled and driven college student, is flying home for a visit when the catastrophe strikes. She and her father must make their way home from the airport on bicycles, through all the stalled cars on the highway, their growing panic, and the fights and riots that are already starting to break out in the city.
Last Light pulled me in with its opening scene and never let me go. Fast paced and evenly measured, it unfolded like the most gripping of thrillers. The characters were well developed and believable, and the story line was full of twists and turns. From misery to self-pity, to grit and determination, to looting and mysterious murders... it kept me reading page after rapidly turned page. I enjoyed the element of mystery, but it's possible I enjoyed the basic story of pulling-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps survival during a difficult situation even more.
At its core, it is a story of faith, trust, and family. And a good one at that. I look forward to reading the rest of the books in the series.
