Dan Foster is vacationing with his girlfriend, Mara Nichols, for the first time in 10 years on an island resort in the Bahamas. Dan is not a confident guy. He feels like he has wasted his potential and not lived the life he should have been living. He wonders what his beautiful and intelligent girlfriend sees in him. Dan is just starting to mellow out and have fun when the sun explodes. Bummer. The impending apocalypse brings out the worst in many of the resort guests, with the bougie inhabitants of “building A” hoarding supplies, water and power and lording over the inferior guests of buildings B and C. Can Dan figure out a way to grab Mara and escape this madness? Or will he step up and be the leader that Mara and others seem to believe he is?

When I read the description of this novel some time ago, I knew I had to read it. And it lived up to all my expectations. Dan is an engaging and likeable character. As a child, he was told he was “gifted”, and his teachers and parents were full of anticipation for his future. As an adult, with a disappointing series of mediocre jobs behind him and no money, he feels like he has wasted his potential or perhaps he never had what others saw in him. When calamity strikes on his vacation and building A stages a coup, the other guests look to him as some kind of leader of the common man. Dan isn’t sure he can do that, or if he even wants to do that.

The events that unfold will have you turning pages long past your bedtime. The characters are so well-depicted that I have a mental image of all of them. The plot twists will delight you and there are many laugh-out-loud moments. I am definitely planning to purchase a physical copy of this book and reread it. I think this is my favourite book of the year so far! Immense thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me with a copy to enjoy.