Book Review: Lights Out In Lincolnwood

Lights Out in Lincolnwood, by Geoff Rodkey

• Dark, and some light, humor

• Realistic end of the world doom

• Family drama at it's finest

• 4 Stars

I saw this cover on bookstagram and immediately had to see what this was about. It did not disappoint.

Taking place over the course of a week as the world ends, this book takes you through multiple points of view of family drama that are related and unrelated to the pending end of the world. It was kind of like the multiple layers of dysfunction from Silver Linings Playbook meet the dark humor and quick decisions of Zombieland.

Each character has qualities and challenges that cause you to cheer them on, and then other actions that have you shaking their head. I've never seen such a cast of characters that are so complicated in their own ways but you end up understanding them so well as the same time.

This book reads like a great Netflix limited series about a comedic dooms day. I'm not ever sure how else to continue talking about this book. It would pair so well with a vacation day, it's easy to follow and entertaining. If you're traveling with family I'm sure you'll get a little extra enjoyment out of some of the drama.

---

Synopsis: It's Tuesday morning in Lincolnwood, New Jersey, and all four members of the Altman family are busy ignoring each other en route to work and school. Dan, a lawyer turned screenwriter, is preoccupied with satisfying his imperious TV producer boss's creative demands. Seventeen-year-old daughter Chloe obsesses over her college application essay and the state tennis semifinals. Her vape-addicted little brother, Max, silently plots revenge against a thuggish freshman classmate. And their MBA-educated mom Jen, who gave up a successful business career to raise the kids, is counting the minutes until the others vacate the kitchen and she can pour her first vodka of the day.

Then, as the kids begin their school day and Dan rides a commuter train into Manhattan, the world comes to a sudden, inexplicable stop. Lights, phones, laptops, cars, trains...the entire technological infrastructure of 21st-century society quits working. Normal life, as the Altmans and everyone else knew it, is over.

Or is it?

If you want to buy this book online, while supporting local bookstores, Click Here! To purchase books I've reviewed and recommended, Click Here!