LIGHTS OUT IN LINCOLNWOOD by Geoff Rodkey (Out 7/6/21!)

I received a gifted copy of LIGHTS OUT IN LINCOLNWOOD by Geoff Rodkey from Harper Perennial for an honest review.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Publication Date: 7/6/2021

LIGHTS OUT IN LINCOLNWOOD begins on a normal day, a Tuesday. Parents Dan and Jen Altman are living in Lincolnwood, New Jersey, with their two teenage kids. Chloe is worried about applying to college and her tennis tournament tomorrow. Max is struggling with kids at school and his vape addiction. They bicker and fight over breakfast as if it is the start of any other day.

While Dan is on his way to his screenwriting job in Manhattan, the kids are in school, and Jen is comforting herself at home with a drink, the world changes. All the power goes out and all electrical devices go dead. Trains stop, lights go out, and planes fall from the sky. With no contact with the outside world, they don’t know if it is local or everywhere and no one knows what happened.

This book takes place over just a few days and is really just a slice of life for this family beginning with a few hours in the normal world and then continuing on in a world where everything is unknown. The POV shifts between the four family members as they realize the problem and then attempt to continue to live their life. No one knows if or when the power will come back on and each of the family members is hiding things form the others.

This was a very interesting read and it did keep me wanting to know what would happen next. As somewhat expected you get a mix of people handling catastrophes in different ways from those willing to help to those looking to come out on top. No one is prepared for this type of event, least of all the Altmans with their empty cupboards and frail relationships.

I wouldn’t recommend this one for people who want answers as there were quite a few things left unresolved by the end of the book. I don’t tend to mind open endings, but this one did leave me wishing for a few more answers.

I would definitely read more from this author in the future. LIGHTS OUT IN LINCOLNWOOD is out on July 6, 2021!