The Darkest Path by Jeff Hirsch

imageI loved The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch, and was excited to take home his newest book, The Darkest Path, over Christmas break.  Don’t worry.  It’s not a sequel.  Both books are stand-alone novels, which will terrify you with their dark vision of the future strongly rooted in the issues of today.

If anything, I found The Darkest Path even scarier than The Eleventh Plague.  What used to be the United States has been torn apart by civil war.  The southern and western states are ruled by the Glorious Path–a militant religion that does not allow dissent.  Whenever the Glorious Path takes control, they give the residents of the area a choice:  either join or be killed.  The rest of the country is ruled by what’s left of the US government.  The wealthy continue to live in luxury while the rest of the citizens struggle to survive and defend themselves from the Glorious Path.

Enter Callum Roe and his younger brother James.  They were captured by the Glorious Path six years ago and have slowly worked their way up through the ranks.  Cal still yearns for home and his parents, but James has slowly come to believe the teachings of the Path.  When Cal is given an opportunity to join a group of secret agents, he reacts by killing the commander who wants to train a stray to be a vicious attack dog.  Cal and the dog named Bear go on the run, trying to cross the border into US controlled territory, but across the border is not the promised land he had hoped for.  Instead of heading for home, he finds himself in the middle of deadly battles and forced to make choices that have no good answer.

Every page is packed with action, and the twists and turns of the plot kept me guessing until the last page.  Callum didn’t start out to be a hero.  At the beginning he simply reacts to events and is nearly overwhelmed by them.  But through the people he meets–some courageous, some fearful, some selfish, some fanatical–he begins to make choices to grow into a stronger person.  My favorite of the characters who influence him is Nat.  She is stubborn and fiery and unflagging.  Even though the setting is harsh and dark, I was impressed with the number of characters who chose to live above the darkness and risk their lives for others.

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