REVIEW: Released (Agents of Evil #1) by Megan Duncan

Author: Megan Duncan

Pages: 260

Genre: Dystopian - YA

Publisher: CreateSpace

AMAZON: Released 

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

After a demon apocalypse kills their parents and everyone they know, 17-year old Abby Phillips, her brother, Carter, and friend, Max flee their home to travel through what has become the wastelands of America. When radio transmissions of a resistance offering shelter and safety cease, Abby is tempted to give up. Struggling to overcome life-threatening obstacles in their dangerous journey, Abby and her companions quickly discover there are much worse things lurking in the dark than they could have ever imagined.

REVIEW: 4 out of 5 stars

Thank-you kindly to author Megan Duncan for providing me with a copy of ‘Released’, the first book in her ‘Agents of Evil’ series.

Abby Phillips is only one of three survivors left in her hometown and realizes the only hope of survival is to make a trip through what has become the wasteland of America to a military base in New Mexico where radio transmissions have promised safety and assistance.

Abby is an amazing heroine who has strength, courage and determination and along with her brother, Carter and his friend, Max they overcome a number of obstacles to make the long and dangerous journey in the hopes of finding food, water, shelter and safety.

Along the way they also come across young Taya who I thought was absolutely wonderful – she was fiercely independent and at times annoying but was written perfectly.

The Demons are killing humans’ en-masse and survival becomes the sole focus for everyone and they do it by any means possible, the twists and turns are non-stop and the action fierce, humans are suffering and you are really drawn into the emotions of the story. I couldn’t predict what was going to happen from one page to the next, which for me is the sign of a great book! It was fast paced and filled with kick-butt action. It was clever and original and I loved the dark, gritty writing style.

The romance between Max and Abby was sweet and didn’t overpower the main storyline, it was subtle and more a little sub-story that grew as the story progressed; I am curious to see how their relationship evolves.

I would have liked more information about the reasoning why demons were unleashed into the world in the first place; I am hoping this is touched on more in the sequel, ‘Chaos’. I really liked the idea of a post-apocalyptic world with Demons destroying mankind; it was a nice change to the stereotypical Zombies.

The plot was thought out well and the pacing was spot on, I also enjoyed the first person narration by Abby, each of the characters was well-developed and likeable, I really felt for them as teens and what they had to endure. I also really enjoyed the ending which is the perfect set-up for the next book.

Overall, this was a quick and captivating read for me and I enjoyed every moment of it – a wonderful Dystopian, which is fast becoming one of my favorite genres.