The Suicide Collectors

If you're like me you have been searching for scifi/horror stories that amazed you. It's surprisingly difficult to find works that really pull you in, instead you find multitudes of books that just suck. The Suicide Collectors is a work that will amaze you. I picked up a copy today and finished it in one sitting. The book deals with very heavy and even taboo ideas that we see everyday. The main comment that seems to be on anyones review is that they would have liked to see a more happy ending, or at least a closing one. I have to say that i really liked the ending, because it reflects the truth of the world. This is what happens when the world ends. I read a lot of briankeene and people always seem to say the same thing about his works, but this the truth the world isn't a book with a happy ending. It's just the world. Seriously check it out. It's great.

The Suicide Collectors succeeds on many levels. Science-fiction lovers will be drawn to the post-apocalyptic theme of humanity struggling to survive; and other readers will be swept along by the suspenseful plot line, the eclectic trio of Norman, Pops and Zero, and by the deeper, philosophical question raised by the author: what is the cause of so much modern angst? Although we never receive an answer to the cause of the despair affecting society, David Oppegaard's novel, like any decent post-apocalyptic tale worth its weight in decaying infrastructure and crumbling buildings, The Suicide Collectors serves as a cautionary tale for humans to start paying attention to what is happening now. And like all good Science fiction stories, it works as a parable for the woes of present time.

This book was great. It was as if Philip K. Dick got hold of Cormac McCarthy and strangled all those inaccessible, page-long sentences out of The Road, and said, "Make this readable, action-packed and with a killer premise!" To which McCarthy poked him in the eyes, stooge-like, and said, "Only if you get your prose beyond serviceable!" I'm a fan of both McCarthy and Dick, yet Oppegaard, as a debut novelist, hangs with these big boys in breadth and scope with Suicide Collectors. He takes the best from both -- Dick's unique vision and McCarthy's stark world -- and creates something his own. This book is many things but right now it's an excellent escape. Our economy tanked, our world looks bleak, but as all good apocalyptic fiction writers, Oppegaard reminds us that things could be worse. Much much worse. I'm looking forward to his next work, apparently due out next fall...so the blogs say. I recommend you read Suicide Collectors. I recommend that after you read it you tell your friends to go read it too.

No one surviving understands much about the Despair plague, but in the five years since it first surfaced or at least was identified the pandemic destruction of the globe has left fewer than 10% of the population alive. Incredibly, in this relatively short time so many have committed suicide. Those left behind struggles with grief, survival guilt and despair over the future. In Florida, Norman comes home to find his beloved wife dead, a victim of an overdose. When three Collectors arrive to take away the corpse, Norman refuses their entry. Instead he and his neighbor Pops fire at them; blowing away one of them. The remaining two leave with the corpse of their comrade while Norman and Pop discuss how the Collectors know when to come for a dead person like they did within a few hours for Norman's wife. They also realize they cannot remain here as more Collectors will come so they discuss where to go before these ghoulish scavengers come back for them. They decide to cross the country to Seattle where rumors that a research scientist has found a cure to Despair. In Kansas, courageous but frightened eleven year old Zero joins the traveling Floridians, who have met death everywhere on their trek. This well written haunting science fiction tale will grip the audience from the onset when Norman finds his wife dead in their bed and never slows down as he and Pops travel as bleak a landscape in recent memory. The story line is fast-paced but gloomy as Despair is the shroud that hovers across America. As in the Zager and Evans 1969 song In The Year 2525 states: "... For what he never knew now man's reign is through; but through the eternal night the twinkling of starlight", a dash of hope mostly through the intrepid Zero who brings a reason to live to the adult Floridians. Harriet Klausner

I loved the mix of humor and imagery to bring about this tale of despair, loss, heartache and working against all odds. The main character, Norman, is tenacious and perhaps oddly lovable; I would not mind taking him out for a whiskey sometime. A very nice first novel, I expect to see more from Oppegaard.