The Things That Keep Us Here

All I can say is wow. Very emotional and loving. I couldn’t put this book down that’s how great it was. I can definitely read this again.

WOW! Talk about being hooked from the first page of a novel, Carla Buckley knocked my socks off. I absolutely could not put this well-written, insightful book down. I'll certainly recommend it to family and friends. I loved the fact that it didn't have to use gratuitous sexual behaviors or smut talk in a mistaken attempt to keep my interest. Carla used good old ingenuity, an author's skills, and a fascinating conundrum that could face us all. I'll be looking for more novels by this talented writer. Kudos, Carla.

The Things That Keep Us Here by Carla Buckley "The Things That Keep Us Here" is a phenomenal debut thriller about what happens to one family when a virulent bird flu pandemic hits the USA. And it has the potential to kill about 50 our of every one hundred that it infects. And then that potential turns to reality. This is the story of one broken family coming to grips of the reality that is America during an unseen and unprepared for emergency. I've read so far this year (2009 when I read the ARC), about 250 books and his is the one that I will remember for years to come. I've just finished it and I want to grab it up and start rereading it . It was an utterly amazing book especially for a debut. The characters are so well written that I came to think of them as friends of mine. The plot was very well thought out, fast paced, chilling, thrilling and yet tender. This book preys on our deepest emotions and fears, it also makes us ask the really hard moral and ethical questions of ourselves. It makes us wonder if we could cope just half as well as the Brooks family does. If we would come out of something like this with our sanity even half as intact as they did. I look forward to Carla Buckley's next novel.

Best book I've read in a long time. I can't remember the last time I became so completely engrossed in a book that finishing it left me feeling disoriented; like waking from a deep sleep. But this was my reaction to The Things That Keep Us Here. This story follows Ann Brooks, her estranged husband Peter, and their two daughters as they are faced with the scariest of nightmares. It begins with Peter, a veterinary researcher searching for samples of Avian Flu in birds along the migratory flight path in Ohio. What he stumbles upon is a massive "die off"; that is hundreds of birds who have died of some kind of illness. Peter frantically begins running tests to determine the cause of the die off but things quickly spiral out of control. H5N1 has jumped species and becomes a level 5 pandemic. It has a 50% mortality rate. Schools and churches close, hospitals fill up, towns begin closing their borders. Citizens scramble for supplies: food, water, firewood, medical supplies are all in short supply. Riots break out. Emergency responders can't keep up with medical emergencies, fires, violence. Citizens become trapped in their homes, hoping to keep the virus away. Similar to The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story, this story has an intensity that will challenge your sense of safety. Scared the bejeezes out of me!

Research veterinarian Peter Brooks discovers a large flock of pintail ducks floating dead in the Ohio lake he has been monitoring. The ducks show symptoms of avian flu - but there should not be such a massive die-off. When he takes them back to his research lab, he soon finds out that they are dead of a mutated flu virus - called H5N1 - for which humans have no immunity and for which there is no vaccine. As this new virus explodes into a pandemic, The Things that Keep Us Here follows Peter, his ex-wife Ann, and their children, Kate and Maddie. It quickly spreads, killing 50 of every 100 people it infects - including friends and neighbors. Ann quickly finds herself and her girls trapped in their house, afraid to go out, afraid to allow neighbors in, without power, and running out of food and water. Her formerly pleasant life as an art teacher in her children's school changes overnight - dramatically -into a desperate fight for survival. The story seems based on the fears that sprung up in our society with the H1N1 flu epidemic recently experienced across the world. Fortunately, that one has not generated a true pandemic. But what if it had? How would YOU react? Ms. Buckley has done a superb job with this book! Her science is accurate. It is explained sufficiently through the story for the reader to understand. Her story is extremely well written, so the writing itself does not interfere with the buildup of adrenaline that I expect every reader will feel. This could be real! Make sure you have time to finish the book when you start it - you won't be able to put it down.

This is one of those books that got me so involved that I spent every spare minute trying to find out what would happen next. I read it in two days rather than one, only because I had to work and take of home and family, but went straight back to the book every chance I had. It was a frightening, all too possible scenario about a flu pandemic called H5N1 that sweeps the world, seen through the eyes of one family in Columbus, Ohio. Much of it takes place within their home. There were times when reading it was so stressful, I almost wanted to stop, but just had to find out what would happen next to this family that I became very well acquainted with within the first few chapters. I just had to keep reading, hoping that they would pull through this horrible situation, all intact and that things would eventually get better. It was definitely one of those books where all you can think about is the light at the end of the tunnel. The family consists of a mother, her two young children, 8 and 13 and her soon to be ex-husband who ends up coming back to their home with his research assistant, a smart and beautiful young woman from Egypt who works with him at the university. The technical details of the flu pandemic were rather few which worked well in this story that was more about the characters, their values, feelings and history with each other and how they reacted in a crisis situation. There were just enough details about the virus itself to make it believable, especially after all we read in the newspapers on this subject. I was much more interested in the main characters and the author did a great job of getting inside their heads and making me feel like I was there with them. There was a lot of suspense, some mystery and lots of frightening situations presenting themselves while the parents tried to keep a feeling of normalcy in the house for the sake of their children. It was a story about love and emotional strength when faced with unthinkable circumstances. This is a book that I'll remember for a long, long time and one of the best I've ever read. I'll be looking forward to more books by Carla Buckley. She's an outstanding writer. Her style kept me turning pages long after I should have gone to bed. I would highly recommend this for anyone that wonders as I did, "What if...?"