Ladies and gentlemen. And now all the way from the Canadian wilderness of Northern Ontario an extraordinary tale of survival that answers the question that finally answers the question of what would a mash up of Mad Max and Sons of Anarchy and (at a stretch) Walking Dead read like.
Turns out if would read quite nicely and also oddly American, in that distinctly masculine muscular style associated (by this reader, at least) with the Southern Noir tales of the likes of Michael Farris Smith and such. Or maybe country is country and once you go outside of a city (US or Canadian) far enough, everyone starts toting guns and drawling.
Either way, this is a story of Gerald Nichols, a criminal of such renown, he got a popular book written about him out and a nicknamed out of it, Savage Gerry. And sure, he killed a few people, but no one who didn’t deserve it. And sure, he’s serving three consecutive life sentences for it, but…hey, apocalypse is here and no walls can hold him. Turns out the prison blackout wasn’t a random isolated event, turns out Pickering Nuclear Plant had a meltdown and now Canada is in chaos. People are migrating, banning together, trying to survive. Gangs of homicidal bikers are rowing the land. And Gerry stumbles out into this world unprepared, Rick Grimes style, and has to find his bearings and attempt a nigh impossible family reunion.
So it’s a survival story, basically, a very violent survival story that doesn’t shy away from depicting the brutalities of this near futuristic (possibly 2033 or something, but hey, the phones got a holographic feature, go future) world.
The Southern Noir thing is really noticeable (maybe because I’ve read a bunch of it lately) in the way the characters are beaten down by life, often through no fault of their own, and in turn they beat up (or kill) each other and do that and more to basic English grammar. But it’s all strangely compelling. And, while this book took me a while to get into, I ended up enjoying it (despite the occasionally overpowering amounts of violence…yeah, forget all about nice polite Canadian stereotypes right now) and Gerry and his journey maintained my interest throughout.
For fans of literary apocalyptic scenarios with a distinctly testosterone heavy approach this should be a fun read. A dynamic one too, it went by quite quickly. All in all, pretty good, definitely entertaining. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

"Savage Gerry" is a post-apocalyptic novel that may be just as much about the lead character's colorful past, his memories, his regrets, as it is about the apocalypse. Facing forever and a day behind bars, Gerry realizes something is up when the guards stop shining up. And it's even more evident that something is odd when the local biker gang shows up with an excavator and stages a jailbreak. But for Gerry, he's as much a man apart outside as he was locked up from the world inside. Haunted by his past deeds and his worldwide fame on account of the true crime book written about it, he's a respected man in the prison and, once outside, in dread someone will recognize him. Life may be nasty, brutish, and short after it all went wrong, but it was also just as nasty and brutal before the world fell apart.