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The Things That Keep Us Here [Hardcover]

Carla Buckley (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)

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Book Description

February 9, 2010
How far would you go to protect your family?

Ann Brooks never thought she’d have to answer that question. Then she found her limits tested by a crisis no one could prevent. Now, as her neighborhood descends into panic, she must make tough choices to protect everyone she loves from a threat she cannot even see. In this chillingly urgent novel, Carla Buckley confronts us with the terrifying decisions we are forced to make when ordinary life changes overnight.

A year ago, Ann and Peter Brooks were just another unhappily married couple trying–and failing–to keep their relationship together while they raised two young daughters. Now the world around them is about to be shaken as Peter, a university researcher, comes to a startling realization: A virulent pandemic has made the terrible leap across the ocean to America’s heartland.

And it is killing fifty out of every hundred people it touches.

As their town goes into lockdown, Peter is forced to return home–with his beautiful graduate assistant. But the Brookses’ safe suburban world is no longer the refuge it once was. Food grows scarce, and neighbor turns against neighbor in grocery stores and at gas pumps. And then a winter storm strikes, and the community is left huddling in the dark.

Trapped inside the house she once called home, Ann Brooks must make life-or-death decisions in an environment where opening a door to a neighbor could threaten all the things she holds dear.

Carla Buckley’s poignant debut raises important questions to which there are no easy answers, in an emotionally riveting tale of one family facing unimaginable stress.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Exclusive: Carla Buckley on The Things That Keep Us Here

The old black and white photographs are haunting.

Rows upon rows of bleak white cots spreading out to the horizon, filled with soldiers suffering not from war injuries, but the effects of a terrible new disease which mankind had never seen before. Many of these young men would die, their lungs swelling with fluid until they choked to death. Back in their hometowns, their family members waged the same helpless battle. Doctors could only treat the symptoms and hope they themselves didn’t fall victim. Governments rushed to impose some sort of order, but only those cities that completely closed their borders suffered fewer casualties. In all, there were three waves of illness, spanning three years and reaching into every corner of the world, and when it had subsided, twenty percent of the world population was gone. The very young and the old were spared; an entire generation had been wiped away with one sweeping blow. The culprit? The flu.

Almost a hundred years have passed since the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918. But despite tremendous medical advances, and our increased understanding of what a virus is and how it spreads, people are almost as vulnerable today as they were back then. Perhaps even more so, given air travel and how small the world has become. There is no cure. We can see the monster, but we can’t stop it.

In 2006, having just moved to a new hometown with my young children, I was particularly susceptible to terrifying reports that the world was overdue for another flu pandemic. This time, it was H5N1, the so-called “bird flu,” that seemed on the verge of mutating into a contagious form, and it had a mortality rate of fifty percent. Half the world? All I could think of were those narrow white cots, stretching out to eternity.

The Things That Keep Us Here is a work of fiction, based on scientific fact, that asks what the world might look like if the very worst happened and a lethal virus raged uncontrolled. It is written from the intimate perspective of one family in middle America, and most of the action takes place within their home. Would people come together or stand apart? How far would they go to save themselves and their loved ones? In the end, The Things That Keep Us Here is less about the power of a virus to reduce humanity to a shadow, and more about the power of the human spirit to remain untouched.

What images would survive from a modern pandemic, and who would be looking at them, a hundred years later? --Carla Buckley

(Photo © Brian Killian)


From Publishers Weekly

A timely premise can't quite compensate for structural deficiencies in Buckley's lackluster debut novel. Ann Brooks and her family have anticipated the possibility of pandemic avian flu for months; Ann's estranged husband, Peter, after all, has been researching the mysterious illness at his university research job. When the flu—with a near-50% fatality rate—closes in on the Columbus, Ohio, home where Ann and her two daughters live, Peter and his exotically beautiful Ph.D. student, Shazia, move in to pool resources, but desperation grows as heat, food and water dwindle, and the threat of death looms (sometimes literally) on their doorstep. Although pseudoscientific reports and news bulletins add to the novel's “ripped from the headlines” feel, emotional revelations are handled less skillfully. A tragedy in Ann and Peter's past, after numerous veiled allusions, is finally revealed in an unsatisfying throwaway in the epilogue. The third-person narration squanders the tensions among Ann, Peter and Shazia, resulting in flat and unsurprising epiphanies. Although Buckley raises important questions about trust, loyalty and forgiveness, the narrative flaws detract from the overall effect. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Delacorte Press; 1 edition (February 9, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0440245095
  • ISBN-13: 978-0440245094
  • Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.3 x 9.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #691,395 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

79 Reviews
5 star:
 (44)
4 star:
 (22)
3 star:
 (11)
2 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (79 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A story that grabs you and doesn't let go, February 5, 2010
This review is from: The Things That Keep Us Here (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
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...?"
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A promising story, but ultimately disappointing, May 27, 2010
This review is from: The Things That Keep Us Here (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Carla Buckley's debut novel arrived with a significant amount of hype (buzz, if you prefer) and a plot that sounded interesting, so I was eager to give it a shot. The story, about the aftermath of a virus outbreak and the toll is takes on a family, is potentially a good one. Unfortunately, the execution just doesn't do it justice. The plot is too predictable, the characters are too familiar, and everything just moves too slowly for a thriller. That all being said, it's not a terrible book by any means, and Buckley definitely shows nice potential as a writer. But for a book that garnered raves from so many, it just didn't work for me.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A good pandemic novel..., February 8, 2010
This review is from: The Things That Keep Us Here (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I love an apocalyptic novel! Whether it be meteor strike, nuclear event, or medical meltdown - I'm your reader. For some reason, the stark portrayals of humans trying to survive against insurmountable odds always draws me in. This one did too!

The H5N1 virus (avian flu) strikes and the entire world is held hostage against the scourges of the disease. Of course it's winter (flu season IS in winter) and it's cold and the weather is bad -- which makes everything just worse enough to create an even bleaker picture. In this book, a family takes refuge in their home -- a mother and two daughters allow an estranged husband and his lab assistant in -- and events spiral out of control from there.

Peter is a veterinarian testing water samples after a teal duck die-off when the flu hits with a vengeance. He and his assistant, an exotic Egyptian woman, come back to his house to be with his ex wife Ann and their two daughters. There is the usual scramble for food and water -- supplies and gas. The power goes off. The days are long and cold and tedious -- you get the picture. Everything is about survival. Nothing else. Neighbors come outside but everyone keeps their distance. To each their own. No sharing, no partnering or working together. Everyone is suspect. People die. The very fiber of being human is tested. How far will a person go to protect his/her family? Others in need? Will anyone help?

This is a great viral pandemic novel and I enjoyed it. There were a few things that never got answered and the book lagged a bit with a bit too much detail at times. The ending seemed a bit rushed, but all in all -- read it and enjoy!
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