Rating: 
Summary: Great Alternate History Thriller
Review: When I originally bought this book it was so I would have something to do when things got slow at work. To my surprise this has been the best book I have ever read. My girlfriend loved it, all of my friends loved it, and both of my parents loved it. The entire way this book keeps you on edge, there are so many different scenarios scratching at your head that you can not put it down. This book is defenately a page turner.
Rating: 
Summary: Incredible--kept me up nights!
Review: One of the best alternate history books I've ever read, quite frankly. It sits up on my shelf up next to "Fatherland". While there may have been a few weak points (the motivation behind the US Government inviting British troops in to do its own dirty work
really was not expressed that strongly, or convincingly) the world DuBois paints is strong enough to sweep you along with the narrative, so weak points are easily forgiven and accepted.Perhaps if I had read this book pre-9/11 I would not have been struck quite so strongly by it: but as is, reading it now as our own government considers having its own citizens inform on each other, and fearful of civil liberties being trampled in the name of security...it chills the blood, to see in fiction, where such actions could lead. Highly reccommended, this book.
Rating: 
Summary: If Orwell was a "10" then DuBois was a "15"
Review: Unfolding layers of intrique in this novel grip the reader. Those of us who lived through the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 hesitate to consider what could have happened if one world leader hadn't blinked; a full-blown nuclear holocaust between the two biggest world powers was ready and waiting.
Brendan DuBois brings that terrifying possibility to life with marvelously drawn three-dimensional characters in a devastated but functioning country still struggling under martial law 10 years later. There are no winners in this war. Gov. George Romney is now the American president, but the real power is with the military. The new frontier is dead, virtually as well as figuratively. England is now sending Bundles to USA. World economy is shattered and post war recovery agonizingly slow. Major cities including Washington and New York remain in shambles from nuclear blasts a decade before. They are restricted and under military guard.
The reader visits those cities as he/she follows lead character, Boston Globe reporter Carl Landry, through a maze of dark events, precipitated by what appears to be a routine murder of an old man in East Boston. Landry's discoveries are hard won but each pixel of the puzzle draws a darker cloud after him that keeps him moving and fast.....with Sandy Price, fellow London Times reporter in this country on special assignment. He learns quickly his enemy has weapons he does not and at stake is a very important truth the world needs to know.
The momentum is consistant,the characters are original. No Ian Fleming influence here. Landry is hard-hitting when necessary but humorously self effacing. He is a high-principled journalist with a dogged commitment to truth. He mourns the loss of his parents to the war. He was safely tucked away in Saigon in the regular army when the buttons were pushed. "Resurrection Day" is for both men and women. The book is full of the unexpected, just when the reader thinks he understands what's unfolding. DuBois researched his history well and the fiction he made of it projects insight into many examples of human folly.
Rating:
Summary: A Pertinent Warning
Review: Although not a frequent reader of alternate history, I found this book very engaging and unusually pertinent to the world we find ourselves in Post 9/11. It centers around the curtailment of citizen freedoms and the abuses of military power in the name of "national security" following a fictional nuclear war occurring at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The story is well-conceived and a great read. What I found chilling are the parallels to 2001 where citizens are being arrested and detained without legal recourse, where the news is being censored in the name of military security, where military tribunals in secret are being put forward in place of open public trials. I found the villainy of the British in Dubois's book a bit unlikely, but the villainy of our own military was very believable. On a positive note, Duboise's conception of the strength and resilience of the people of New York City in the aftermath of disaster turns out to have been amazingly prescient and right on. I heartily recommend this as an involving and timely book.
Rating:
Summary: Good AH, But Not Without Its Flaws
Review: Brendan Dubois's novel 'Resurrection Day' is a fun and thrilling Alternate History story set in a world where cooler heads did not prevail. Instead of working out a deal, the US and the USSR begin a full scale nuclear war in the wake of the Cuban Missle Crisis. Ten years later The United States is a police state, where military conscription and British foreign aid are supposedly the only things keeping the country from reverting to barbarism. When a reporter stumbles onto a story about the true beginnings of the US-Soviet war he soon finds himself in the middle of the largest cover-up in US history and is soon being hunted by the US Air Force, British secret agents, and other, more mysterious figures. While the author does a tremedous job of creating this fictional, nightmare world it still doesn't hold a candle to Robert Harris's 'Fatherland,' to which this novel is often compared. It is much slower moving than 'Fatherland' and a bit more implausble in some areas. Also the characters, while compelling, aren't nearly as interesting as Harris's. That being said it should also be pointed out that this is a first rate AH story that should be embraced by all lovers of the genre. A lot of fun!
Rating:
Summary: A Unique AH
Review: Dubois gets credit for tackling a subject that has not had much alternate history devoted to it -- the Cuban Missile Crisis. Like much alternate history, Resurrection Day has a great setup and a great idea, but the plot itself is strained. It is fascinating to read Dubois's vision of the United States ten years after a limited nuclear war, with President Kennedy maligned as the reason for the nation's collapse. The most original idea is Britain's smug condescension as the U.K. is called upon to offer aid and assistance to the now-impoverished United States.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent tale of a frightening alternate universe
Review: World War III happened in 1963, and the United States won. Sort of. It's not a very pretty world, and it gets less pretty in this story of betrayal and conspiracy. A classic "man who knew too much" story, well done.
Rating:
Summary: Tough to get into but worth the effort!
Review: This being my first venture into "fictional history", I wasn't sure what to expect from this novel. The premise ("Cuban Missle Crisis Goes Horribly Wrong") piqued my interest enough when I saw this book on the shelf to give it a try. I wasn't disappointed - especially after I slogged through the first 150 pages. The protagionist of the story is a likeable and sympathetic enough character that you can't help not rooting for. In addition, there are a number of "nasties" along the way that sometimes make it tough to figure out who's good and who's evil. The "plot" has enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing throughout the last half of the book. And, I might add, is based on a believable enough premise that you'll "thank your lucky stars" things didn't work out this way back in the 60's. I would have liked to have seen the real historical figures (Kennedy, Johnson, Cabinet officials, etc.) used more often in the novel to give the story more "history" and less "fiction". But, when they WERE used, it made for some of the better parts of the book. (Especially imaginative were the references to the candidates in the Presidential race that was taking place throughout the book.) The novel is a little slow in spots and the romantic interlude involving our "hero" and the British journalist is uneven, at best. On the other hand, DuBois IS a very good storyteller and many parts of this book shine. (I think the average reader will certainly enjoy the trip to Manhatten Island.) If you enjoy "fact" mixed in with "fiction", then I don't think you'll be disappointed with "Resurrection Day"!
Rating:
Summary: An Alternate History that hits close to home
Review: 'Resurrection Day' is an alternate history in the mold of Robert Harris' 'Fatherland.' What if the Cuban Missile Crisis had not ended, but became a nuclear war instead? DuBois paints a very harrowing picture of a military state in his post-war America. The story takes place in 1972, ten years after the Cuban War, and it centers on Carl Landry, an ex-army sergeant who is now a reporter for the Boston Globe. He has a strange encounter with another veteran who turns up dead a month later. Although his editor tells him to drop the story, Carl thinks something is amiss and continues to investigate. Intrigue ensues. The story gets a little convoluted at times, and is easy to predict at others; but overall it is fast paced and engrossing. If you enjoyed 'Fatherland' then you will probably enjoy 'Resurrection Day.' And if you have not read 'Fatherland' and you read and enjoy this book, give it a try.
Rating:
Summary: It's not as suspenseful as I had hoped ...
Review: Don't get me wrong, DuBois' writing is terrific and the book is well-written ~~ but it seemed to have dragged me along in a couple of chapters as I anxiously await to read what the reporter Carl Landry is on the hunt for. And some of the characters are predictable ~~ much to my chagrin. But if you're looking for a really good "what if" book, this is it. I was born way after the Bay of Pigs incident and the Kennedys I know of are the ones I read about ~~ John John and Caroline. Oh yes, Senator Ted Kennedy. So, when I picked up this book, I thought, oh cool, a history lesson mixed in with fiction. Well, DuBois didn't really go into the history part as much as he writes about what if the Russians did bomb us and we bombed the Russians, and how would our lives be? That part is terrifying ~~ I cannot imagine living in a police state nor can I imagine losing everything and everyone in a nuclear blast. And DuBois plays well with your emotions and fears as he writes about Carl Landry on a mad hunt for the truth. Landry is joined by a British reporter, Sandy who has secrets of her own. And together, they tried to find out what had really happened that fateful day World War III had broken out. And the military is hot on their tail ~~ they didn't want Landry to find out the the truth. It makes for a good reading. Just because I didn't think it was suspenseful enough for me (No one can be like Patterson or some of those other writers), it is still a good book to pick up. In fact, I am planning to pass this onto my friends and family and see what they think of it. I am sure my parents would enjoy it better as they had lived through the Kennedy times ~~ and still remember those drills in case of a nuclear attack. If you're looking for a fiction that has plenty of action and dialogue, then this is it. If you expect it to be more historical, this isn't it. Still a good read though.
| 
