Rating: 
Summary: A must for any serious alternative history buffs.
Review: I have a collection of over 6,000 books,and I have to say that this book is the best book I've read in ten years!It is absolutely riveting.Be prepared to read it one go,you won't be able to put it down.
Rating: 
Summary: A good book that could have been better
Review: I looked forward to this novel with great eagerness, as I am a fan of intelligent alt-history/sci.fi. writing. However, when I was through reading, I put the book down with a slight feeling that something was missing.I would have liked more information on the hero, Carl Landry...less of a soap opera plot between Landry and Sandy....less caricature of the military... It seems as though Dubois had several different ideas for the story -anti-military harangue? Potential movie of the week?-and while the book had many interesting and touching points, most were brought up, glanced at, then dropped. That is, I would haved liked to know more about the orphans in the NYC subways, not just have them appear as a convienient plot point. However, this book was entertaining, well-written and basically enjoyable. I just feel that Dubois could have done more...or better. I think it would have been more effective if he either dropped some characters and subplots, and fleshed them out more fully and made a much larger book.
Rating:
Summary: Best Alternate History since "Fatherland"
Review: I really can't say enough good things about this book. It takes as it's foundation an immensely believable historical event (the Cuban Missile Crisis goes bad) and runs with it.Two things that really jump out about this book are it's accuracy and how well the story keeps moving. In regards to the first point, most people don't realize how badly outgunned the Soviets were in 1962, but Dubois' firm grasp of history assures that the shakedown in the balance of power reflects accurately the military-political realities of the time. As for the second point, many alternate histories spend a great deal of time talking about whatever event makes it an alternate history. Not so in "Ressurection Day"; any alternate information the reader needs to know is smoothly unveiled in the context of the plot, which keeps the book moving along at a great clip. Finally, this book, while immensely entertaining, is also historically rigorous enough to prove the merit of counterfactuals as a valid means of examining history. I can only hope that Dubois will continue to write alternate history with the same mastery he displayed in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Good novel; weak background
Review: One thing that ticks me off about after-the-bomb books is weak research on the effects of nuclear weapons, or on operational plans and capacities. This book suffers from that fault, despite good writing and a nice plot. Apparently the "Cuban War" of 1962 results in the US getting hit by something on the order of 10-12 Soviet nukes. This is reasonable, if slightly pessimistic. (My own guess would be something on the order of 6 or 7.) The Soviets simply didn't have many delivery systems which could reach North America. Two things aren't reasonable: First, after losing 3 or 4 cities and a few military bases, the US is shown as still devastated ten years later, with widespread areas dangerously radioactive and the economy only just recovering from a near-total collapse. Not! My father stood in a slit trench 1.8 miles from ground zero during a bomb test in the late 1950's, and he's fine at age 83. Yeah, if you're under the immediate fallout plume from a multimegatonne ground-burst, it's game over. But two weeks later, the same territory is pretty safe; a year later, virtually completely so. Most active isotopes have very short half-lives. There are exceptions (strontium-90, some metal isotopes), but there were scores of above-ground tests, and the increase in the cancer rate nationwide was undetectable without fairly sophisticated statistical analysis. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were reoccupied immediately after the explosions. Generally speaking, ten years after a bomb goes off you can go to ground zero, strip naked, rub the dirt all over your body and eat it with a spoon, and all you'll get is a dirty skin and indigestion. Hence the US, with a largely undamaged infrastructure, would recover quickly. Germany and Japan did, from far worse damage -- they don't call 1945 "The Year Zero" in Germany for nothing, and the damage in Japan was worse. The firestorms in Tokyo and Dresden killed about as many people as nuclear attacks, and did as much physical damage. Second, the USSR did have a very dangerous launch capacity in 1962... only it was aimed at Central and Western Europe, and the book shows those areas getting off scot-free. Not going to happen. Not even remotely possible. The missiles and bombers were set to go and would have launched immediately against European targets when SAC went into action against the USSR. Western Europe was chock-full of USAAF bases, just to start with; and the Soviets planned for a city-busting strategy, as well. They certainly weren't going to let the _Germans_ come through intact, for Christ's sake! As the joke went in the 1950's and early 1960's, the Soviet Union's deterrance capacity could be summed up as: "If you Americans attack Holy Mother Russia, we will nuke the hell out of Germany, France and Britain! Just see if we don't!" Britain, for instance, would have lost at least a dozen major cities -- and given the dense population and restricted area, would have been an absolute charnel house. The actual result of a nuclear war in 1962 would be: Moderate damage to the US. Moderate if you didn't happen to be in NYC or Washington, that is. Total devastation of the USSR. Very severe damage in Europe.
Rating:
Summary: Not a Bad Read, But Also Not a Keeper
Review: Resurrection Day was full of promise to be one of the most interesting tales told this year. The premise is fascinating. What if the Cuban Missile Crisis had escalated into all-out war and the United States had been hit with nuclear weapons? With this premise, Brendan DuBois presents us with a cast of characters that could inhabit the devastated landscape one might find ten years after such a tragedy. Unfortunately, the characters are predictable, more types than individuals, and the plot unfolds according to the formula. The picture DuBois paints is somewhat interesting, but his execution falls far short of the promise. Carl Landry is the protagonist of this tale. Now a reporter for a censored version of the Boston Globe, he is an ex-veteran, a man who joined the Army in the flush of enthusiasm that accompanied the inauguration of John F. Kennedy. He served in an obscure country called Vietnam and lived to see starvation in California. In Carl's world, American survivors envy rich Canadians and rich Mexicans. He is joined on his search for truth by Sandy Price, British reporter for the Times, the obligatory love interest and temptress who is not completely what she seems on the surface. Disappointingly, this book offers nothing more than a simple morality play of the good people versus the large and malignant forces of the government. Our hero faces impossible odds, and it is not all that difficult to imagine how things are going to play out in the end. For readers who do not mind the predictable nature of the story, Resurrection Day does paint an interesting picture of a devastated landscape, of a country that is bowed but not broken. Read for what it is, a mass market paperback, it is not all that bad. Readers who expect something new or different, something at all challenging, are likely to be disappointed. This is a good book for a long airplane trip or for someone who wants a break from challenging books. It's mildly entertaining, but not at all a keeper.
Rating:
Summary: A good Airplane Read, but not as shattering as expected
Review: "Resurrection Day" kept me interested throughout, but I must admit that it's depiction of America in 1972 post WW III didn't ring quite true to me. If you're an alternate history fan, or interested in the Cuban Missle Crisis, then this is a worthy read, but that's not to say that it was ~completely~ satisfying (but then few books are).
Although "devastated America" kept being alluded to, it never quite came to life for me. Carl's daily life seems fairly ordinary, and affected only in small ways. This might indeed have been the case if the war happened in '62, since the world wasn't as wired and thus as fragile at that time, but even so, I expected more ~"Alternativeness"~ in his world than I found.
For those that might feel similarly, I recommend the book "Warday", which was published back in about 83-84. "Postman" by David Brin, a great book and not-so-great movie also explores the same genre in a surprisingly effective (and affecting) way.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappear Into A Fascinating Read!
Review: So you've never been attracted to historical fiction. Me neither. But don't miss this fabulously entertaining read! If you want to disappear into a story and get totally immersed in another world, you'll love this book. While the story works well as a thriller, it is so unlike anything else out there, you'll find it as refreshing as fascinating. The alternate history is told so plausibly, you will get caught up in the post-nuclear world that has relegated America to third rate status. As a result, you'll find yourself putting the book down, looking around and truly appreciating the freedom and wealth we enjoy in America, as well as recognizing the fragility of our largesse. For quality escapist reading, I highly recommend "Resurrection Day." Now duck and cover!
Rating:
Summary: Mind blowing, keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Review: Brendan DuBois has written a classic, following in the footsteps of Harris's 'Fatherland' and Deighton's 'SS-GB'. But I think DuBois has surpassed the afore mentioned. Resurrection Day is so eerily real in some strange way. I stayed awake all night to finish it and I was still thinking about the characters and the scenario days later. This is a fantastic read and I highly recommend it. DuBois is a great writer, with an easy style and a very complex imagination. The suspense is there until the last word.
Rating:
Summary: Could not put it down, but for the wrong reason
Review: If you're old enough to remember the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, then your attention may be captured by RESURRECTION DAY, an exercise in alternative history. Within its pages, it's 1972, and the United States is still convalescing from a military invasion of Cuba ten years earlier that had resulted in several of America's cities being nuked to oblivion by Soviet warheads, including Washington, DC, and the First Family of Camelot. In retaliation, SAC had bombed the USSR back into the nuclear Dark Ages, an act for which the US is regarded almost as a pariah state. It's only apparent friend is Great Britain, which continues to send food and aid to America's struggling populace, otherwise governed by a weak civilian administration dominated by the military and a shadowy, retired Air Force general. The protagonist of this fairy tale is Carl Landry, an ex-Army sergeant now working as a reporter for Boston's major newspaper. While covering the murder of an aged vet of the Kennedy era, Landry stumbles onto the trail of yet another guv'mint conspiracy, this one with a decidedly British accent. This potboiler hardly simmers through its first half. It's only when Carl and his English gal pal, Sandy, a reporter for the London Times, are chased through the ostensibly uninhabited city of New York by military thugs that the plot heats up beyond lukewarm. As a matter of fact, the love affair between Carl and Sandy suffers from the same lack of heat. I've seen more passion between two snails. To be fair, some amount of frigid water is thrown on Carl's ardor as he begins to suspect that Sandy is not quite what she purports to be. (A secret agent for the Queen Mum, perhaps. Her mission, to find good Indian take-out.) The biggest problem with this "thriller" is that the Landry character is painted in such wishy-washy tints. The reader has no idea even what he looks like, much less develop any sympathy for his predicament or root him on to final triumph. He doesn't have an obnoxious drinking buddy, favorite parakeet, nasty chewing tobacco habit, or weakness for cold spaghetti - anything that would flesh out his persona. In any case, as the true nature of the conspiracy is revealed and our marginal hero saves the day, it was hard not to stifle a yawn, or two. Perhaps my drowsiness was a function of the intrigue's level of evil - it wasn't as horrific as usual in most fiction, but just real-life banal. (I mean, the Florida Ballot Chad Machination was more Machiavellian than this.) I grant this novel three stars, not because it's that good, but because the author was well-intentioned and gave a good effort. Towards the end, however, I hastened to finish the book only because I wanted to get on to the next one on my shelf, which I trust will be much better.
Rating: 
Summary: Resurection Day
Review: How many of other readers purchased this book and got to page 277 and found the pages blank to 477? The store it was purchased at was going to just exchange it however in review of the 5 they had in stock, all had the same blank pages. The store then refunded my money. The book was great up until then.
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