20XX by Charles Mead ~ review

Nobody was really sure what the current year was. After the global systemic financial collapse in the second decade of the 21st century there was absolute chaos worldwide. Survival was the number one priority, not keeping up with the calendar. Paper money was worthless as it was backed by nothing at all.

Groups of survivors quickly formed as did immense distrust of anyone from government promising things they simply couldn’t deliver.

Two of the survivors in one community were Zac Kennedy, a former aeronautical engineer and his best friend Mark Livermore a mechanical engineer. They move to North Carolina's Outer Banks islands "on loan" to repair aircraft and life appeared to be getting back to normal, that is until some craft fell from the sky.

My take on this book:

Charles Mead  took my imagination into overdrive with "20XX," and definitely left me wanting more! 

Sometime during the mid twenty-first century the systematic collapse of world finances left the world in total chaos, paper money was was worthless. Survival was the name of the game, and with the empty promises of the government, one thing was certain, no one could depend on the government to rescue them. Groups of survivors worked together in small communities for their common good. Mark Livermore a mechanical engineer, and his friend Zac Kennedy an aeronautical engineer live in a group at the Norfolk International Airport where their job was to repair planes so that the postal system could get up and running again. When they are approached by Tobias Scott the leader of the Wright Brother's Memorial Field in the Outer Banks to repair planes there it seems like a great opportunity. Things go great for the duo until the evening they spot what appears to be some sort of space craft that falls out of the sky. Little do they know that they are about to embark on the journey of a lifetime!

"20XX" is a story that portrays financial world collapse in a way that had me wondering what if something like this could or would happen. Mr. Mead could have made this a dark story, of fear and terror, instead he allows us to see how people actually coped after the collapse, many even thrived.He gives us a glimpse of two different communities, allowing us to glimpse the workings of both.  The characters of Mark and Zac were quite interesting. Their friendship was obvious, and I found myself enjoying the witty banter between the duo. There seemed to be a sense of a "new" normal for everyone, and as the story progressed I felt like Mark and Zac had found their nitch, then the author throws in a twist that was something I didn't expect, and then when I get comfortable with the twist he revs it up another notch by sending Zac, Mark and Tobias on a mission that creates a cliffhanger of an ending that left me needing to know what happens with the trio! Mr. Mead certainly knows how to build a story which will leave his readers wanting more! 

reviewed for Readersfavorite.com

4/5