American Rapture is an uneven overly long horror thriller combining Stephen King’s Carrie with the real life Covid-19 epidemic, if it was made infinitely worse.
Novels written during Covid all have a dark heart but this one is the darkest. After infection, everyone starts raping anyone nearby. Then they die a few days later. Large swaths of the country are quarantined leaving the uninfected within powerless to do anything but hide…and pray.
Sophie has grown up in a very religious household. She is allowed to only read the Bible and how-to manuals from the public library. No television or newspapers. She only recently is allowed to attend public high school after years of home schooling. Sophie is almost seventeen with no worldly knowledge at all and just beginning to feel the tug of hormones. Then the pandemic begins. Her parents believe their God will protect them. Spoiler, He doesn’t. Sophie is concerned about her twin brother stuck in a religious conversion center 250 miles away. She desperately wants to be with him no matter what happens. And so the most bizarre fictional roadtrip begins. And goes on and on…
I just realized that American Rapture is only 384 pages long. It seemed much longer. Sophie’s decisions tend to be very stupid, which makes sense with her upbringing. However, they made me yell silently at her throughout her roadtrip, “don’t do that” and “don’t go in there right now”. It was exhausting for both of us.
Back to my review, I think American Rapture has a very specific audience. A reader looking for a truly horrific journey who is not offended by rape or a disbelieving take on religion looking for a female coming of age tale might enjoy this book. Me? Not so much. I’m just glad it’s over. 3 stars.
Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for providing me with an advanced review copy.