On an island surrounded by an invisible barrier, the last one hundred and thirty humans live their lives as best they can, knowing that just beyond the barrier lies the mysterious black fog that killed everyone else on Earth.
But following a series of gruesome murders and disappearances, the fog begins to encroach on the island. One particularly sassy inhabitant is tasked with solving the mystery before it’s too late. …
This book certainly held a lot of promise; there was the twin jeopardy of an impending threat, and a serial killer dispatching people seemingly at random. On top of that, there’s the added question of how the inhabitants came to the island, and what happened to the rest of the human race. Unfortunately, the second question wasn’t really answered; though it was hinted that the fog may have been a deliberate act.
The story jogs along at a fairly sedate clip, with some atmospheric scene setting, which may have got in the way of the character development; the villagers seemed remarkably similar and oddly passive. But there is a good reason for that which is revealed much later in the book.
I never felt particularly invested in finding the killer, so I think the real mystery, for me, was discovering who was behind the decimation of the entire species.
Still, I did get a sense of steadily increasing tension as the fog edged closer and the chapters got shorter. The ending falls under the “satisfactory” category: mystery solved and a new chapter for the islanders begins.
All in all, a decent read.