Title: Leave the World Behind

Author: Rumaan Alam

Publisher: Ecco 2020

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 256

Rating: 1/5 stars - Hated it

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Unread Shelf RC - Book with High Expectations

Amanda and Clay head out to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a vacation: a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter, and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they’ve rented for the week. But a late-night knock on the door breaks the spell. Ruth and G. H. are an older couple—it’s their house, and they’ve arrived in a panic. They bring the news that a sudden blackout has swept the city. But in this rural area—with the TV and internet now down, and no cell phone service—it’s hard to know what to believe.

Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple—and vice versa? What happened back in New York? Is the vacation home, isolated from civilization, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one other? 

I completely despised this book. I cannot decide if Alam wanted the reader to just feel like he was talking down to them the entire time or he really meant it. Right from the get-to, the reader is put into an uncomfortable position and doesn’t get to relax. Okay, I get that stylistically. But then I read through the entire story and fail to find any message or reason to read it. There is absolutely no hope to be found in the storyline or the characters. All of this had definitely dropped down the ratings. I’m okay reading bleak books, but this one just fell down a deep hole and didn’t come back up. Was this book supposed to be a mirror to the worst of human behaviors? If so, congratulations, you accomplished the task, but do I want to read it? Nope. I don’t. Combine all this with the oddly sexual descriptions throughout the book and I was completely done with it.

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