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The Time Of The Reaper by Andrew Butcher
01/05/2008 . Source: Eamonn Murphy 
pub: Atom/Little Brown. 378 page enlarged paperback. Price: £ 5.99 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-904233-94-7. Buy The Time Of The Reaper in the USA - or Buy The Time Of The Reaper in the UK  check out websites: www.atombooks.co.uk andwww.littlebrown.co.uk
Any book about a post-plague world is bound to bring Stephen King to mind, as his magnificent octopus 'The Stand' looms over the horror genre like a looming thing. Andrew Butcher re-inforces the association by opening 'The Time Of The Reaper' with a dream sequence. King uses dreams a lot in his fiction. Here our young hero, Travis, dreams of his dead father, a British policeman killed in the line of duty. It's a dramatic beginning and it serves to introduce the moral grounding of the lead character. King is a hard act to follow but a good one to emulate.
We then cut to the Middle East with a soldier investigating a secret lab gone suddenly incommunicado. There is some bad mouthing of politicians who get young men killed in foreign wars, inevitable in our day and quite understandable. This spot seems to be where the plague breaks out.
After this interlude, its back to the main story. We are introduced to the little cast of teen-agers living their ordinary lives and follow them as disaster strikes. Travis is the decent chap who takes the lead. Simon is a wimp and is bullied by Richie, the bad boy. Jessica is a nice blonde who finds it all too much and Mel is a Goth with a beastly father. If these folks are not entirely three-dimensional models they are at least pretty solid cardboard cut-outs and substantial enough for this sort of book. They are also recognisably British which gives the tale a slightly different flavour. This is not like Stephen King's second-rate brother turning out a rubbish copy, more like a smart English cousin doing it his way.
The adults die off pretty quickly and anarchy ensues in the towns and cities. Our heroes head for the countryside but the law of the jungle is catching on there, too. There are enough plot twists to keep the reader engaged. The dialogue grates a bit at times but teenage dialogue would, so its realistic. Travis has deeply felt notions of honour, duty and doing the right thing which sound a bit corny even in prose and would come across as awfully corny if this novel ever makes it to the big screen.
It might, too. Recognisable characters in a good ripping yarn are ready made cinema fodder and Mister King has certainly had some success that way. I don't suppose Mister Butcher would object to a few fat cheques from Hollywood. Good luck to him. This is an easy read and ideal for the beach, the train or the two days waiting at Heathrow's Terminal Five while your baggage goes to Milan. There's even a sequel on with which, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, I will now get.
Eamonn Murphy
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