Innocent

Innocent by Eric Walters

A fire in an orphanage requires people to leave shortly before they graduate. Luckily, one girl has a job lined up with a rich family in Kingston. She also learns that she was originally born there and that her father was jailed for murdering her mother. She learns more details once she arrives. The family she is working for knows everybody and are very wealthy. One son is the mayor. Another is "special". The special brother now carries around a shovel. He remembers everything. He likes to keep to routines. He also enjoys his pigeons. She has an encounter with a young policeman who eventually becomes her boyfriend. They work together to find the truth about her father. It became more and more clear that her dad may be innocent. However, my initial suspicions of who it was were wrong. It shows the challenges of a small town life where everybody knows everyone and those in power can get away with anything.

The Rule of Three: Will to Survive

The Rule of Three series concludes with the lights turning on along the highway. I wonder how this could actually happen. Wouldn't the grid be significantly beat up in the process of the chaos that had ensued? I'd be interested in reading further exploration of the "reconnection" of society. What happens to old property? There was so much looting and mass chaos in the few months that it would be nearly impossible to make everyone whole gain. How many sections of society would just decide to live in their new structure rather than try to go back? What would become of money, companies, and all the structures of society?
The book doesn't explore any of the future. Instead, it focuses on the building up of a community and a coming of age of the main teenage characters. The youth become a more important part of the community and start to become primary decision makers in key areas. However, they also have to remember to support the people around them along with their own health. There is plenty of suspense and drama as they interact with other communities. (However, some seems a little manufactured. The writing makes it obvious that one encounter is friendly, while the characters are going paranoid over the the possible hostilities.) In the end, the torch is passed and the lights come back on.

The Rule of Three: Fight for Power

The second Rule of Three book has less direct action and more internal politics. People have now lived for some time without electricity. They need to balance their need for survival with the needs to be ethical humans. The community does not have the resources to help everyone. How can you help people in need when your resources are extremely limited? In some cases, simply communicating and given out things you are not using is the key.
What do you do when people that exhibit valuable behavior also have the tendency to stretch things and act in ways detrimental to the community? Do you keep them around? Do you give them greater freedom to act how they desire, even if it may be outside the realm you want for society?
Unfortunately some of the community begins to unravel from within. The book tends to radio key points from a long way out. As a reader, I had suspicion as to the cause of certain key events. It seems obvious why events were happening, but the characters seemed to have no clue. However, the conclusion totally took me by surprise.

Rule of Three

Rule of Three starts with a student working on his paper at the last minute. Then all power shuts down and things go haywire. The problem appears to be more widespread than just power - all computers (or anything containing them) are shut down. An explanation is never given for why. However, the power outage is widespread. Luckily, the protagonist drives an old car, so he is still able to get home. (He is also able to drive his "crush" home to her farmhouse.) Once home, he meets up with his neighbor, a former government operative who is also a survivalist.
The boy's mom happens to be a police officer and initially works to keep things in order. They arrange for people to "buy" goods on credit from local stores (thereby forstalling the looting attempts.) However, things quickly go downhill as the outage goes on. Eventually, they focus on their neighborhood. They set up security checkpoints, build a wall and recruit the local farmer (who happens to be the father of the girl that the boy likes) to come in and help farm plots. They seem to have a viable community.
The boy eventually gets his ultralight airplane to run and explores other areas. They discover the police station has been destroyed by a rocket launcher, probably by a group that has a Cessna. They also open up a mutually beneficial alliance with another community. Later, the Cessna group destroys the other community and murders anyone they can find. From there to book works towards its violent climax, complete with airplane fights and boy falling in love with girl.
It feels very similar to other "collapse of modern culture" novels, though this is told from a high school perspective.