The Casualties by Nick Holdstock

In the vein of The Leftovers, a man recounts the final weeks of his neighborhood before the apocalyptic event which only a few of the eccentric residents will survive.

Samuel Clark likes secrets. He wants to know the hidden stories of the bizarre characters on the little streets of Edinburgh, Scotland. He wants to know about a nymphomaniac, a man who lives under a bridge, a girl with a cracked face. He wants to uncover their histories because he has secrets of his own. He believes, as people do, that he is able to change. He believes, as the whole world does, that there is plenty of time to solve his problems. But Samuel Clark and the rest of the world are wrong. Change and tragedy are going to scream into his and everyone’s lives. It will be a great transformation, a radical change; and it just might be worth the cost.

Written by a rising literary star whose work has been published in notoriously selective publications such as n+1 and The Southern Review, The Casualties is an ambitious debut novel that explores how we see ourselves, our past and our possible futures. It asks the biggest question: How can we be saved? @goodreads

MY REVIEW:

 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1298596629

I started out really loving this book, but somewhere along the way I started getting confused with the way the author was writing back and forth with people.

Overall I enjoyed reading about the different characters in the story. There is Sam Clark that owns a bookstore. Alasdair is a homeless man that sleeps under the bridge and yells out cures and random strange things to people. You find out later who he really is. Caitlin works at the charity clothes store next door to Sam's bookstore. She also has issues with her face cracking. She goes to the dermatologist once in the book, but nothing is ever rectified. Toby is a grossly obese boy who's mom has to put locks on all of the cabinets and refrigerator so he won't gorge himself. He seems to have some mental issues and doesn't understand much, just eating. His mom can't take him out for fear he will attack someone with food on them. Mrs. Maclean is a teacher and she just wants to die. Rita and Sean are drunks that hang out on the beach and on their favorite bench. Sinead is a nympho that ends up being Toby's caregiver and for some reason she doesn't get sexually crazy around him, thank God! Trudy is a prostitute that Sam visits from time to time. There is a man that owns the store but his name has gotten away from me, he visits Trudy too, but he's not good to her.

All of these people have strange little stories to tell in the book. There are random people mentioned in the book that are very curious as well.

This book is like a pre-apocalypse book. This story is set in 2016 and supposedly a billion people die in 2017. You have to keep on your toes in the book or you will get lost.

This all happens in a little town in Scotland called Comely Bank.

I love how the author added pictures of people in the book. These pictures come from an old family album Alasdair finds in the garbage. They are old time pictures and I think they are great.

I liked this book well enough because I love to read books about people and their lives, even if it is just fiction. I didn't like getting confused from time to time. Don't let my review take away from your wanting to read it yourself because my confusion may not be yours :)

**I would like to thank NETGALLEY and ST. MARTIN'S PRESS for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book for my honest review.**
 
3 Stars