Review: Sanctuary by Pauline Creeden

Sanctuary is an interesting blend of alien, zombie, post-apocalyptic Christian fiction. That’s a thought to chew over, and you have to wonder if a book pulling so many different genres and subjects together can work. It does.

Right off I was sucked into the drama and excitement. Pauline Creeden doesn’t give readers a moment of peace before the storm—she just drops us into the midst of the horror. Her writing is very descriptive, at times graphic. I found myself anxious, a little frightened, and totally hooked. I had a hard time putting this one aside to do other things.

Imagine if aliens came to earth, their ships looming over our cities, but we didn’t know what they wanted. They poison the water, but we don’t know why. Then they unleash huge animalistic beings that attack the population, turning them into . . . zombies? Zombies that don’t kill but bite to spread the infection.

The story focuses on the viewpoints of three main characters: Jennie, Hugh, and Brad. Their individual stories eventually come together. The head hopping didn’t bother me; I think it worked for this story.

I loved the writing in Sanctuary. It was descriptive, kept my anxiety level up, and sucked me in. I could picture the whole thing like a movie. The book could use a tighter edit; I did notice a bunch of small errors, such as missing words, but nothing horrific.

I was completely into the story until the end came. The end was rushed. There were so many theories and bits of new information for the humans to explore with regard to the aliens, but we go right from adrenaline rush to a short epilogue that hints there might be another installment to this story. Pauline Creeden had my full attention until that point. While I’m glad I read the story, and thoroughly enjoyed the journey, the end left me wanting—and not in a good way.

I would read book two, if there is one, but I have to knock points off for the ending of this one.

3.75 stars