Chaos is the first book in the New World series written by John O’Brien. The premise is that some sort of ‘Super Flu’ has swept the world after originating at Cape Town. The story follows the adventures of Jack Walker, a former USAF pilot and US Army Special Operator. And yes, you can have both of those specialties only not at the same time.

Book 1 opens with Walker attempting to come to terms with what has happened and rescue his son and daughters from the house they’ve taken refuge in which turns out to be his ex-wife’s. The plot it tight, concise and cohesive and doesn’t waste time wandering around. The reader is sent into the thick of the action as the steps that Walker takes are deliberate and professional, exactly like one would expect from a former SOF operator.

O’Brien’s description of the changed world is excellent in every little detail. From small towns to large cities, he hits it spot on.

Moving back to the overall plot of the novel, Walker’s goal after being reunited with his family is to somehow find a way to get to his girlfriend who is currently deployed to Kuwait. As the setting for the story is primarily in the Pacific Northwest, this creates a logistical and transportation problem that must be overcome. Walker realizes that his only chance to find his girlfriend within a reasonably time frame is to ‘borrow’ an aircraft from JBLM (Joint Base Lewis/McChord). As he’s a former C130 pilot that shouldn’t be a problem, but locating a plane could be. As luck would have it, he locates a HC130 at McChord and using his family as flight crew, heads off to SWA.

Bluffing his way past one of the few remaining military installations enroute to get more fuel for his plane, he finally lands in Kuwait. In the meantime, his girlfriend has had her hands full dealing with the infected.

The reader gets their first glimpse of the infected when Walker enters McChord’s hospital to gather medical supplies. Inside is a charnel house of gore, bodies and other detritus items left over from the infected’s assault on the uninfected.

Walker’s plan comes to fruition when he successfully rescues his girlfriend Lynn and the remaining personnel on the installation then begins his return to the states and specifically the Pacific Northwest.

Overall, this was an excellent book with a well developed set of characters. The primary character, Jack Walker, is exceptionally well detailed with a believable background not just a one dimensional finger puppet that has the ability to perform high speed procedures. O’Brien’s details of the aircraft, flight characteristics and handling are a wonder to enjoy. His version of the infected don’t quite fall into the canon of zombie lore as they are not reanimated dead but cannibalistic predators that have evolved due to their exposure to the ‘Cape Town Flu’. A New World: Chaos falls into the apocalyptic/horror genre more than the zombie genre but it’s still an extremely enjoyable read.

Within the entire novel, I was only able to find a few minor things that appeared odd to me. One was when Walker is on his way to rescue his kids and he places his handgun on the passenger seat. That struck me as odd due to the fact that if he had to stop quickly or make any kind of avoidance maneuver, that weapon would leave the seat and most likely end up on the floor. In a potentially hostile environment this is not something you want to happen. In one other scene, he checks an S&W .38 revolver and then flicks on the safety. Revolvers don’t have a safety mechanism like semi-automatics do. The only ‘safety’ a revolver has would be to leave one chamber in the cylinder empty. In a later scene, Walker enters a building to clear it and has to rack the slide on his Beretta once he’s inside. This struck me as very out of character as it’s already established that he’s a former SF operator so making that kind of rookie mistake appeared out of context.

Those minor issues aside, O’Brien’s writing far surpasses others that have attempted to use a military theme in their work. His writing is not by any means an attempt at writing a military apocalyptic novel, it is a winner that brings actual inside information to the novel that is realistic and authentic as only someone who has BTDT can do.