I remember seeing the original cover for this paperback in a variety of book racks when I was a teen, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. I didn’t recognize the name of Robert McCammon at the time, though since that time Boy’s Life has become one of my favourite books.

I didn’t know McCammon at all, Stephen King was my go-to guy, and there was just something a little unnerving about the demonic face on the cover that I never actually picked it up to find out what it was about.

Well, coming across a number of lists that cited it as a must-read I figured it was time to dig in and see if I enjoyed it as much as Boy’s Life. It’s not quite McCammon’s answer to The Stand, but it definitely is a post-apocalyptic tale of good versus evil with the tattered rags of humanity hanging in the balance.

The ICBMs have pummeled the Earth, the cities have been wiped out, and governments have collapsed, but there are pockets of survivors. There are heroes and villains, and the villains are truly evil, as there is a dark force literally walking the land, something older than humanity who is ready to lay claim to the ruined world.

But amongst those who live with a bit of hope is a young girl named Swan, blessed with a unique ability, she may be the key to saving what’s left of humanity and helping the world begin anew.

The story takes its time guiding us through the horrors of the nuclear event, the terrors that follow, and the places and events that bring characters together, tear them apart, and shape what is to come.

Throw in a strange plague that has only affected some, a strange growth that slowly, and completely encloses the head effecting changes that may reveal who they really are inside.

It’s a large novel, but it’s engaging, quick to read, and has vivid characters as well as truly horrifying moments, culminating in a literal confrontation with evil personified as the world ticks down to its final moments.

There’s a wrestler, Josh, a colonel, Macklin who survived a POW camp in Vietnam, a sociopathic teenager, Roland, a homeless woman, Sister, who discovers a treasure and carries a painful past, survivors, fighters, and walking through it all is something that can wear any face it wants determined to have its way, finally.

I loved being caught up in this world that McCammon created. Having said that, I’m not sure it would have been my thing as a young teenager when it came out. I wasn’t dipping my foot too deep into anything beyond King, Fleming, Tolkien and Trek books, so I don’t think I would have been ready for it.

But now, I’m glad to finally have dug into it, and gone on the journey with Swan and her friends.