Book 2 of the Commune series starts off with a warning up front about strong language and a new character that is the source of that language, Sergeant Gibbs. Gibbs is a former marine that brings a whole new element to this series with his personality and his skill set. The foul mouth marine finds himself shepherding around a rag tag collection of survivors and quickly discovering that his willingness to protect these people in the apocalypse is a heavy burden to shoulder. Things go from bad to worse for this new group of survivors until they meet up with Jake and this is when things get real difficult. Winter is approaching in Wyoming and there is not enough food to go around for a bunch of new people, so Jake and Amanda must decide if it it is worth sacrificing their humanity in order to survive...
Gibbs is easy to root for and his addition to the story is a welcome one as his personality was a big hit for me. I laughed out loud a number of times at his marine language, which added a colorful aspect to a mostly serious series. Of course Jake and Amanda are also back and there are plenty of new challenges for everyone to face as the Commune struggles to establish itself. Despite some minor circumstances that feel a little off, the series continues to feel realistic and the character relationships remain core to the story which means book three is an automatic pick up for me.
R. C. Bray does another excellent job for the audiobook and his performance as Gibbs is top notch.