Book Review: ‘Leave The World Behind: A Novel’ By Rumaan Alam

Clay, his wife Amanda and their two children Archie who is 15 and Rose who is 13 are on their annual summer vacation to the Hamptons. This time they’re going a little further out and to a more remote place. Things are going okay until there’s a knock on the door late at night soon after they have been there. It’s G.W. Washington and his wife Ruth, who are the owners of the house they’re renting. It seems there’s a blackout in New York City and something seems off about it. They are allowed to stay the night and hopefully leave the next morning.

But strange things start to happen. Animals are flocking, mysterious noises that crack the glass in the house, no cable or TV service, but they still have power. They’re all scared and not sure what to do. Clay and Amanda want to try and go back to their Brooklyn home but aren’t sure if they should. Then one the people gets sick with a mysterious illness, one disappears and they can’t get any type of information as to what is happening. Is it a plague, a bombing, a cyber attack or something worse?

These people will now have to accept what is happening and work together to secure their futures. Can they do that?

A solid story that asks what it something like this should happen. A solid story with interesting characters but don’t expect all your questions to be answered and this was quite annoying.

You can pick up Leave The World Behind in stores on Tuesday, October 6th from Ecco.