Death is a Welcome Guest by Louise Welsh (Book Review)

Who can you trust?

Imagine waking up one day and finding out that all your family members and friends are dead or beyond reach. Facilities are out so you’ve basically pushed back a few hundred years. People around you are total strangers in a world of chaos. The ones who seem like good guys might not be who they seem to be. And it’s the same the other way round. You can only depend on yourself. Trust has to be rebuilt from scratch by communication, favors and soul-baring.

Death is a Welcome Guest feels like a zombie-apocalypse story. Except, people affected by the usual killing virus (called the ‘sweats’ in this book) actually just pass on. Moreover, the main character, Magnus McFall, is an escaped convict who are not well-informed of what's happening. He was a stand up comedian wrongly accused of sexual assault and that got him locked up. The survivors in this book seem to be immune to the virus but none of the people related to them seems to survive. This unleashes very different dynamics to the story compared to others in the same genre. Every person has his or her own agenda and doubts each other.

The book has two parts. The earlier chapters are short creating a feeling of urgency. I usually pace my read one chapter at a time. But for the first part, I could go two to three chapters at a time. The font size is also bigger than others, I think. It also did not waste time to go to the thrilling part. As early as Chapter 1.

The second part of the book is when things get interesting, when Magnus and his companion are out in the open.

I didn’t notice that this is the second book in a trilogy called Plague Times until I unwrapped the book from the plastic. Nevertheless, I think the book can be read on its own, except for one or two flashbacks which may or may not refer to the first book, but in no way affected the story. 

In summary, the book is a portrayal on how humans return to their natural selves in stressful times. A good point to reflect on what our own self would do in the same situation.