HUNTING FOR THE LAMB OF GOD

by Jamey O’Donnell ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 26, 2021

A nuclear strike over America effectively throws much of the Northern Hemisphere back to the Stone Age in O’Donnell’s apocalyptic thriller.

On May 24, 2022, three nuclear warheads detonate in the thermosphere above the United States. Sent by Iran—and facilitated by North Korea—the super electromagnetic pulse immediately wreaks havoc. Satellites become disabled, airplanes fall from the sky, cars stop working, and cellphones become useless. In Centennial, a suburb of Denver, the family of Bill Jenkins—a statistician with the Department of Agriculture who’s working out of Washington, D.C.—is already preparing for the worst. Jenkins, a “prepper of sorts,” has an underground bunker filled with a year’s worth of food and water for his wife, Viv, and their two sons, Brian and Mark. As the world devolves into chaos, the Jenkinses share their supplies with their surviving neighbors, Julie Price and her kids, Jack, Rocky, and Kate. But when people start dying of starvation, the group faces nomadic cannibals hunting for human prey. As life becomes a hellscape, Jenkins—living in an elaborate subterranean government bunker while working to get the country back on its feet—learns of a top-secret underground railroad system that connects cities all over the continent, one of which is Denver. Jenkins eventually gets the green light to find his family and return with them to Washington—but what he discovers in Colorado is beyond his darkest nightmares. This relentlessly paced, action-packed, and character-driven novel from the author of Meth War (2021) may strike some readers as a fusion of William R. Forstchen’s One Second After and Stephen King’s The Stand with a powerful Christian perspective. The story can get heavy-handed, however, when it comes to religion. Criminals, for example, are “men and women living their lives without God,” some of whom may “embrace Satan.” But any proselytizing fits seamlessly into the narrative as the Jenkinses and Prices find strength and wisdom in their faith-based lives to move forward in their quest to survive.

A fast-paced, dystopian tale of a near-future nuclear disaster told from a Christian viewpoint.

Writer and deep thinker Jamey O’Donnell has constructed a twisting, terrifying scenario – a world gone insane after the obliteration of electromagnetic power in his book Hunting for the Lamb of God. This “end times” speculation combines the best of human hopes and the worst of human failings.

Carefully plotted by Iran in tandem with North Korea, the attack on the Western hemisphere is harrowingly, immediately effective – three bright flashes of light are followed by the death of all electronic devices, resulting in jetliners crashing, cars wrecking, houses set ablaze, and a chaos so total that no one could have imagined it. The book’s main characters, two neighbor boys named Jack and Mark, begin to share in the terror that grips their world, realizing how truly bad it is when Mark’s car won’t start, and then, on foot, trying to help the victims of a nearby plane crash. Mark’s father Bill, a prepper of sorts, had built an underground shelter and supplied it with dried foods and numerous flashlights, even a ham radio. Once the two boys start to figure out their means to survival, they will watch after their younger siblings, Jack’s invalid mother and Mark’s mom Liv, who is trying to be brave though Bill is far away from home, working in Washington, DC. When Bill returns, it is to take them back to DC to continue using his expertise to ameliorate the crisis. But he will refuse the government’s offer of safety when his neighbors are not allowed to accompany them – thus is born a new alliance in which the two families will face and withstand the ugly new world together, fleeing – slowly, on foot and with laden shopping carts – to the wilderness. This is happening even as in some US cities, huge percentages of the population have been wiped out, and those that remain are resorting to cannibalism. Once ensconced in a tiny commune that calls itself New Hope, building shelters and planning for survival, the families will begin to see the deterioration of mankind’s morality play out, even in what they believed was a safe haven.

O’Donnell, who lives in Colorado where most of his story is set, is a student of national and world politics, and brings to this eerie tale certain political and social constructs that express his viewpoint. His book flies by, with action and reaction on every page. He shows the reader the innate compassion with which some humans seem naturally endowed, and the hate and ignorance of others. The scenarios depicted seem, as he has organized them, quite logical, though cold and truly frightening. How would ordinary Americans react in such a widespread crisis? There is a frisson of Biblical prophecy interlaced in the story, with the two families being devout Christians who take comfort in prayer. The book’s ending begs a sequel, and the author will surely not disappoint his readership in that regard. O’Donnell’s Hunting for the Lamb of God, with its title’s ironic hinting at the story’s unsettling plotlines, presents a rare, almost plausible dystopia for thoughtful readers to contemplate, with an accompanying shiver.

U.S. Review of Books

“It was at that moment that the world took a quantum leap backward and nothing would ever be the same.”

In this dystopian tale, the West finds itself crippled when North Korea and Iran join forces to attack with “three nuclear explosions strategically positioned over the United States, designed to create a super electromagnetic pulse (EMP) and cripple the U.S.” This attack effectively stops all electronically powered equipment from working. There are no computers, cars, phones, or communications, “and 3200 jet airliners began to fall from the sky over America, Canada, and Mexico.” Those alive after the initial event must now find a way to survive its effects. As people begin to starve because of the inability to produce and store food, they turn to a ready food source—humans. Cannibalism runs rampant, with gangs attacking homes to procure food. But not all people wish to survive through the eating of human flesh. Is it possible to carve out a life among those who would readily kill another human for food?

O’Donnell carves out a futuristic horror story as he sets up this devastating scenario of a crippling blow to the West. It isn’t hard to imagine a world where the United States is attacked and left without power or resources, but a world that so easily turns to cannibalism is truly frightening. There is much internal struggle and dramatic tension as two sets of neighbors try to navigate the landscape of this strange new world, relying only on themselves with no coordinated emergency government assistance. The author does a fantastic job of setting up the conflict and building tension as his characters try to find a way to survive. This well-written, though disturbing, story gives readers much to contemplate.

LOVED IT!

An amazing read that everyone should read at least once. It’s impossible to put the book down once you start.

If food became unavailable due to a natural disaster, and your only food source was human beings, would you eat someone? Would you go a step further and kill someone to eat them? These are decisions that would have to be made by normal, everyday people if faced with this type of situation. Hunting for the Lamb of God traces the footsteps of two families living across the street from each other in a suburb south of Denver, Colorado. The families join forces to navigate through a dystopian nightmare after America is hit with a super EMP (electromagnetic pulse), where food and water supplies run dry, and neighbors turn against neighbors, hunting each other for food to survive.

This book attracted me with its odd title and book cover. On one hand, there is a cross and the title says Hunting for The Lamb of God. But when the Lamb of God has been slain, how can you hunt for Him? I had many questions circling in my head about the plot of the story and what it would entail. The blurb of the book does not even closely let you in on how deep the book is.

Having read The Lord of the Flies, I was a little skeptical about this book. The Lord of the Flies had left me sick to my guts. It was a book that tore me apart. The loss of innocence and the brutality sneaks up on you and rips you apart. This book is set completely in the US. The story revolves around two families: the Jenkins and the Price families. Life was normal with everyone getting on with their lives. This was until the US was is hit with EMP (Electromagnetic pulse). The EMP hit the US so badly that it shut down the country completely. Vehicles died in the middle of the street, elevators were stuck across the country, gadgets were not working, phones were dead, etc. The horrific details of the story are gelled well together in a fictional story combined with a dystopian nightmare. The scary fact is that this fiction can be a near possibility with the way things have turned out to be.

With the story progressing, each family and each person begins to develop. The children lose their innocence and mature fast. The elder boys become men overnight. They see their mothers escape being raped and fight off cannibals. Society runs amok with cannibals looking for their next meal. The silver lining to the cloud though is that the family grows in their faith and care for each another, looking after one another’s back. They were not prepared for what lay before them. Neighbors dead, food stock decreasing, the inability to contact others or to enquire about their welfare. What helps them withstand all the barbarity and savagery is their love for each other and also the hope for a new life. It’s a tough game of survival, where everyone is pitted against each other, vying for the resources the other has.

One can only half imagine the horror if such a thing were ever to happen. It is an almost apocalyptic tale, yet one that holds hope, portraying plenty of survival skills. It will make you flip pages with bated breath.

The book is a masterpiece but the cliffhanger is a killer, not knowing what will happen to the families. I’m now eagerly waiting for the sequel to come to find out what happens to the families. I recommend this book to everyone.

I received an ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review. My views are not biased towards the author or the publisher.

Top 25: O’Donnell Releases Newest Novel: A Modern Day American Horror Story.

Updated: Nov 8, 2021

Book Synopsis-Hunting for the Lamb of God. Jamey O’Donnell also wrote another novel that will have you reading from front to back not wanting to put it down called Hunting for the Lamb of God. One can only half imagine the horror of a Electromagnetic Pulse if such a thing were ever to happen. It is an almost apocalyptic tale, yet one that holds hope, portraying plenty of survival skills. “If food became unavailable due to a natural disaster, and your only food source was human beings, would you eat someone?”-O’Donnell Would you go a step further and kill someone to eat them? These are decisions that would have to be made by normal, everyday people if faced with this type of situation.

Hunting for the Lamb of God traces the footsteps of two families living across the street from each other in a suburb south of Denver, Colorado. The families join forces to navigate through a dystopian nightmare after America is hit with a super EMP (electromagnetic pulse), where food and water supplies run dry, and neighbors turn against neighbors, hunting each other for food to survive.

Life was normal with everyone getting on with their lives. This was until the United States was is hit with EMP (Electromagnetic pulse). The EMP hit the United States so drastically everything shut down in an instant. Completely dead all vehicles stayed stuck in the street, elevators were stuck across the country, nothing was working including phones, lights, anything electric leaving the country still. The horrific details of the story are incorporated well together in a fictional story combined with a cataclysmic decline in society nightmare. The scary fact is that this fiction could be a possible with the way things have turned out to be lately. As each family and each person begins to develop in this book. The children lose their innocence and maturity fast. The elder boys become men overnight. They see their mothers escape being raped and fight off cannibals. The United States becomes chaos with cannibals searching for these next victim or their next meal. The family bond grows stronger each day as they turn to their faith and care for one another. Also creating alliance with the family across the street to take care of each other and have each others backs. Nobody could ever be prepared for what lay before them. Neighbors dead, food stock declining, the inability to contact others or to find out their whereabouts or wellbeing. Their love for each other and also the hope for a new life is all that keeps them going as they witness so much pain and suffering. It’s a tough game of survival, where everyone is turned against each other, searching and surviving for the resources the other has. Nobody can imagine the horror if such a thing were ever to happen. It is an almost end of the world tale, yet one that holds hope, portraying a guide of plenty of survival skills. RTM strongly recommends Hunting for the Lamb of God to its readership also both great books.

Jamey O’Donnell
Author

Born in Chicago, Illinois Jamey O’Donnell spent most of his early years in and out of foster homes and juvenile halls with his two younger brothers, being made wards of court due to their mother’s alcoholism. At 13 years old, him and his two younger brothers were flown to Palm Springs to live with their aunt and uncle, and after a year being there, their mother and father came to California to get them and settled in San Bernardino. This is when he was introduced to drugs, and after years of shame and abuse, he welcomed the drugs because they made him “feel human”. His drug of choice was methamphetamine. He began shooting meth in his early 20’s and did it until his mid 40’s. At the age of 18, he began singing in rock and roll bands he started. Writing original music, trying to get a record deal. At the age of 27, he almost got what he had been shooting for. He started a band called Exit and they recorded an album and started playing non stop in every club in L.A. that they could. By that time, he was already full up in his addiction, as was everyone else in his band, and they split up just as they were being offered record deals, mostly because they couldn’t keep it together. Soon after, he began transporting large amounts of meth to Denver to support his habit and ended up settling there and has been there ever since. He met a woman in Cocaine Anonymous and they got married, then had a kid, and that is when his life completely changed.