Review – The Effort by Claire Holroyde

Posted January 18, 2021 by Carole in Book Reviews / 12 Comments

The Effort by Claire Holroyde
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: January 12, 2021
Date Read: January 17, 2021
Length: 368 pages
Source: Publisher
★★★★☆

For readers of Station Eleven and Good Morning, Midnight comes an electric, heart-pounding novel of love and sacrifice that follows people around the world as they unite to prevent a global catastrophe.

When dark comet UD3 was spotted near Jupiter’s orbit, its existence was largely ignored. But to individuals who knew better — scientists like Benjamin Schwartz, manager of NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies — the threat this eight-kilometer comet posed to the survival of the human race was unthinkable. The 150-million-year reign of the dinosaurs ended when an asteroid impact generated more than a billiontimes the energy of an atomic bomb.

What would happen to Earth’s seven billion inhabitants if a similar event were allowed to occur?

Ben and his indomitable girlfriend Amy Kowalski fly to South America to assemble an international counteraction team, whose notable recruits include Love Mwangi, a UN interpreter and nomad scholar, and Zhen Liu, an extraordinary engineer from China’s national space agency. At the same time, on board a polar icebreaker life continues under the looming shadow of comet UD3. Jack Campbell, a photographer for National Geographic, works to capture the beauty of the Arctic before it is gone forever. Gustavo Wayãpi, a Nobel Laureate poet from Brazil, struggles to accept the recent murder of his beloved twin brother. And Maya Gutiérrez, an impassioned marine biologist is — quite unexpectedly — falling in love for the first time.

Together, these men and women must fight to survive in an unknown future with no rules and nothing to be taken for granted. They have two choices: neutralize the greatest threat the world has ever seen (preferably before mass hysteria hits or world leaders declare World War III) or come to terms with the annihilation of humanity itself.

Their mission is codenamed The Effort.

 My Review
I really enjoyed this book!  I decided to read this book simply because it sounded interesting.  I liked the idea of people coming together to save the world and there is some of that in this book.  This book is more than that though.  I really felt like it was a realistic view of what would happen on our planet if we knew that annihilation was a real possibility.  I really liked the way this story came together and found this book to be both entertaining and thought-provoking.
This book is told from many points of view and I think this style of storytelling was very effective for this particular story.  We get to see how people in different areas are dealing with the crisis.  Each character’s story helps to paint an overall picture of what was really happening in the world.  We meet Ben who is a scientist who has been put in charge of the plan to try to destroy the comet heading towards earth.  Love is an interpreter who helps to make it possible for scientists from all over the world to work together on this mission.  Zhen is an engineer from China who shows real leadership just when it matters the most.  Jack is on a Coast Guard ship as a photojournalist, while Maya is on the same ship as a scientist.  Each character felt really authentic and I liked the fact that we often learn more about their past after getting to know them in their present.
This is a rather bleak story at times.  I thought that the author did a fantastic job of painting a picture of just how far people will go when they are desperate.  In this story, we see some people at their absolute worst and others sacrificing everything in order to give the world a chance.  The descriptions within this story were incredibly well done and vivid.  I really felt for some of these characters as they faced impossible odds and terrible situations.  
I would recommend this book to others.  There are some rather graphic scenes that may be too much for some readers but I thought that it was very well done and realistic.  I found this to be a book that was rather hard to put down at times and I am glad that I decided to take this journey.  I definitely plan to read more of Claire Holroyde’s work in the future.

I received a copy of this book from Grand Central Publishing.

About the Author

Claire Holroyde is a writer and graphic designer living outside of Philadelphia. The Effort is her first novel. She invites you to visit claireholroyde.com to learn more.

Author Links: Website | Goodreads | Instagram | Twitter

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12 responses to “Review – The Effort by Claire Holroyde”

  1. Northwoman

    I'm sure I would like this. Fantastic review! Scifi survival type books are always gritty but fascinating to see the different human responses.

    Anne – Books of My Heart

  4. Greg

    I like th sound of this one, and the idea of the people coming together- that can always be fun. I don't know why stories like this are so interesting haha- what is it about the end of the world?? I need to get this. 🙂