The Dead and Gone By Susan Pfeffer

hat first made me interested in this book was the cover. I saw it on the bookshelf near my seat and the picture of the over sized moon over the city caught my attention. In the very beginning, Pfeffer grabs your attention when there are police cars, firetrucks and ambulances soaring down the street, but Alex (The main character) thinks nothing of it. Also, the power goes out while one of Alex's co-workers is watching the Yankees game on a T.V at the pizza shop. Through this, the book went into suspense right away.Pfeffer also uses a lot of mood in her writing. Another example of mood would be when Alex and his friend go "Body Hunting" or search the streets for dead bodies and steal their possessions. Since a tsunami had swept through the area the day before, there were many to choose from. They then took things like wallets, coats, shoes and watches and sold them to a shopkeeper who works in the black market in return for food and two bottles of vodka.

The suspense that Pfeffer uses in her writing can be unbearable sometimes. Through 200 pages of the book, you still will not find out if Alex's mom and dad are alive. He looks at a viewing of the dead at Yankee stadium to see if his mom may have died on the subways the night the moon was hit. Still, she is nowhere to be found. Hid dad, on the other hand, is thousands of miles away in Puerto Rico which Alex finds out was hit hard by tsunamis. Since there isn't electricity for a couple weeks, he couldn't receive a phone call from his dad, assuming he was still alive. Also not knowing what natural disaster is going to devastate N.Y.C next also adds to the suspense of the book. From tsunamis, to earthquakes to volcanic ash this book will have you on edge through all 300 pages. Another thing I like about the plot is that it is semi-realistic. By that I mean that its not impossible for a meteor to hit the moon and push it out of place, yet it still seems a little far fetched. Pfeffer uses a little bit of sci fi and realism in her writing. The combination of mood and suspense is what makes this book a thriller.I would definitely recommend this book to anybody who enjoys reading survival and thriller books.