Finished: Leave The World Behind (Alam) I haven't read a book this quickly in a long time! This is a page-turning story of a couple, Amanda and Clay, and their children, Archie, 15, and  Rosie, 13, who head out to a remote rental on Long Island for a week long vacation. ***  Warning: This entire blog post will be spoilers, so if you want to read this book, then don't read this. *** The house is lovely, but so remote that there is very low cell service. Despite that, they have a great first day and seem to be a typical family. The first night there, however, they are greeted by unexpected visitors...the owners of the house! A couple in their sixties, Ruth and George, have fled to their second home, because the power has gone completely out in New York City, where they have a 14th floor apartment. Amanda and Clay are shaken to have the couple come to their door so late, and then actually want to stay in their own basement guest room, but they can tell that something strange is happening because Amanda received four "this is not a test" alerts on her cell phone before all the service went completely down. The television channels are all showing just a blue screen, so the young family, and the older couple, though wary of each other, realize they must make this new arrangement work. After a restless night's sleep, the next day Clay leaves to drive into the nearest small town to see if there is any news, but promptly gets lost on all the small roads. Archie and Rosie head to the nearby woods to explore, and Amanda, Ruth and George make small talk trying to get acquainted. That's when it happens...the horrific sound that nearly shatters the window glass and leaves them all squatting on the ground. A sound none of them have ever heard before....like a sonic boom, only 10 fold. The author lets the reader know in various small asides what the characters don't know: some cities have been flooded and people are dying; Ruth and George's elevator man is trapped in the elevator and will suffocate; and the government has sent a super-secret airplane to intercept what they see as a threat off the east coast of the U.S., hence the booming noise. As Amanda, Clay, Archie, Rosie, Ruth and George all have their various reactions, they also try to maintain some semblance of normalcy. In the dark as to what is happening, though, their panic rises bit by bit. When Archie comes down with a fever, and then his teeth begin just falling out, hysteria sets in and they decide they must get him to a doctor! Rosie has disappeared though. Clay and George leave to take Archie to the doctor in the nearest town while Amanda and Ruth search for Rosie. They don't know that she's simply gone off on another trek into the woods to see if she can find the other vacation home she'd seen yesterday before the boom threw them all off. George decides to stop at the only neighbor he knows before heading to the town, but that neighbor, Danny, receives him rather coldly. He is also going through the unnerving weirdness and has a young wife and 4 year old daughter who are frightened. The author lets us know: little does Danny know, but his own wife's teeth will begin falling out soon. Ack!!! As Amanda falls into a further panic unable to find Rosie, she and Ruth begin to snap at each other. Meanwhile, Rosie finds the house and sees that no one is inside. The author lets us know: the owners of the house are stuck in San Diego, unable to get a flight because there are no flights any more AND the mother will never see that house again because she will die in a medical tent set up at the San Diego airport! :-O !! Rosie breaks into the house and finds batteries, flashlights, canned food, and loads her backpack up. She is proud that she has found something that will help out her gang since they never listen to her suggestions. She heads back to the vacation house and THAT IS THE END OF THE BOOK!!! We never find out exactly what is happening in the country or the world, but we are left to wonder how long before worse happens to them all and if anyone will survive whatever is going on! This is a really well written book and I honestly find myself wanting to know more...maybe a sequel?? It's also very scary, especially in these current times, to realize something like this could really happen.