“Bare Metal” by William Esmont is a post-apocalyptic science-fiction thriller set in the Arctic Ocean. We meet Emmett Pierce on the floor of the Arctic when he experiences a power outage. Emmett experiences one cliff-hanger after another as he attempts to rejoin civilization. There is also a side story upon the steamer, MS Glacial Adventurer. Here we meet Simone Rousseau, her sister Chloe, Chloe’s boyfriend Scott and a cast of others who are dealing with a mysterious illness that has removed the ability to read. William Esmont does a good job in switching from story to story leaving the me intrigued. My only complaint is that we never do find out the cause of the power outage or illness. Perhaps there will be a sequel. I received a copy of this book from LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program. ( )

An understated adventure on the Arctic Ocean. Something has happened to the world, Emmett is alone at his workstation when the electricity goes out and the system AI goes silent. Emmett spends weeks alone trying to stay alive. When he comes close to an ocean liner he manages to climb aboard. On the ocean liner almost everyone has fallen sick, many have died.
On the ship there are many cruel things done by Oscar, the self-proclaimed leader, with no thought and no empathy. It’s a dangerous and traumatic sail.
The action is written in a direct, almost matter-of-fact way, that doesn’t detract from the horrors and traumatic attempts to survive. This was a riveting book from start to finish. ( )

This was a fast read, as mentioned by another reviewer. It fast-paced and engaging, but I felt like I was missing a lot of information and am left with some open questions. I would have appreciated more background information for the main character and the events leading up to the book. Overall, I enjoyed it. If you like a good adventure, this will not disppoint. ( )

Easy to get into as it was quite well written, flowed nicely. Great storytelling. ( )