On the evening of his high school graduation, Nathan Pierce collapses on stage. Plagued with visions of a strange girl intent on killing herself, he wonders if his mental instability is a consequence of the deadly car accident he was in days earlier.
Heather Rhodes, wracked with guilt because of the fatal wreck, finds she is unable to forgive herself and begins to question her own beliefs. While the death of a newborn weighs on her heart, on her mind is the strange gift she was able to use to protect her and Nathan in the accident…a gift that Heather wonders may have just been a figment of her imagination.
Cynthia Ruin, aka The Pink Rabbit, decides that her high school graduation night should be used for partying, not traveling down the football field. At a nightclub in Scottsdale, Cynthia finds more than she bargains for when a stranger from her past decides to exact his revenge on her for a prior rejection.
Nathan, Heather, and Cynthia come to realize that their current problems are nothing compared to the stars falling from the sky. During the global crisis, the President of the United States makes it her personal mission to keep the country on the right track to becoming a world superpower, while a hostile entity known only as Absolute threatens her administration.
Meanwhile, word starts to spread that the falling stars may not be stars at all...
*May Contain Spoilers*
Black Earth: End of the Innocence by David N. Alderman is a novel about the apocalypse with a Christian theme and rather mature content. There are several characters that the book revolves around: Heather, Nathan, Pearl, and Howard. Each of them plays a complicated role in the plot, creating a mysterious apocalypse-oriented book.
Heather is a young girl who recently discovered that she can "shield" herself from harm. While at a church camp, the invasion begins for her. Readers will respect her strength and her loyalty to her close friend, Nathan.
Nathan seems to have the largest role in the book, as he is meant for "something great." Though, as this is the first book in the series, readers don't yet know what that means. Readers will connect with his survivalist attitude, but doubt him when naivety clouds his reason.
Pearl is an immortal being whose mother is the demon Queen. Though she's very obviously against her mother's actions and motives. Her mission seems to involve Nathan, but readers aren't given any more specific information. A bond will be formed with Pearl based on her goal of preventing her mother from destroying the earth.
Howard is a time traveler from the future, where everything is destroyed by the demons. He's come back to help Earth survive. Readers will come to like Howard because of his goals and how hard he fights to make sure he reaches them.
There are more characters that play important roles in the novel, but I believe these four are the ones readers will connect with the most. The plot draws an obvious line between who's good and evil, letting readers pick a side, though the writing style works against the villains.
Overall, Black Earth: End of the Innocence is a very interesting novel that combines alien invasion with the Christian apocalypse. Though I'm not sure I'll continue the series, the novel did keep me reading.
