In the best movie trailer narration…In a world gone mad only one thing stands between the sane and insane. Can you guess what it is. Cutely enough, it can be abbreviated to the same thing that sent the world spiraling out of control in the first place. But…let’s start at the beginning. And this book begins with a series of violent seemingly random brutal attacks on ordinary people by ordinary people. Don’t worry, though, these are not completely random and will actually tie in very nicely with the narrative later on. But the attacks are terrifying and are in fact only a preview of the chaos to come. This apocalyptic scenario is US specific and involves citizens going mad with rage and attacking each other, not just attacking, also snacking on, hence the Canni moniker, because we live in a world where abbreviations are totes all the rage and Canni is an abbrev most delish. Quite literally. So this is the mad new reality that the characters of this book (main bunch of youngsters on a Vegas trip) and their peripherals have to deal with. So essentially you have a very entertaining survival story that midway through devolves (or evolves, reader’s choice) into a stoner comedy. Apocalypse Cheech and Chong style. This is where mileage may vary, based on personal preferences. For me, the direction wasn’t ideal and actually detracted from overall enjoyment, because it took an exciting story and stupidified it, in a way. I mean, I was really into the original direction, so the 420 detour seemed to cheapen the entire thing. It’s just that I wasn’t expecting Sean of the Stoned. If you go in with expectations properly adjusted, I’m sure it’ll be a much more agreeable experience. Not that there’s something wrong with having your scares and action served up with comedic flavor, it just seemed almost incongruent with the main course, at least until you get used to it. But all that aside, it was still a very fun ride. Apocalyptic scenarios based on sudden violent outbursts have been done before, the original spin here is that they are short lived outbursts, which actually makes a huge difference when it comes to self defense. If a raging lunatic can transform back into a normal person in 15 minutes or so, then when it comes to fighting or managing them, there are moral considerations in play that no longer exist in more traditional scenarios where attackers are just goners for all intent and purposes. And the characters were a likeable diverse interesting bunch. Plus good pacing, good writing, good story. This book, unquestionably, worked. It just didn’t quite work as expected. I’ve never heard of the author, but it stands to mention that he is a retired cop, if only because this might be the most progressive liberal and wacky book I’ve read written by a current or former cop…those usually tend to be serious suspense thrillers, procedurals, etc. I believe I’ve read at least one book by the publishers before, which was very good. So the entire thing is definitely very professional job, nice, cover, well edited, etc. Quality all around, just go in expecting a violent, lighthearted, high (def high) comedy. Stoners delight, but also fun for general audiences. Genre fans….get ready to go Canni for this one. Thanks Netgalley.

Storyline was pushing it and the characters were not believable at all. I didn't feel any passion behind this book whatsoever. Very disappointed.