false 4721489 3 The Despair has plagued the earth for five years. Most of the world's population has inexplicably died by its own hand, and the few survivors struggle to remain alive. A mysterious, shadowy group called the Collectors has emerged, inevitably appearing to remove the bodies of the dead. But in the crumbling state of Florida, a man named Norman takes an unprecedented stand against the Collectors, propelling him on a journey across North America. It's rumored a scientist in Seattle is working on a cure for the Despair, but in a world ruled by death, it won't be easy to get there. 4785934 book 9 12 2008 The Suicide Collectors total:147|5:10|4:42|3:62|2:24|1:9| 147 461 337 61 3 5 false false Fri Mar 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 04 14:58:43 -0800 2009 Thu Mar 19 07:49:40 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 4 false false Sat Apr 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 02 04:10:21 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 05 01:50:48 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 3 false false Fri Jan 09 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Dec 10 17:04:19 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 10 09:05:06 -0800 2009
In Oppegaard's dystopian world, the entire planet has been gripped by an epidemic called The Despair. Ninety percent of the Earth's population has committed suic...more...]]> 4 1 false true Sat Jan 17 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 16 15:45:43 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 18 17:01:40 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 2 false false Sun Mar 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Feb 10 20:46:15 -0800 2009 Wed Aug 05 17:08:42 -0700 2009 This was the SciFi selection for the Goodreads SciFi and Fantasy Book Club for the month of March 2009. Visit this link to see all of the discussions, group member reviews, etc.

Well, I waited too long to write this to remember all the details of my complaints, but this basically felt lik...more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Mar 12 21:45:13 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 12 21:47:59 -0700 2009 3 0 false true Fri Apr 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 05 17:24:05 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 05 17:24:05 -0700 2009
On the positive side, it was delightful to...more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue Mar 10 15:30:37 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 13 18:56:39 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 1 false true Wed Mar 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Feb 28 11:13:05 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 11 21:16:22 -0700 2009
While in some respects the premise of all post-apocalyptic fiction makes no sense in real terms, a good novel will create a world or a sense of mystery that is both interesting and internally consistent. The Suicide Collectors does not accomplish this.

...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Mar 14 11:03:28 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 21 09:24:36 -0700 2009 The Road meets I am Legend meets It, but with weaker writing. Despite being thematically similar to these monsters of fiction, the "badness" in the book was definitely unique, if not too ambiguous and a bit disappointing in the end. But, the book was at least engaging enough to get me th...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Feb 27 11:28:07 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 27 11:28:32 -0800 2009 Full review at my blog!

The Suicide Collectors, David Oppegaard’s debut novel, is set in a near future world decimated by mass suicide via a plague dubbed The Despair. In the ashes of this future world enigmatic men and women have begun collecting the suicide victims for unknown purpos...more...]]> 1 1 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 08 10:15:36 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 08 10:17:05 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Thu Feb 05 10:02:30 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 10:02:30 -0800 2009 Reviewers were intrigued by the setup of Oppegaard's story and reasonably satisfied with the conclusion. The device of the Despair, they wrote, allows the author to use the best element of the postapocalyptic genre while keeping the story fresh. Critics were also clearly affected by the images that ...

more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Mar 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 27 20:02:55 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 28 08:54:13 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun May 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu May 14 08:51:48 -0700 2009 Thu May 14 08:55:46 -0700 2009
Premise: Suicides become a seemingly contagious afflication, ultimately decimating the world population to about ten percent...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun May 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 04 12:24:13 -0700 2009 Mon May 18 13:57:47 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Nov 15 20:03:05 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 15 20:09:36 -0800 2009 I felt Maria being a former collector was a pretty good twist but her accident that stopped her from being one was...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Mar 23 10:52:30 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 10 06:20:01 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 23 10:52:30 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Mar 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 25 12:59:28 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 25 15:13:12 -0700 2009
I'd say I enjoyed the book, but I don't know if you can truely enjoy something so morbid and dark. So I guess what I really mean is that I became emotionally involved in experiencing t...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jul 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 09 19:08:41 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 13:25:00 -0700 2009
This brings up an interesting point. Speculative fiction needs to push ...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=4721489