I read the first two parts (12 chapters) of this four part story before writing this review.  Unfortunately I’m afraid that’s as far into the story as I’m going to get.

A Pittsburgh Storm starts in a literal storm – a snow storm – and a metaphorical one – the downfall of civilization from a plague.  The author seems, at first, to grasp for a theme for the novel; meandering through various themes as the chapters roll onward.  I felt there were missed opportunities where the author could have shown more than he told when it came to the characters and their history. And certain aspects of the story – like character impressions and feelings about incidences – strangely came pages after they were relevant.

The dialogue is very well written and the author has a very clear sense of the lay of the land in the city in which the first half of the novel is set.  Unfortunately, again, I think that the author’s familiarity leads him to take for granted the fact that many readers do not know the city as well, and more details could have helped make the city feel more real.

The pacing for the story is also well done and the author does a fairly good job of not allowing the story to get boring.  There are some grammar and spelling issues here and there, although they are minor and far between.

The narrative is first person, present tense, which gives the story a sense of immediacy that is, I think, a good choice.  A second draft would definitely tighten that up and make it work much better for the novel, I think.  The weather is a constant factor in the parts of the book I read – the cold, snow, rain and wind being mentioned regularly – but more could have been done to make these elements feel more like they were being experienced rather than just mentioned by the narrator (although it does being to improve near the end of the second part).

I enjoyed the characters, although I was disappointed that the narrator seems so dispassionate given the circumstances of his life.  His retelling of the downfall of society is rather placid and matter-of-fact in spite of the fact that he assures us that he that the pain aches within him.

If you’re someone who can read with pleasure the first draft of a story and you enjoy post-apocalyptic novels and are in it more for the dialogue than the narrative than you certain can, and probably will, enjoy this story a great deal.

Me?  I’d love to see a second draft.

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