Review - Park by Eric J. McConnell
Park
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Volume 2 of Mall
Tags: Post-Apocalyptic Speculative Fiction
Posted in Book Reviews on 7 November, 2026
Luke and Jack have left the relative safety of the mall to hopefully meet up with other survivors of the nuclear blast at city hall, following a radio broadcast. Things go sideways rather quickly and the guys end up at a theme park with another rag-tag group of people, mostly former employees, led by an eccentric ring-master who rigidly enforces his rules to keep people safe. But, for Luke at least, something isn’t quite right about the situation and a string of unlikely coincidences just goes to confirm Luke’s suspicions about the park.
This sequel to Mall directly follows the events of the first book, when Luke and Jack left the shopping mall where they’ve been trapped since a nuclear bomb detonated over their southern mid-west American city. Although Jack and Luke are the only significant characters from the first book to continue, there are a lot of references to the people and events of “Mall”, so I wouldn’t recommend reading this story until you’ve read the first book.
The narration, as in the last book, is entirely from Luke’s point of view. He reveals some insecurities about his relationship with Jack in this story. It all feels very natural and Luke makes some mistakes through inexperience. Then again, so does Jack. Both men keep things from each other, which may seem like a good idea at the time, but later proves to cause friction.
There are several other significant secondary characters in this story. Frankly, there were a few too many coincidences in the people that show up in the circle of survivors involved in this book. It definitely is for dramatic effect, but it does stretch credulity a bit. Still, it makes for another page-turning story. Be warned of some pretty gruesome scenes of violent death.
“Park” is available from Smashwords or visit Bookshop.org to purchase from an independent bookstore.