This is an incredibly bleak and depressing book. Father and son travel a road in the apocalypse. They lack hope, but they continue anyway. 

I find its portrayal of humanity during the apocalypse more believable than other dystopian stories. How every encounter with other people would be a terrifying gamble. Thinking if these strangers survived this long, they're probably cannibals. It would be soul crushing to have to constantly scavenge for anything you would need. All the good and useful items picked clean years ago. And worst of all, to have to care for a child in that completely broken world. 

The ending was heartbreaking. I know I'll be thinking about this story for a while, so it gets 5 stars. I wish it had more information on the why and how the environment became the way it did. On the other hand, it makes sense that the characters wouldn't really know. It just is what it is.

I would recommend this to fans of dystopian but also horror. While it might not be categorized that way, I think it qualifies. I would also recommend this to fans of Stephen King. The audiobook was great, too. Especially considering it has to be an older recording since it apparently had 6 discs before it was available digitally.