Last Light by Terri Blackstock

Imagine this: Today, the world as you know it will end. No need to turn off the lights; there isn't any electricity. Your car suddenly stalls and won't restart. You can't call for help because your cell phone is dead. Everyone around you is having the same problem, and it's just the tip of the iceberg. Your city is in blackout. All communication is cut off. Hospital equipment won't operate. Airplanes are falling from the sky. Is it a terrorist attack, or something far worse? Yesterday's world is gone. Now all you've got is your family and your immediate neighborhood. You stand or fall together. You must rely on each other as never before. But one of you is a killer and he could be your next door neighbor.

Terri Blackstock weaves an interesting "what-if"-novel in which global catastrophe reveals the darkness in human hearts, while presenting a glimmer of hope as well. Last Light centers on the Branning family as they have to decide to keep whatever possessions they have or put their faith in the Lord and share what resources they have with others. The civilians of the small town must come together if they are to survive, especially when there is a killer among them.

Deni Branning and her father Doug had just landed at the Birmingham airport when the power went out. It wasn't a normal power outage. Cars didn't work and cell phones died. In fact, every piece of modern technology had failed.

The two manage to get home; there they realize their problems are just beginning. With no access to the outside world, they don't know what is happening elsewhere. How wide spread is the power outage? How long will it last? None of this sits well with Deni, who was scheduled to start a new job in Washington DC in a week. Her fiancée is still there and she desperately wants to get back to him. And things just get worse when Deni and her younger sister find the dead bodies.

This is the first book of Terri's that I've read. The story is well-written, the characters are likeable, and the murder pot is intriguing.  The what-if analysis really brings it home and makes the reader think. The story focuses on, the thought of material things we have come to love and depend on, being snatched from us, and showing how we so easily hide our true selves behind material things. I'm eager to read the rest of the series.