The Protocols Were Supposed to Save Us:
A Veteran Reviews Alone Together
(By Dr. Dakota J. Miller / for Just Reading Nook)
Alone Together by S.S. Fitzgerald is not the kind of book I usually pick up. Nothing against the author or the genre—it just isn’t what I reach for. I’m glad I made the exception. It’s been a long time since a novel had me watching the clock at work, counting down the minutes until I could get back to it.
As a horror reader, I liked the range of the dread. Fitzgerald doesn’t lean only on monsters or violent people. Some of the worst of it comes from the consequences of the story itself: the choices, the losses, and the procedures that were supposed to keep people safe and don’t.
What set it apart for me was how accurate it felt. I served in the Army as a 68S Preventive Medicine Specialist during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the science and procedures here are right. The SOPs, the protocols, the way the work actually gets done—I recognized them. He clearly lived through the same kind of system I did. I work in civilian healthcare now, and this is the first book I’ve read that reflects that experience without sanding it down or turning it into background color.
The dialogue and the camaraderie hit harder than I expected. It brought back the brotherhood I still miss, enough that I ended up checking in on old battle buddies after I finished. Not many books manage intense horror, technical realism, and that kind of nostalgia without one of them feeling forced. This one does.
Fitzgerald knocked it out of the park. I’m already looking forward to more from him and to wherever this story goes next. Highly recommended if you want post-apocalyptic horror that stays grounded and emotionally honest.
Rating: ★★★★★ Exceptional
Alone Together (2025)
Horror
Available in eBook, Paperback and Hardcover
Dr. Dakota J. Miller is an Army veteran who served as a 68S Preventive Medicine Specialist during the COVID-19 pandemic and now works in civilian healthcare. He holds a PhD in Health Sciences and is the author of The Curses We Keep, a Southern Gothic horror novella inspired by his love of classical horror. A devoted reader of Poe, he writes smart characters who create real tension without having to play dumb.
Connect with him on X at @MillerDakotaJ.
