A couple of caveats:

A) I'm not 100 percent sure this is horror lit but I feel like it's certainly adjacent if not (plus I've seen The Stand discussed a fair bit on here and obviously there are similarities there).

B) I realise quite a few people have issues with Wendig, perhaps because of his pop culture heavy style, or his politics, or maybe just his writing in general, but... if you haven't read then I still suggest you give it a chance.

I loved this book. The characters (the meat and potatoes of any meaningful book, for me) were all really three dimensional and compelling, even if some weren't likeable at first. The main antagonist, in particular, is a real piece of work up there with the most abhorrent I've read in a long while.

The plot was engaging and well-paced, despite multiple POV characters, locations, and a time-hopping road trip style structure. The premise was really fresh, despite drawing on / subverting tropes of the genre, and the clearly extensive research undertaken by the author really leant the story a lot of (terrifying) realism. The character Benji, in particular, was a great vehicle for this information, while not being too 'telly' IMO.

Obviously Wendig has his prose crutches and some of the dialogue is a little clunky at times, but I can forgive this in such an epic (800 pages) and far-reaching story. In reference to the length - personally I really struggle to maintain my enthusiasm during long reads, and after a slow start I properly devoured this. The last 2/300 pages in particular were over in the blink of and eye and left me wanting more.

I guess the reason I posted this is because I don't see it mentioned too much and I feel like he isn't the most well-liked author. I genuinely think it's a modern post-apocalyptic classic, up there with The Stand, The Road, and Station Eleven. This genre really does it for me, as it has in film and video games (you know who), and as much as I enjoyed it, I live in hope that it remains something I only get to read about... I'd like to see the real world start to exhibit a bit more of the empathy and compassion found within this book*.

*I realise that's overly sentimental, but it's true.

Edit: typos