First published 2015
Two years after electromagnetic pulses crippled America, John Matherson watches his community of Black Mountain slowly rebuild. They have restored basic electricity and radio contact. People no longer starve. Hope grows that a legitimate federal government might be forming. Then new officials arrive with devastating news. The community must send its young adults to serve in an Army of National Recovery. These recruits will deploy to distant trouble zones for undefined missions. Matherson objects to losing the people his town needs most. The federal representatives offer him a bargain. He can take a position in national service himself. In exchange, they will reduce the number of local recruits required. Before Matherson decides, he witnesses how these same officials treat a nearby settlement. Their methods involve brutal suppression backed by military force. Matherson realizes this emerging government may not represent the democratic restoration his people desperately want to believe in.
Genres: fiction, dystopia, american-fiction, adventure, action, 21st-century, alternate-history, apocalyptic
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, resistance
Setting: America, Black Mountain
Period: 2 Years After Electromagnetic Pulse
302 pages · Hardcover · Forge Books
Content warnings: violence