First published 2025
Lucius Pasternak keeps his head down in the walled territory that replaced New York City after America collapsed in 2041. The fastidious trans academic accepts a job from billionaire mayor Dennis Van Wervel to study Simplicity, a commune founded by The Spiritual Association of Peers in the Catskill Mountains over a century ago. Lucius finds himself drawn to the wooded community and especially to Amity Crown-Shy, a confident acolyte born and raised on the compound. But Lucius begins experiencing terrifying visions of beautiful, nightmarish creatures. When community members start disappearing with signs of violent struggle, the residents blame a being called The Lamentation. Lucius discovers Van Wervel's project hides darker motives. He and Amity venture into the dangerous Exurb Zones, populated by doomsday preppers and wealthy isolationists, to hunt the creature threatening their world. Their journey forces both characters to confront what they value most and how far they will go to protect it.
Genres: science-fiction, dystopia, horror, adult-fiction, thriller, dark-fantasy
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, eerie, introspective, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: forced-proximity, found-family, mystery-investigation, slow-burn-romance
Setting: New York City, Catskill Mountains, Exurb Zones
Period: 2041, 21st-century
272 pages · Hardcover · Pantheon
Content warnings: death, violence