by Nora Roberts
First published 2017
Lana Bingham works magic in her New York loft while a deadly plague destroys the world outside. The sickness strikes on New Year's Eve and spreads fast. More than half the global population dies within weeks. The electrical grid fails. Government collapses. Law vanishes from the streets. Magic emerges where technology once ruled. Lana's witchcraft offers protection, but dark powers also rise from the chaos. Authorities hunt both the disease-immune and the magically gifted. Lana and her lover Max flee the ruined city, joining other survivors heading west. Tech expert Chuck struggles to navigate a world without internet. Journalist Arlys documents the catastrophe with pen and paper. Her colleague Fred discovers new abilities. Doctor Rachel and paramedic Jonah protect a young mother and three babies. Each survivor faces the same uncertainty: every stranger could save them or destroy them. They don't know their destination, but something greater than survival calls them forward. The old world has ended, and they must build what comes next.
Genres: fiction, science-fiction, fantasy, 21st-century, apocalyptic
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, new-world-order
Setting: New York, United States, West
Period: New Year's Eve, Year One
419 pages · Hardcover · St. Martin's Press
Content warnings: death, violence