A 2022-23 Alaska Battle of the Books Selection
“This rugged survival story places a group of teens in a dark, burned-out post-apocalyptic nightmare. Your heart will pound for them as they face terrible dangers and impossible odds. Gripping, vivid, and haunting!”
—Emmy Laybourne, international bestselling author of the Monument 14 trilogy
“A compelling story that wouldn’t let me stop reading. Greci has created both a frightening landscape and characters you believe in and want to survive it.”
—Eric Walters, author of the bestselling Rule of Three series
“Heart-racing... A rugged wilderness lover's post-disaster survivalist tale.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Heart-thumping suspense for readers who liked Rick Yancey's The 5th Wave.” —Booklist
“Raw and accessible. Offering hints of Hatchet with markedly more manmade danger.” —The Bulletin
“This fast-paced book contains all the hallmarks of a classic wilderness survival novel (deadly terrain, vicious predators, literal cliff-hangers) and the best of the postapocalyptic genre ... The author’s decades of Alaskan wilderness experience is evident throughout ... A great high-stakes wilderness survival tale.” —School Library Journal
“A brutal vision of things to come. Greci delivers an apocalyptic odyssey that’s honest, relentless, and backed by his firsthand knowledge of the wilderness.”
— Lex Thomas, author of the Quarantine series
“The themes of teamwork, choice and free will are incredibly well done ... an intense and thrilling ride.” —TeenReads.com
2018-10-28
Survivors struggle across a lawless, environmentally devastated Alaska, seeking civilization and safety.
Seventeen-year-old Travis' family thought they could survive by roughing it after the United States government withdrew from oil-drained Alaska, but three years after the wider scale evacuation, they find natural resources—devastated by two fires, the first set by the government to destroy military bases—dwindling beyond survivability. The lethal threats Travis and his 10-year-old sister encounter include food scarcity, natural dangers, including wildlife and river crossings, and—of course—other humans. Every time he encounters people, Travis must evaluate them as either helpful, in need of help, or deadly enemies. Travis' first-person present-tense narration, combined with short, punchy chapters, keeps the story at a heart-racing clip even when the characters themselves are slogging through slow-moving, treacherous landscapes. While dealing with hardship and losses, Travis gleans bits of information about what has gone so wrong (with a dash of geopolitical exposition at the end) and experiences multiple facets of human nature. Travis' family is assumed white, as are most characters; one with dark hair and eyes leans heavily and stereotypically into her Native ancestry, expressed as a fractional genetic heritage, waxing romantically about dancing, praying, and how the land needs a chance to heal. The exquisitely described land sometimes has a stronger personality than characters—and environmental consequences are well-deployed in the plot.
A rugged wilderness lover's post-disaster survivalist tale. (Adventure. 13-18)