Nick Cole has set a very bleak landscape in this novel about survival. The time is around 60 years into the future and the location is somewhere near Tuscon Arizona, in a post nuclear war setting. A tiny village of survivors send out teams of scavengers to find any sort of tool or supply that will help them survive. The old man of the story is "curst" because he just cannot seem to come up with anything of value on his foraging trips. He decides to strike out into a forbidden direction, having nothing to lose, because he is a loser and is old and a burden to his village. His adventures in the wasteland are both frightening and fascinating. When he comes upon a remnant of what was once civilization, he tries to recreate a story so he can get a better understanding of what there might be to salvage anywhere near the site.
He finally does make quite an astounding discovery, but not without many close calls and starvation moments in the process.
The story and the style of writing are unusual, but it was a bit of a page turner. I enjoyed it, but after reading the book did not have much optimism for mankind and his penchant for conflict. If you like rooting for the underdog, searching for lost treasure, learning survival skills, and wondering what it would be like to survive a nuclear war, you might enjoy this read.
3 1/2 stars for this book.
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