All is Silence in the World: A Deserted Lands novel By Robert L. Slater
The Stand (without paranormal) meets The Bell Jar 2018. No Aliens. No Nuclear War. No Zombies. No People. Almost no humans.
In a world ravaged by disease, Lizzie, a 17 year old with an alphabet soup of diagnoses, is one of the few left alive. The freeway on the other side of her street, blocked by cement walls that did little to block the noise, sits eerily silent, the daily sirens faded. Lizzie had said, “I hope you all die!” And then they did. Almost everyone. Her alcoholic mother and her little brother are dying in the hospital; her mom’s abusive boyfriend is dead. Despite her words, being alone isn’t a good thing for an suicidal cutter. Fear of the disease has kept her inside, frozen with indecision. When she finally ventures out she finds survivors: dog-people--altered by the disease, left less than human, and people less scarred, some from her past. A shocking turn of events leaves blood on her hands and reveals a link to a stranger she thought was dead. Bellingham turns dangerous; Lizzie and her friends flee across deserted lands seeking safety and hope for new beginnings. Along the way people join their quest. They encounter fledgling governments, new and old religious fanatics and marauding renegades. In a world with plenty of food, plenty of gas, plenty of space… fear, anger and lust for power still control the patterns of human life. An edgy, realistic, Young Adult apocalypse written by a former alternative high school teacher for the angry, sad Children of the Children of the 80s, teenagers who grew up on their parents’ Hair Metal, John Hughes movies, and pizza. Oh, and their parents who aren’t too old to recognize themselves…