American Afterlife: A Novel

(Hardback)

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Description

The earthquake was just the beginning. Now, the true horror arrives in this unflinching, near-future thriller about family and survival, for fans of Chuck Wendig. The Pacific Northwest lies in ruins in the aftermath of the 9.2 Cascadia earthquake. There is a tsunami at the coast, annihilated infrastructure in all the towns and cities, and failed dams in the Oregon river valley where 15-year-old Cielo lives with her mother, a fearful evangelical who's become caught up in a fearsome cult called The Collection of Redeemed Souls. Cielo and her mother, Mexican citizens without U.S. papers, have always had their status teeter on the edge-and now it's about to plunge into the abyss. When the earthquake hits, Cielo's mother hasn't been home in days, but Cielo suspects that she's holed up with the cult and might even be dead. When the National Guard arrives to evacuate survivors, she stays behind in the flooded city to find her body. Members of The Collection of Redeemed Souls have also chosen to stay, and their disciples are capturing anyone still left behind and converting them to the cult by force. Entering a deadly game of cat-and-mouse, Cielo tries to evade the cult at every turn as she desperately searches for her mother's remains. With gunfights and mass killings engulfing the city, Cielo is one step away from her own demise, but the bonds of blood drive her on toward a confrontation with pure evil-and a final chance for her mother's redemption.

Reviews

Praise for American Afterlife:
A masterful, intelligent page-turner from a talent to watch.
Publishers Weekly, starred review

So good, it will stick with you forever . . . Quick and smart.
Mystery and Suspense Magazine

[Hoffmeister] tackles the big quake, immigration issues and cults in this page-turner that turns the ordinary streets of this town into a terrifying prediction of what our future could bringand also of our own resilience.
Eugene Weekly

American Afterlife is a taut, gripping, and prescient exploration of survival and clinging to humanity in the wake of natural disaster, rendered to harrowing perfection by one of our finest writers.
Jeff Zentner, Morris Award-winning author of The Serpent King and In the Wild Light

A deep dive into a hauntingly familiar world that explores the depths of human resilience, and the strength of the underdog.
Mindy McGinnis, New York Times Bestselling Author of Not A Drop To Drink

Pedro Hoffmeister's American Afterlife is nothing short of brilliant. Hoffmeister's writing is vivid, imaginative, and utterly compelling . . . Don't miss American Afterlifeyou're in for a riveting read!
Dyane Harwood, author of Birth of a New Brain

Author Bio

Pedro Hoffmeister is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Graphic the Valley, Too Shattered For Mending, and others. Arrested and expelled from three high schools, Hoffmeister now runs an outdoor program for teens, teaching survival, climbing, spelunking, and whitewater rafting. He lives in Eugene, Oregon where this novel is set.