Not being a big fan of post-apocalyptic fiction, I’m not
sure what led me to reserve this book some time back, but I am glad I did. A pandemic has wiped out much of the human
race, interrupted communications, and global warming continues to take its toll
of many species. Hig and his aging dog,
Jasper, have an uneasy alliance with a survivalist called Bangley. Hig brings to the relationship his pilot
skills and patrols “the perimeter” of the area they inhabit with an ancient, still
working Cessna plane. With “dog as my
co-pilot.” Bangley provides the
firepower when needed to repel the occasional desperate band of interlopers. What should be a bleak book is surprisingly
lovely as Hig enjoys the remainder of what is left of the forests near Denver, cherishes the company of his faithful dog, and mourns the death of his wife and
unborn child. Things begin to change
when Hig flies beyond the point of no return seeking to find who is behind the
communication that has come through the static in his headphones from a distant airport. Echoes of On
the beach (man, I'll never forget that coke bottle caught in the window shade cord...) but a little more hopeful.
319 pp.
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