This apocalyptic novel is set mainly in modern times, with the story of Evie Walker and the coming nuclear war. It also goes back to the time of the Trojan War to tell the story of Sinon the Liar, who convinced the Trojans to bring the Grecian Horse into their city and shortly afterward dropped off the pages of history. And it traces Evie's ancestors back to their roots. The three storylines come together at the end in an unexpected and explosive finale.

For some reason I had it in my head that this was a Young Adult when I picked it up, but now I don't think so. There are several rapes over the course of the novel, some mentioned as casually as torture, others explored more graphically. And there are some very adult themes that the characters struggle with, and conclusions they come to that I'm not sure a parent would want their teen reading.

In a lot of ways this is Evie's coming-of-age, despite her being a twentysomething career writer. She uses her comic about a female soldier to work through her own issues and hopefully inspire the next generation of little girls. At the same time, she has to accept the reality of her father's cancer and steadily approaching death. And she has to prepare herself to become the eldest of her line and inherit a legacy passed down from her ancestors.

The Storeroom bothered me, as I thought it should have magical artifacts from around the globe. It had plenty of Greek, some European and at least one Native American, but overall it lacked variety. Given what the characters say about magic and the purpose of the Storeroom, I felt there should have been more.

The story didn't grab me at first. It's slow to start and I didn't see the purpose in the disparate storylines, meaning my attention was yanked from character to character seemingly pointlessly. By about the midpoint I started to understand what was going on. It's obviously plotted out well, as background details later take on greater significance. The ending is fantastic and thought-provoking. This is a C+ story just shy of a B.