It takes a bit to get used to Peter Heller's unique writing style in this debut novel. But soon you get into its rhythm, which suits Hig, the main character, a man who has survived a pandemic with only one taciturn and cranky old man to talk to, occasionally. Well, him and shouting across a field to a Mennonite group living a short plane's ride from the airport Hig has made his home. They are sick, carrying the blood disease that many of the sparse survivors of the flu contracted, which is why he must keep his distance. He maintains his 1956 Cessna, using it to patrol his area, watching for bandits and thieves trying to ambush him and the old man, Bangley, who knows how to use a gun to protect them both. For nine years they get by, surviving day to day. Hig keeps his sanity by talking to his dog, Jasper. When Jasper dies of old age, Hig, pounded with grief, decides to fly farther than ever before to see what might be left. He'd heard a voice on the plane's radio a few years back, and he figures it's time to look into it. What he finds changes his life.

This is very much a dystopian future, one that is not all that difficult to imagine coming true. But for every dark moment, there is a a bright beam of hope, renewal, recovery, and a possible future for the planet. Heller has an impressive standing as a non-fiction writer, and he's brought that insightful eye and layered creativity to join the fiction community in a very impressive and memorable way. Everybody is talking about this book already--read it and you will understand why.