This author is new to me but I like a good apocalyptic story and this sounded like a good one. I was right; it is a good one.
The future looks grim: billionaires have secret retreats and "preppers" have a dominant Web presence. Everyone thinks the end of times is near. When survivalists Martha and Zhen meet and combine their knowledge, they see a dangerous situation when the ultra-rich look out for themselves at the expense of civilization. They and a small group of survivalist friends decide to take action. Besides their retreats, a select few of the richest of the rich also have software telling them how and when to escape. This software also mysteriously appears on Zhen's phone giving her inside information but also raising questions: who sent it to her and why? And what is most important, is there time to fix things?
This story took off with a bang and grabbed me with its good versus evil idea but it got bogged down a bit in the middle with the over-my-head descriptions of software and algorithms to predict the future. It did pick up again, however, and I enjoyed the cat-and-mouse games that played out. The writing is excellent and the plot is just far-fetched enough to be believable. 3.5 stars.
Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The publication date is November 7, 2023.
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