The Electric Kingdom

A pandemic known as the Fly Flu has emptied the world. Eighteen-year-old Nico travels through the ruined woods of New England with her dog, following a plan her late father left behind. He believed a portal existed somewhere out there, and she is trying to find it.

On the road she meets Kit, a young artist who grew up in an abandoned movie theater. She also crosses paths with the Deliverer, a mysterious figure who has lived many lives and is trying to put the broken world back together. Each of the three is looking for something different: meaning, company, or simply a way to stay alive.

The novel is post-apocalyptic fiction with a survival thread, and the danger is constant, since swarms of infected flies move across the landscape. Their paths intertwine as the story goes on, and the book gives as much room to art and storytelling as it does to the struggle for food and shelter.

Expect a story about what people make from wreckage, told through several survivors who have lost nearly everything. The tone is shaped by grief and by the stubborn need to connect with someone.