South

Writing as Owen, authors Diane Awerbuck (Gardening at Night) and Alex Latimer (The Space Race) kick off their Divided States duology with this intimate dystopian portrait of an alternate, late-20th-century American South laid waste by a slew of viruses. Brothers Garrett and Dyce flee the wrath of a bereaved family who blame them for the death of a loved one. As they make their way across a bleak and depopulated South, they stumble upon Vida, a scrappy survivor fighting to save her ailing mother from the viruses. She’s hit upon an unorthodox cure that will either speed her mother’s demise or promise new hope for all those infected. Garrett and Dyce join her in her trek to a village of the ill, where the brothers’ pursuers dare not follow, and where Vida can test her dangerous theory. Though the plot is predictable, Owen effectively captures the nightmare of the invisible threats posed by the viruses, and the high stakes keep the pages turning. Owen wisely keeps the focus narrow, using a handful of deeply explored characters as a microcosm for what the wider population of this ravaged world must endure. Dark and disquieting, this well-crafted bio-thriller will appeal to fans of postapocalyptic fiction. (Oct.)