House of the Rising Sun

Cox (The Boys of Summer) dials in on the fragility of American society in this riveting sci-fi thriller that posits the failure of all electronic devices after a nearby star goes supernova. Thomas Phillips, a screenwriter, is prepared for the apocalypse thanks to his latest project, which coincidentally involves a solar flare that similarly fries electronics worldwide. But as he works to save himself and Hollywood superstar Skylar Stover (the proposed lead actor in his film), and the family of his high school crush, Natalie Black, Thomas is caught between his grim fears of losing his supply cache and Skylar’s insistence that sharing is the key to survival. The world descends into chaos rapidly: paranoid neighbors, racist militias, and desperate crowds of hungry families create a nightmare landscape through which Thomas, Skylar, and Natalie’s family must eventually travel in search of food and safety. Though Cox belabors the parallels between the characters’ situation and Phillips’s film, he capably captures the fearful disorientation of his cast and paints a striking, plausible picture of America’s collapse. Readers will be enthralled. Agent: Matt Bialer, Sanford J. Greenburger Assoc. (July)