The Shutouts

Korn revisits the dystopian world of Yours for the Taking in this tense tale of climate collapse, survival, and conspiracies. In 2041, nine years before the events of the first book, activist Kelly Turner writes letters to her adult daughter, explaining why she abandoned her as a little girl. Korn alternates between Kelly’s story and that of Orchid, an older woman who’s traveling in 2078 from Canada to the ruins of New York City to find her ex, Ava, one of the few selected to settle in tech guru Jacqueline Millender’s climate-controlled tunnel network. As the reader soon learns, however, Ava has run away with her daughter, Brook, after learning the nefarious purpose of Jacqueline’s project. Korn slowly reveals the connections between these characters as Kelly details her crusade against a government bent on discrediting scientists about climate change and Orchid and Ava grapple with unresolved questions from the past and constant dangers in the present. As in the first installment, the narrative is made harrowingly plausible by the author’s skillful exploration of alarming choices made by people in power and survivors’ attempts to forge communities. It’s another winner from Korn. Agent: Nicki Richesin, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner. (Dec.)