The Rain

The world ends not with a bang but a gurgle, in this dark but predictable eco-disaster extravaganza from Turkot (the Darkin Saga series). Set in a near-future wherein devastating global climate change has resulted in almost two decades of nonstop rainfall inundating the entire planet, the story alternates between two converging narrative threads: in one, teenage Tanner and her fatherly guardian, Russell, struggle to survive multiple challenges as they boat across the country en route to the Colorado haven of Leadville, purportedly “the highest-elevation city in America, the last place where it’s not raining.” In the other, meteorologist Rook Wallace is hired as support staff for Yasper, a pharmaceutical company that pushes its dangerously addictive mood-lifting painkiller “Red” on the masses enduring the drowned world’s emotional and physical deprivations. Characters in both story lines are threatened regularly by “face eaters,” ravaging packs of cannibals who represent irreparable cracks in the veneer of civilization. Though Turkot’s plot breaks little new ground for the apocalyptic thriller genre, the author credibly extrapolates the horrifying consequences of his tale’s ecological nightmare. Readers will appreciate his refusal to commit to an upbeat outcome for this harrowing adventure. It’s as bleak and relentless as the rain itself. Agent: Jenny Bent, Bent Agency. (July)