There is something ethereal about the gangly, wild boy with dark, hair and broad, flat smile that speaks to Ridley. His curious gaze and apprehensive approach has her seeking him whenever she heads to the ancient city near her home, but the gangly boy isn't alone, and even with all of Grandfathers teachings, Ridley isn't prepared for what the gangly boy brings with him.
Two centuries has passed since the human population was nearly erased following war, and a Mars based mutating plague dubbed the GLIMMER, that was inadvertently brought back to Earth. Ridley survives alone in a clifftop home with nothing but the teachings of a long dead man she called Grandfather, and the leftovers of an eviscerated world.
THE AFTER begins as innocently as a Ridley's daily life, and as inane a subject as the many chores she must complete to survive the cold winter months of the north. But she is lonely, and the pangs of want gnaw at her after meeting the wild boy.
Disregarding Grandfather's warnings about trust, and the dangers of a remaining wild society, Ridley brings the gangly boy and his brother into her life. Doing so, sets them all on a dark, twisting course none of them can escape, and Ridley, the once innocent young woman with a wistful outlook, finds her curiosity and kindness driving them toward a wrenching evil fate in this gradually darkening thriller.
If you loved 'THE ROAD' by Cormac McCarthy, THE AFTER will thoroughly entertain you, and your thirst for dystopian adventure.