The small town of Union Grove, New York no longer looks to the future eagerly; it's already arrived and it's not what they thought it would be. Transportation is slow and dangerous. They must grow their own food. They have no idea what is happening in the rest of the world. Communication is strictly word-of-mouth and nothing is coming in from the rest of the U.S. although there is a rumor that there is still a president, and he might be somewhere in Minneapolis. I have read a lot of post-apocalyptic novels, and this one is probably one of the best. There were bombs, yes, but a lot of what happened is simply the slow economic erosion of the U.S. and then the world, and now this small town is slowly dying because very few people are really doing anything to keep it alive. It's up to a new group of wanderers and the town's new mayor to try to bring some order and enthusiasm to Union Grove, and it's not easy.

Recommended by Lee Kelley