Selena Flood is a fighter with preternatural talent. But not even her
quick fists and nimble feet could save her parents from the forces of
New Canaan, the most ruthless and powerful of the despotic kingdoms
populating America-That-Was. Forced to flee the tyrannical state with
her younger brother Simon in tow, Selena is now the last chance for
peace in a continent on the verge of complete destruction. In her pocket
is a data stick, the contents of which cost her parents their lives.
Selena must now ensure it reaches the Republic of California--a lone
beacon of liberty shining across a vast and barren wasteland--before
it's too late. Between New Canaan and California stretch the Middle
Wastes: thousands of desolate miles home to murderers, thieves, and a
virulent strain of grass called yellow locust that has made growing food
all but impossible. So, when Selena and Simon stagger into Fallowfield,
an oasis of prosperity amidst the poisoned plains, everything seems too
good to be true--including the warm welcome they receive from the town's
leader, a peculiar man known only as The Mayor. As Selena delves deeper
into the sinister secrets of this seemingly harmless refuge, she soon
learns there is a much darker side to Fallowfield and the man who runs
it. Before long, she must call upon the skills she honed in the fighting
pits of New Canaan to ensure not only her own survival, but that of her
brother, in whom the Mayor has taken far too keen an interest. And she'd
better act fast, for an all-out war inches ever closer, and New Canaan
is never as far away as it seems.
