This is the Way the World Ends — Michael Lister

09/26/2016In Lister’s derivative, self-indulgent series launch, the author’s alter ego struggles to survive in an America that has suffered an unspecified disaster. A man named Michael, who, like Lister, has written mysteries featuring prison chaplain John Jordan, has recovered from the injuries he sustained in the riots of Atlanta and is now driving south to reunite with his family in Florida. On his predictable journey, he encounters friendly strangers he can’t trust, has hairsbreadth escapes from death, and gets glimpses of things that may once have been human—and are too formulaic to create tension or any genuine scares. Michael’s tendency to behave foolishly may grate on some readers. For example, he wears an earbud to listen to an audiobook instead of being alert to danger. Others may have trouble with the staccato prose (“Foraging. Gathering. More heavy lifting. Preparing. Securing. Thinking. Always thinking”). Fans of Lister’s superior John Jordan whodunits (Blood Cries, etc.) may be disappointed. Agent: Amy Moore-Benson, AMB Literary. (Nov.)