It's not easy to write the end of the world. In precise and deliberate prose, you can explain why and how your fictional world is ending, but writing something that really conjures the end—with the many cogs in the machine of civilization that have to break down, and the consequences of the failure of each one—is much harder, particularly if you'd like to do it with heart and thrills and something resembling a thesis statement about the human condition. Very few authors can pull it off, and even fewer can master it. With Wanderers, Chuck Wendig has mastered it. 

The story begins with a young girl walking out of her house one morning with no shoes or supplies. Her sister tries to stop her, then her father, then EMTs and police, but still she walks. She is the beginning of an apparent epidemic of "sleepwalkers" that form a flock who walk—expressionlessly and painlessly—across the United States. In the midst of this mysterious outbreak come a series of characters—a disgraced CDC official, a woman who built the world's most sophisticated artificial intelligence, a rock star, a preacher on the verge of crisis and the young girl's older sister—who all have roles to play in unraveling the mystery of what's to come. The walkers, you see, are just the beginning, and what follows is an American epic with the soul of the nation—and the world—at stake. 

Wendig tells this story through several points of view, mixing not just different geographic and emotional perspectives but also different spiritual, political and psychological worldviews, each one as real as the last, each gripping in its way. His ability to juggle so many fully realized characters is impressive, but even more so is the astonishing power Wanderers commands in conveying what it would actually feel like if this happened in the America we live in now, complicated by deep ideological divides, disinformation and the constant chatter of social media. All of these elements work together, often in surprising ways, to create a sense of terrifying plausibility and compelling verisimilitude.

The true success of Wanderers, though, is not just in its ability to show us the grim scenarios that could play out across a divided nation; it's in its heart. Whether he's writing about rage or faith or the faintest glimmer of light, Wendig brings a sincerity and emotional weight to his prose. That's why the scariest parts of Wanderers work, but it's also why the most hopeful ones do, too.

When Comet Sakamoto passed over Earth, no one thought much about it. But the next morning, the sleepwalking began. At least it seemed like sleepwalking, as 18-year-old Shana discovers her little sister gone from her bed. However, those caught in this malady cannot be woken, and those who try to stop them experience horrifying consequences. As Shana follows her sister and the others who come together on the way, she emerges a "shepherd," along with other friends and family members, who watch over their loved ones on their unknown journey through America. In the meantime, the response across the country ranges from religious zealotry to endtimes fear, which may not be too far from reality. With the addition of a government AI called Black Swan, a disgraced scientist, a charged election, and a growing radical militia, this story of a search for answers and survival moves beyond political or moral choices to the light and dark in everyone's minds and hearts. VERDICT A powerful story about humanity, technology, and the survival of the world. Comparisons to Stephen King's The Stand are warranted, as Wendig (Zeroes) shatters the boundaries of speculative and literary fiction in a saga that will touch every reader. [See Prepub Alert, 1/23/19.]—Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton

Wendig (the Miriam Black series) pulls no punches in this blockbuster apocalyptic novel, which confronts some of the darkest and most divisive aspects of present-day America with urgency, humanity, and hope. The day after a comet blazes over the west coast of North America, Benji Ray, a disgraced former CDC epidemiologist, is summoned to meet Black Swan, a superintelligent computer designed to predict and prevent disasters, which has determined that Benji must treat an upcoming pandemic. That same morning, Shana wakes up to find her little sister, Nessie, sleepwalking down the driveway and off toward an unknown goal, one of a growing number of similar travelers who are unable to stop or to wake. Shana in turn becomes one of many shepherds, protecting the travelers from a crumbling American society that's ravaged by fear, dogma, disease, and the effects of climate change, while Benji grapples with his daunting assignment and questions about Black Swan's nature and agenda. Wendig challenges readers with twists and revelations that probe issues of faith and free will while crafting a fast-paced narrative with deeply real characters. His politics are unabashed—characters include a populist president brought to power by neo-Nazis, as well as murderous religious zealots—but not simplistic, and he tackles many moral questions while eschewing easy answers. This career-defining epic deserves its inevitable comparisons to Stephen King's The Stand, easily rising above the many recent novels of pandemic and societal collapse. Agent: Stacia Decker, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary. (July)