Indies Introduce

Fiction

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  The Survivalists, Kashana Cauley
  Soft Skull, 9781593767273, January 10, 2023 (Fiction)
  

  “As I read The Survivalists, I felt like I was transported from a grounded reality into a world bordering on the absurd. On the surface, it’s a story about folks prepping for a doomsday and a skeptic who attempts to understand them; on a deeper level, it asks how well we really know ourselves."

  - Laura Kendall, Second Flight Books, Lafayette, IN
  
  

   

  “The Survivalists is a rare novel about prepper culture that resists sentimentality or sensationalism. Instead, the reader witnesses Aretha’s slow-but-irresistible slide from brunches and a high-power but humiliating job into the mysterious lifestyle of her charming new boyfriend’s brooding roommates (think illegal gun collecting and bunker building). The more I think about this book, the more I look forward to the conversations it’ll spur — especially around irrational fear versus reasonable caution and our quietly devastating, uniquely contemporary alienation from human connection and meaningful work.”

  - Emerson Perper, Curious Iguana, Frederick, MD
  

   

   

  “Aretha is a competitive and successful lawyer who starts dating Aaron. His roommates have side hustles including physical training for doomsday and selling guns. The novel doesn’t delve much into the buyers of the guns, the focus is on Aretha’s moral code. I enjoyed the originality of this novel and its many twists!”

  - Sara Rishforth, Roundabout Books, Bend, OR

   

  “Sometimes, we really need books that tackle our divisive sociopolitical climate with dark humor, irony, and absurdity and expand our understanding of different ideologies and approaches to living. The Survivalists is a fun, clever, thought-provoking, and revelatory novel about doomsday prepping and our capacity for love and acceptance.”

  - Alyssa Raymond, Copper Dog Books, Beverly, MA