The Wild Dead

May 28, 2018
This mostly standalone sequel to Bannerless, set a century after the collapse of modern civilization, further explores the intricacies of a world dedicated to sustainable resource management and rigid population control, with an emphasis placed on cooperative households and earning the right to bear children. A routine property dispute in a small community turns into a murder mystery after a young woman’s corpse is discovered. Investigator Enid and her inexperienced partner, Teeg, quickly establish that the murder victim was not part of an established household, but was one of the unregulated “wild folk” who live outside of society. Enid sets out to learn the woman’s identity and find out who killed her and why. Her quest for the truth stirs up uncomfortable memories among community members before leading her into the treacherous wilds. Enid is a capable, honest, relentless seeker of answers, and her investigation is reminiscent of classic hardboiled mysteries. Despite an almost palpable air of claustrophobic foreboding, this tale still manages to convey a sense of hope and optimism. Agent: Seth Fishman, Gernert Co.

June 15, 2018

It has been a year since Enid of Haven solved a murder on the Coast Road (recounted in the Philip K. Dick Award-winning Bannerless). Now, with new partner Teeg, she is brought in to settle a dispute over a household's building. It is here, at the far edge of what is left of rebuilt civilization, that a body is discovered nearby. The victim is one of the wild folk, people who have created camps outside of the Coast Road communities. Old prejudices arise as Enid insists on investigating the murder of a young woman who is not one of their own. With an upcoming birth in her own home, Enid knows that this girl was once someone's valued child. Vaughn's sequel continues the exploration of a postapocalyptic American landscape that is at once beautiful and stark, filled with those who may be able to escape their ancestors' mistakes but not their own arrogance. VERDICT This thrilling postapocalyptic mystery, which demonstrates the author's wide range of style, will please Vaughn's many fans.--Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2018
In this sequel to Bannerless (2017), a woman has been cut open from neck to rib cage. Enid, an investigator, soon determines that the victim is an outsider in the postapocalyptic Coast Road civilization, which means that, in the eyes of many, the dead woman isn't Enid's problem. But Enid can't just walk away. Vaughn opens up more of the Coast Road world she introduced in Bannerless, a world in which technology is all but gone, wiped out a century ago by massive storms that swept across the planet, forcing those who survived to band together. Structurally, this is a standard police procedural; it's the environment, the carefully constructed future society, that gives it a unique flavor. Beautifully executed.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)