48 States

by Evette Davis

Overview

Best Indie Books of 2022 (Kirkus Reviews)

"An adept and chilling cautionary tale-the narrative equivalent of brass knuckles to the skull." -Kirkus, Starred Review

Perfect for fans of Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, California by Edan Lepucki, and Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins, 48 States is a fast-paced dystopian thriller about the dangers of extremism and the power of love and forgiveness.

In 2042 the United States is recovering from a series of terrorist attacks that upended the government, rewrote our civil liberties, and erased two states from the map. River, a widow, single mother, and veteran of the Caliphate Wars works as a waste hauling trucker in Energy Territory No. 1, formerly known as North Dakota. Living in a dingy motel room with nothing but her books and a semiautomatic pistol for company, she is weeks away from the end of her contract and returning to her young daughter. Finn Cunningham, a hydrologist with the United States Geology Survey (USGS) in Montana, is suspicious of environmental changes he's seeing in nearby western waterways and decides to investigate. His decision sets him on a collision course with River, sending them both on the run. One a fugitive, the other a reluctant participant, they develop an affinity for each other, sharing stories of past loves, loss, and hardship. 48 States is a one-of-a-kind dystopian thriller about the dangers of extremism and the power of love and forgiveness.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798985813302
Publisher:	Flesh & Bone Publishing
Publication date:	06/21/2022
Edition description:	Advance Reader Copy ed.
Pages:	236
Sales rank:	1,086,485
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.59(d)

About the Author

Evette Davis is the author of WOMAN KING and DARK HORSE, the first two installments of the Dark Horse Trilogy. She will be releasing the final installment along with a new stand alone novel in 2022. When she's not writing novels, Davis dispenses advice to some of the country's largest corporations, non-profits and institutions as a consultant and co-owner of BergDavis Public Affairs, an award-winning San Francisco-based public affairs firm.In 2014 Davis founded Flesh & Bone, an independent publishing imprint. In 2015 DARK HORSE garnered an honorable mention at the San Francisco Book Festival. In 2017, Friends of the San Francisco Public Library named Davis a Library Laureate. Her work has also been published in the San Francisco Chronicle and Book Country. Most recently, she was a finalist in the San Francisco Writers Conference's 2021 Writing Contest. A piece from her upcoming novel, 48 States, is featured in their anthology.Prior to establishing her firm, Davis worked in Washington as a press secretary for a member of Congress, and as a reporter for daily newspapers in the San Francisco Bay Area. She splits her time between San Francisco and Sun Valley, Idaho with her husband, daughter and dog.

Editorial Reviews

★ 2022-06-17
Blending elements of apocalyptic fiction, dystopian thriller, and timely political drama, this novel is set in an America on the brink of collapse.

After much of the country’s leadership is assassinated by terrorists in a coordinated attack at the White House, Secretary of State Elizabeth Cunningham reluctantly becomes the American president. In an effort to not have to rely on Middle Eastern oil, Cunningham evacuates millions of people from North Dakota and Wyoming in order to turn them into oil-producing “Energy Territories.” These territories, run by a ruthless security firm, quickly become lawless areas where anything goes. Army veteran and widow Jennifer “River” Petersen is a trucker in the territories. Her goal is to make enough money to pay off her debts so that she can get back to her young daughter and mother back in Idaho. When she helps a man bleeding in the middle of the road one night, she inadvertently entangles herself in a grand-scale conspiracy where nothing short of the future of America—and its very soul—is at stake. Powered by impeccably deep character development (every major player is insightfully explored, particularly River) and a storyline that may not seem so far-fetched after recent political events—book bans, federal curfews, and digital identity chips—Davis creates a terrifying near future. In this world, fear, hatred, and intolerance are irrevocably redefining the country and what it means to be an American: “We don’t allow anarchists and women with headscarves to roam our streets.” With a breakneck pace from the first page to the last, this book is so much more than just a well-written dystopian thriller. The questions that the author raises should resonate with readers long after the novel is finished.

An adept and chilling cautionary tale—the narrative equivalent of brass knuckles to the skull.

Kirkus Reviews