Carry the Flame

by James Jaros

Overview

“Jaros has crafted such a vividly ravaged world that I could almost feel the grit on my fingers as I turned each page.”
—Marcus Pelegrimas, author of the Skinners series

“Intense, amazing….A superb, brilliant thriller.”
—Bill Evans, author of Category 7

James Jaros envisions a world ruined beyond our darkest imaginings—an Earth devastated by plague and environmental collapse—and offers a gripping tale of survival and sacrifice after the apocalypse. His extraordinary Carry the Flame continues where his acclaimed Burn the Sky left off, as a ragged band of survivors—including a mother and her two daughters—flee the brutal soldiers of a bloodthirsty religious cult, only to fall captive to a mad despot who rules with fear and monsters in a nightmare city in the wasteland. Jaros, a nom de plume of acclaimed thriller author and four-time Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter Mark Nykanen, has created an extraordinary post-apocalyptic novel that combines the visceral thrills of Mad Max with the chilling insights of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Oryx and Crake. Carry the Flame is a powerful vision of a dystopian future on a par with Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and Stephen King’s acclaimed classic, The Stand.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062016317
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	07/31/2012
Series:	Harper Voyager Fiction
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	4.19(w) x 6.75(h) x 1.04(d)

About the Author

James Jaros is the pen name of the widely praised thriller author Mark Nykanen, the four-time Emmy winning investigative reporter whose internationally best-selling books have been praised by critics as "irresistible," "vivid and emotional," "nerve-wracking," and "furiously paced." Europe's largest newspaper hailed him as "The new master of the psycho-sexual thriller" for his dark psychological tales. Now, as James Jaros, he sweeps readers into a post-apocalyptic world as real as it is horrifying.

Jaros blogs at "Postings from the Post-Apocalypse."

What People are Saying About This

Marcus Pelegrimas

“BURN DOWN THE SKY is an intense, amazing, post-apocalyptic tale of unleashed terror and undying hope. This is gifted writing, and a superb, brilliant thriller.”

Amanda Makepeace

“BURN DOWN THE SKY is one of those books I could not stop reading...Thinking about it, even now, makes my heart pound.”

Bruce Grossman

“Takes the idea of the post-apocalyptic men’s adventure tale and turns it on its head, with the simple idea that it focuses on female leads...Jaros’s characters are not two-dimensional stereotypes or caricatures...With truly stand-out moments, BURN DOWN THE SKY never falters.”

Mark Feldstein

“This gripping tale immediately ushers us into an all-too-plausible post apocalyptic world. It’s Children of Men meets The Handmaid’s Tale - with The Road Warrior to rev up the high octane plot.”

Suzanne Johnson

“Utterly compelling...The language is powerful and evocative, and it moves at a rapid clip start to finish. I give Burn Down the Sky a big thumb’s-up.”

Harriet Klausner

“This grim fascinating futuristic thriller extrapolates present global trends to make a case that the reckoning point of no return for planet earth is soon...readers will appreciate James Jaros’ bleak cautionary tale as Sager and Evans sang in 2525, “...Now man’s reign is through.”

Bill Evans

“BURN DOWN THE SKY is an intense, amazing, post-apocalyptic tale of unleashed terror and undying hope. This is gifted writing, and a superb, brilliant thriller.”

Angela Wilson

“Writing as James Jaros, Mark Nykanen tells a thoroughly engrossing tale...The author has incredibly poetic prose that keeps the reader going.”

Editorial Reviews

A future America descending into tribalism and savagery serves as the backdrop of this gutsy second volume of Jaros’s postapocalyptic series (after Burn Down the Sky). In a Midwestern landscape scorched to desert by catastrophic climate changes, a caravan of families led by motherly Jessie and former marauder Burned Fingers struggle northward in search of a more salubrious environment. Pursuing them is the Alliance, fundamentalist zealots who need young women to sustain a community. Before them is the City of Shade, a penal colony that forces its captives to fight gruesome gladiatorial battles. At stake are the last traces of human decency and compassion in a nightmarish world. With references to ecological despoliation and oil as a precious commodity, Janos’s novel has a noticeable Mad Max vibe, replete with quirky characters and nonstop action. Tense, terse prose suits the setting and carries the story nimbly along. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

James Jaros does a phenomenal job with world building in BURN DOWN THE SKY...an edgy, dark thriller that keeps the reader engaged from the very first page. The action is relentless and adds to the tension.

Debbie Wiley Book Reviews

This gripping tale immediately ushers us into an all-too-plausible post apocalyptic world. It’s Children of Men meets The Handmaid’s Tale - with The Road Warrior to rev up the high octane plot.

Mark Feldstein

BURN DOWN THE SKY is an intense, amazing, post-apocalyptic tale of unleashed terror and undying hope. This is gifted writing, and a superb, brilliant thriller.

Marcus Pelegrimas

Writing as James Jaros, Mark Nykanen tells a thoroughly engrossing tale...The author has incredibly poetic prose that keeps the reader going.

Angela Wilson

Utterly compelling...The language is powerful and evocative, and it moves at a rapid clip start to finish. I give Burn Down the Sky a big thumb’s-up.

Suzanne Johnson

Stunning...Before you pick up this book, pack a survival kit, you’re not going anywhere until it’s done.

The Big Chill

BURN DOWN THE SKY is an intense, amazing, post-apocalyptic tale of unleashed terror and undying hope. This is gifted writing, and a superb, brilliant thriller.

Bill Evans

This grim fascinating futuristic thriller extrapolates present global trends to make a case that the reckoning point of no return for planet earth is soon...readers will appreciate James Jaros’ bleak cautionary tale as Sager and Evans sang in 2525, “...Now man’s reign is through.

Harriet Klausner

Takes the idea of the post-apocalyptic men’s adventure tale and turns it on its head, with the simple idea that it focuses on female leads...Jaros’s characters are not two-dimensional stereotypes or caricatures...With truly stand-out moments, BURN DOWN THE SKY never falters.

Bruce Grossman of Bookgasm.com

Burn Down the Sky blends science fiction and thriller genres but I’d call it one of more the literate novels I’ve read in 2011.

from the International Thriller Writers' Interview

Never before have I read such a vivid, intense novel as Burn Down the Sky.

Black Lagoon Reviews

BURN DOWN THE SKY is one of those books I could not stop reading...Thinking about it, even now, makes my heart pound.

Amanda Makepeace

Burn Down the Sky blends science fiction and thriller genres but I’d call it one of more the literate novels I’ve read in 2011.

International Thriller Writers' Interview

"Takes the idea of the post-apocalyptic men’s adventure tale and turns it on its head, with the simple idea that it focuses on female leads...Jaros’s characters are not two-dimensional stereotypes or caricatures...With truly stand-out moments, BURN DOWN THE SKY never falters."

Bruce Grossman

Read More