Ronan Cray's debut novel, Red Sand, won the 2014 Indy Reader Discover Award and earned him a spot on Horror Novel Review's "Top 10 New Horror Authors" list. Now he's back with Dust Eaters North, an epic, globe-trotting, zombie adventure novel with a twist.
"You aren't lucky enough to die." As the dead feed, an ill-equipped, untrained, desperate band of stragglers trudge 1700 miles north to Churchill, Manitoba. Rumors of a cure in China give them hope, but getting there after the world collapsed isn't easy. Dead villages, wild animals, unusual locals, -40 degree wind chill, and a lack of transportation pose obstacles even when Eaters aren't present, but Eaters outnumber the living 600:1.
Cray's characters are like you and me, thrust into a world of chaos without any prior training. Cray introduces us to an unlikely band of survivors:
Buck, an Oklahoma oil field worker whose last hope depends on climate change
Tara, a housewife and former advertising executive thrust into the wilderness when her home explodes
Cuba, a reformed gang member and inspiring Big Brother now forced to break a promise not to kill
Fifty, a silent mountain of a man who is absolutely terrified of zombies
Stokes, an alcoholic music professor still surprised to be alive
The Kid, a Russian engineering student and the last survivor of Winnipeg
No super-soldiers here. "That human factor, the one that's often overlooked in the zombie genre, is a welcomed presence here, and adds a level of depth often missing in similar stories." - Jess Landry, The Horror Review
With nothing in common but their homeless path, these six find ways to bolster and support each other, to give hope in a hopeless world. "Those hopes become the sweetness that makes the story an adventure rather than an endless forced march through a killing field. The resolution, though horrifying, feels as earned as it is heartbreaking." - Publisher's Weekly
Just like Red Sand, the horror of the novel is grounded in extensive research. Things happen for a reason; nothing supernatural here. Survivors persist with realistic, practical methods you can learn from. "If you enjoyed 'The Zombie Survival Guide', you will enjoy reading this." - Ben Sanders
Ronan Cray researched the book on location in Churchill, Manitoba in the dead of winter. While he didn't encounter any zombies, he did eat moose and dogsled through the taiga. Now back in New York with most of his fingers and toes, he produces short films and documentaries when he isn't writing a sequel.
Come along on a journey across continents in Cray's new Compass Series. Hopeful and horrifying, startling and relentless, Dust Eaters will haunt you long after you turn the last page. Dust Eaters delivers!
