From the Publisher
2023 Literary Titan Gold Award Winner
"In a literary landscape often saturated with familiar themes and predictable narratives, Switching Tracks by Lena Gibson emerges as a breath of fresh air." -American Writing Awards
"Switching Tracks: Out of the Trash is a compelling read that captures the essence of a dystopian reality while highlighting the enduring qualities of heroism and resilience. Gibson's narrative is a poignant reminder of the human capacity to seek change in the face of overwhelming odds." -Literary Titan
"Switching Tracks: Out of the Trash by Lena Gibson is the perfect read for fans of dystopian novels. You'll be glued to the pages." -San Francisco Book Review
"I highly recommend Switching Tracks by Lena Gibson for readers who like exciting love stories full of danger and passion." -Readers' Favorite
"Gibson lays the tracks into an exciting new post-apocalyptic world where corporate greed controls the necessities of life, one ancient society's trash is today's salvation, and the heart of one heroine can save a country's soul." -D. Lambert, author of Son of No Man series
"Gibson's writing is one of the tightest and best I've read in some years; her imaginative setting and characters are exactly what one might expect of our human race in 2195." -J. Ivanel Johnson, award-winning author of the JUST (e)STATE mysteries
"Switching Tracks had me enthralled from the beginning. The story is wellstructured, revelatory, and beautifully written. The character descriptions are almost visual. There is enough mystery and clues to keep the pages turning beyond your bedtime." -Robert Allen Stowe, author of The Third Pitch and the soon-to-be released The Fires of Rubicon
Kirkus Reviews
2024-06-11
Having uncovered a secret that could bring down corporate overlords, a scavenger in post-apocalyptic America goes on the run with an itinerant train-hopper in this novel.
In 2195, 20-year-old Elsa lives with her great-grandmother Granny Lee in SoCal (formerly Southern California), a political prison-cum-slum defined not by guards or walls but rather by economic privation and the bullying oversight of GreenCorps. This corrupt, exploitative organization rose to power under the pretense of salvaging the environment and upholding civilization after the plague-driven societal Collapse. Elsa and Granny Lee work the Heap, a mound of garbage whose layers date back to the early 21st century. Elsa digs while Granny Lee stands guard with her shotgun, “which she wasn’t shy about using.” They trade scrap metal for food and water tokens. Life is tough but bearable until 22-year-old Walker and his adopted brother, Hayden, come along. The men are “hoppers” (itinerants who sneak passage aboard trains), and Hayden has a drug habit. In trying to rob Granny Lee, Hayden leaves her injured and unable to work. Without Granny Lee’s protection, Elsa is forced to take a job serving drinks in a brothel. Walker, too, has found work there (as a bouncer). When he saves Elsa from being brutally raped by a GreenCorps man, the two flee SoCal on the trains, taking with them her last find: a metal tube that contains maps to six pre-Collapse seed vaults. With a price on their heads, can Elsa and Hayden keep clear of their GreenCorps pursuers? Gibson writes in the third person, primarily from Elsa’s and Walker’s perspectives but occasionally from those of teenage pickpocket Tatsuda and widowed ex-rebel Caitlyn. In this series opener, the prose is polished, the dialogue unobtrusive, affording no distraction from Elsa’s bleak life. The world portrayed, while one of extreme hardship, seems very much in keeping with current societal trends. One particularly sobering aspect of this is the disproportionate helplessness experienced by women, especially regarding sexual violence. Elsa’s matter-of-fact wariness of vigilante rape is a disquieting precursor of what she faces in the brothel. Elsa and Walker are relatable characters in whose plight—and romance—readers will invest. Though downbeat in content, the story is light on its feet and moves with assurance toward the sequel.
This engrossing and gritty survival romance pulls no punches in revealing its enviro-economic dystopia.
