AustLit

'Earth’s sixth mass extinction has ended, and in its wake a post-dystopian civilization has struggled to rebuild after a global cataclysm shattered its ecosystems and propelled all life to the brink of eradication.

'In a world where the air is unhealthy, food is strictly rationed, and the energy consumption that triggered the destruction is highly regimented, scientists experiment with artificial biospheres to secure survival and techno-mimicry to breathe life into long-dead species. It’s an unavoidable surveillance state where every living thing is tracked, numbered, and categorized.

'In this fledgling society born out of catastrophic loss and now challenged with a new reverence for all life, a lone detective is haunted by a series of murders traumatizing the populace. Assisted by a medical colleague, she finds herself entangled in a crisis with far-reaching consequences and dangerous repercussions that threaten the fragile balance of all existence.

'What is the impact on humanity when mankind is required to play god to the creatures they have all but destroyed?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

It took just two weeks for the world to end. Those who survived fled underground to build a new life, while otherworldly clean up crews prowled the surface, looking for stragglers. Over generations, mankind adapted. She kept quiet, kept her animals quiet. She abandoned sound, made talk with her hands. She changed her weapons, her way of killing. She stayed underground like the rabbit, acting like the prey. Noise brought death. The city of Recondite is struggling with a population already too large to sustain. Its Custodian must find a new home for half the denizens. But inside the city itself, people are disappearing. The thing mankind fears most is on the surface. But to survive the threat inside, the city has to do what it has been taught not to for generations. Go up.

Source: Publisher's Blurb