AFTER
A N A N A T O M Y O F F R A C T U R E
“Unsentimental speculative fiction that’s wire-taut and emotionally rich...Starling’s compact work reads like a splatterpunk version of Cormac McCarthy’s grim novel The Road (2006), combined with the second half of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds (1898).”
— Kirkus Reviews
Ten years after the invaders arrived, the scant traces of humanity still live every second of their lives in absolute terror. Forced from their cities into ragged communes on the edges of the world, they cling to their precarious existence by the weight of their micro-decisions, one careless move or false breath away from certain death. Some believe they’re the lucky ones; others believe they’re cursed. But something in the sky is changing, and seeds of hope now grow amongst the carnage and devastation. Will they live to see the dawning of a new day? Or will they be too few and too broken for it to matter?
AFTER follows the journey of a lonely motorcycle messenger who delivers weather-beaten notes to survivors scattered across a cracked and fissured western United States, a world both devastating and somehow beautiful. Her road takes her over vast landscapes, into the hands of humans capable of unspeakable evil, and through a hell worse than all of it — her guilt and grief slowly eating away at her.
Key Information
Author: Drew Starling
Release Date: November 13, 2024
Formats: Ebook, Paperback
Publisher: Eerie River Publishing (previously with Dark Lit Press)
Editor(s): Candace Nola and Austrian Spencer
Original Artwork: Nathan Logan
Word Count: 46,000
Currently listed on the 2024 HWA Bram Stoker Award® Reading List for Works Published in 2024
Praise
"Drew Starling has created a delightful nightmare of imagery, prose, and characters to root for… Or against. Don’t be afraid to slip into this post-apocalyptic tale of excellence.
— CINDY O'QUINN, BRAM STOKER AWARD®-WINNING AUTHOR
"With beautifully elegant prose, masterful world building and an unflinching and uncompromised vision, Drew Starling successfully whips this grief laden story into a frenzy of unbridled, visionary brilliance, where all its elements coalesce to make ‘After’ an exceptional piece of human centred, grief-riddled, dystopian brilliance."
— ROSS JEFFERY, BRAM STOKER AWARD-NOMINATED AUTHOR OF I DIED TOO, BUT THEY HAVEN’T BURIED ME YET AND THE DEVIL’S POCKETBOOK
"A bleak and brutal tale of one woman's fight for survival in a post-apocalyptic nightmare. With unforgettable imagery, Drew Starling delivers a tale of grief, courage, dread, and the best and the worst of human nature, combining Mad Max: Fury Road and War of the Worlds into one heart-pounding story."
— BEVERLEY LEE, AUTHOR THE SUM OF YOUR FLESH, AND THE HOUSE OF LITTLE BONES
"A prose master truly in his element, Starling paints a harsh canvas equal parts beautiful and brutal. This post-apocalyptic tale of survival and acceptance deserves to be sipped and savored like a twelve-year bourbon."
— L.P. HERNANDEZ, AUTHOR OF NO GODS, ONLY CHAOS
"Unequivocally haunting. Starling mixes McCarthy's 'The Road' and Villeneuve's 'Arrival' to deliver a PTSD-infused road trip where nothing good ever happens but hope is still chased. This book hurts to read, but must be read."
— STEVE STRED, MULTIPLE AWARD NOMINATED AUTHOR OF MASTODON AND CHURN THE SOIL
"With juicy prose, stunning imagery, and an imagined world that feels all too real, Starling's After is a bleak but beautiful slice of post-apocalyptic pie you'll want a second helping of."
— TIM MEYER, AUTHOR OF MALIGNANT SUMMER AND LACUNA’S POINT
"Starling paints a vivid portrait in cool grays and crimson reds; a stark contrast of bleakness and hope that presents a world that drains the will to live, then shows why we go on anyway. Terrifying, turbulent, and written with painstaking beauty, AFTER will break your heart and light a fire in the rubble."
— BRENNAN LAFARO, AUTHOR OF I WILL ALWAYS FIND YOU
Original artwork by Nathan Logan
Publishing Note
Per a April 2023 Publisher's Weekly announcement, the original rights to this work were contracted to Andrew River of Dark Lit Press. After the dissolution of Dark Lit Press', exclusive publishing rights were contracted to Michelle River of Eerie River Publishing in June of 2024.