Six

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Ryan Henry’s debut novel, Six, is more than just a work of survival horror fiction, and it offers more than a simple revision of the popular ‘zombie apocalypse’ motif. A book that has been under development for over a decade, Six is ultimately a rich and provocative examination of humanity’s search for meaning in a world that is bereft of hope, safety and certainty. The novel centers upon a group of resolute survivors – each of which has their own demons to slay. Father Lucas Carter, the resourceful and informal leader of the group, grapples with the disintegration of his faith in the face of society’s sudden and seemingly irrevocable collapse. Elijah Graves, a jaded, middle-aged truck driver, is haunted by the dissolution of his marriage and his estrangement from his two young sons. Maggie Nash, a hardened and short-tempered woman, secretly longs for meaningful companionship – even at the expense of her resolve. Above all, however, Maggie is determined to protect her younger sister Lucy, a recovering drug addict, from the terrifying prospect of survival in their brutal new world. Zack Hawkins – an emergency medical technician and skilled outdoorsman – carries the baggage of an unfulfilling past and a persistent inability to completely trust his companions. Along the way, the group encounters Stuart Kowalski, a skeptical and antagonistic ex-cop who is forced to confront an abhorrent childhood trauma when he reluctantly provides shelter and rations for the nomadic group of survivors. Set across the dangerous and disease-ridden landscape of rural Virginia, Six is a dynamic novel infused with an atmosphere of mounting gothic dread and uncompromising physical horror. Yet it is also a compelling character-driven drama comprised of memorable and fully realized personalities struggling to adapt and survive in a hostile world. Through their trials, the six survivors will simultaneously learn and demonstrate that the most pervasive and formidable threat of all is the cruelty of the living in a land ruled by the dead.