A Better World
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
From the author of Good Neighbours, described by Gillian Flynn as 'wildly entertaining'. An absorbing and astute satirical thriller about a family's odyssey into an exclusive enclave for the wealthy that might not be as ideal as it seems.
As the outside world literally falls apart, Linda and Russell Farmer-Bowen and their teenage twins are offered the chance to relocate to Plymouth Valley, a walled-off company town with clean air, pantries that never go empty, and blue-ribbon schools. The family jumps at the opportunity. They'd be crazy not to take it. This might be their last chance at survival.
But fitting in takes work. And the strange residents fervently adhere to a group of customs and beliefs called Hollow... but what exactly is Hollow? Finally, thanks to Linda's medical skills they begin to find acceptance, and everything seems fine. Sure, Russell starts hyperventilating through a paper bag in the middle of the night, and the kids have drifted like bridgeless islands, but at least they'll survive. But something isn't right. The more Linda learns, the more frightened she becomes. Should the Farmer-Bowens be fighting to stay, or fighting to get out?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the near-future world where Bram Stoker Award winner Langan's ambitious latest (after Good Neighbors) takes place, climate disaster and rampant crime have transformed life into a struggle for survival. For Brooklyn's Farmer-Bowen clan, salvation beckons when patriarch Russell, a scientist recently laid off from the EPA, is offered a trial position at South Dakota's Plymouth Valley, one of a handful of "company towns" that are the only remaining safe spaces on the planet. The oasis, constructed decades earlier by eco-engineering firm BetterWorld, seems like a golden ticket: as long as new employees pass an annual review, BetterWorld provides them with housing, transport, food, and clothing. As Russell's pediatrician wife, Linda, and their teenage twins attempt to fit into their new surroundings, Linda comes to worry that Plymouth Valley is too good to be true. Unfailingly polite but uniformly remote, the locals give her a sinister, Stepford Wives vibe, regularly snubbing her and the twins—and that's before she begins asking questions about a series of opaque neighborhood customs known as "Hollow." Blending suspense, tragedy, and flashes of comedy, Langan keeps her cards close to the vest as the Farmer-Bowens' perfect escape morphs into a sinister trap. This deeply disturbing tale will keep readers up at night.
