Cold People
From the multi-million copy bestselling author of Child 44
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3.2 • 20 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
'An ambitious, cinematic thriller' Observer
'Stunning' Publishers Weekly
'Absolutely captivating' Booklist
What if the only hope for survival becomes the greatest threat?
From the brilliant, bestselling author of Child 44 comes a suspenseful and fast-paced novel about a colony of global apocalypse survivors seeking to reinvent civilisation under the most extreme conditions imaginable.
The world has fallen. Without warning, a mysterious and omnipotent force has claimed the planet for their own. There are no negotiations, no demands, no reasons given for their actions. All they have is a message: humanity has thirty days to reach the one place on Earth where they will be allowed to exist… Antarctica.
Cold People follows the journeys of a handful of those who endure the frantic exodus to the most extreme environment on the planet. But their goal is not merely to survive the present. Because as they cling to life on the ice, the remnants of their past swept away, they must also confront the urgent challenge: can they change and evolve rapidly enough to ensure humanity’s future? Can they build a new society in the sub-zero cold?
Original and imaginative, as profoundly intimate as it is grand in scope, Cold People is a masterful and unforgettable epic.
Praise for Tom Rob Smith
‘A remarkable achievement’ Jeffery Deaver
‘Amazing’ Lee Child
‘Chilling, hypnotic and thoroughly compelling’ Mark Billingham
‘Truly original and chilling’ Jojo Moyes
‘Tom Rob Smith’s mastery of suspense will make any reader’s heart pound’ Financial Times
‘A thrilling, intense piece of fiction’ Observer
‘Ingeniously plotted... a high voltage story’ New York Times
‘Perfectly plotted, utterly terrifying’ Daily Mail
‘A mind-blowing, addictive plot that will have you on the edge of your seat’ Stylist
‘A powerful page-turner’ GQ
‘Taut and atmospheric’ Irish Independent
‘Masterly... read this and shiver’ Telegraph
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
What lines, if any, shouldn't be crossed to save humanity from extinction? That question is at the heart of this stunning postapocalyptic thriller from bestseller Smith (Child 44). Twenty years after an alien invasion has decimated Earth's human population, those who remain have been struggling to survive in Antarctica, the only region not deemed off-limits by the invaders. While some focus on insuring that people have food and shelter, others have broader objectives; genetic engineers manipulate animal DNA, attempting to create versions of humans better capable of surviving in the intense cold. Some, like Echo, a teenager, appear basically human, despite their modifications, which in her case include scales instead of skin that change color to either retain or expel heat. But there are also monstrous creations, which may either point the way to a future for humanity or pose an existential threat. Echo and her family, along with those governing the remnants of humanity, face tough ethical choices as they try to ascertain the implications of what the genetic engineering has achieved for humanity's future. The central story line, a clever homage to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, unfolds in a way to ensure readers become attached to Echo and her family. Smith, the author of brilliant historical and psychological suspense novels, shows his range is even broader in this triumph of imagination and empathy.
