Seek Immediate Shelter
A Novel
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- $329.00
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- $329.00
Descripción editorial
* NATIONAL BESTSELLER *
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE SUMMER
A BREATHTAKING DEBUT novel about survival, hope, and second chances in an Asian American community in Massachusetts, when a false missile throws the residents' lives into chaos.
"Propulsive and poetic...A MASTERFUL debut." —Jenny Tinghui Zhang
“A PROFOUND work about connection.” —Brian Castleberry
"Compelling and CINEMATIC." —Abraham Chang
On an otherwise unremarkable morning, the residents of a small town in Massachusetts all receive the same alert: BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
Confronted with the options of fight or flight, planning or panicking, the people of Beckitt are stripped to their basest instincts and revealed as their truest selves. Russ squeezes his family into the bathtub, leaving his own survival in question; Nina sends an unforgivable text to her daughter; Milly confesses her unrequited love; and David hits the gas, speeding away from his wife and child.
Then the second message comes in: FALSE ALARM. PLEASE DISREGARD. ALL CLEAR. First comes relief, then comes the reckoning, as each person is forced to face the unforeseen aftermath of decisions they thought might be their last.
Vincent Yu’s searing debut follows this eclectic cast of characters over a period of many years, suggesting that the conflicts the missile exacerbated were simmering under the surface long before, and proving the ripple effects of the false alarm will be felt for years to come.
An urgent, fiercely heartfelt exploration of relationships in all forms, Seek Immediate Shelter explores the balance between love and loyalty, betrayal and forgiveness. What choices would you make if you thought your life were on the line? And if you survive, can you ever redeem yourself?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Residents of an Asian American community in Western Massachusetts respond in consequential ways to a false alert of a "ballistic missile threat" in Yu's resonant debut. The alert says to "seek immediate shelter," but David Li, a family man who inherited his father's public relations firm, gets in his car and takes off, leaving his wife and infant son behind. Nina Chang, thinking she's about to die, writes a farewell text to her lesbian daughter, who lives in California, then spitefully adds, "I guess being selfish was worth it." After Clare Hillden's husband, Jacob, dies of a heart attack brought on by the stress, she is contacted by a woman claiming Jacob had raised a secret family with her. While these characters deal with the fallout of their actions, others act heroically, such as Nick Chen, a downcast musician mourning the breakup of his band, who rescues a waitress, hoping they can outrun the blast in his car. Behind it all is the problem-plagued state official who accidentally caused the alert, which is called off 18 minutes after it goes out. Yu handily juggles and resolves the many story lines, exploring the ripple effects of snap decisions and fully developing his characters as they face various consequences. Reminiscent of the Twilight Zone episode "The Shelter," this layered novel pays dividends.
