'Absolutely amazing... a cross between The Road by Cormac McCarthy and The Walking Dead' Eoin Colfer
'You'll be terrified, fascinated and above all, uplifted by Orpen - a heroine to rival Philip Pullman's Lyra or The Passage's Amy' Stylist

Raised by her mother and Maeve on Slanbeg, an island off the west coast of Ireland, Orpen has a childhood of love and stories by the fireside. But the stories grow darker, and the training begins. Ireland has been devoured by a ravening menace known as the skrake, and though Slanbeg is safe for now, the women must always be ready to run, or to fight.

When Maeve is bitten, Orpen is faced with a dilemma: kill Maeve before her transformation is complete, or try to get help. So Orpen sets off, with Maeve in a wheelbarrow and her dog at her side, in the hope of finding other survivors, and a cure. It is a journey that will test Orpen to her limits, on which she will learn who she really is, who she really loves, and how to imagine a future in a world that ended before she was born.

"Written in sparse, affecting prose, and reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy's The Road, this is a fiercely feminist, highly imaginative novel" - Observer

"A deft and darkly enigmatic saga . . . so many details connect this terrifying Ireland to the one we recognise" - Irish Independent

"This pacy debut marries glimmering prose to a gripping plot" - Sunday Express