Charlie frowned as muted sunlight leaked through the ragged umbrella of evergreen boughs overhead. Someone had discarded a red plastic Coke pouch in the middle of the trail. Under his breath, he gave that someone a name: 'Pig.' He stomped the pouch flat and stuffed it in his backpack. Two days into the hike and already one big compartment was crammed with trash.
Monday, August 8, 2067 - 1 billion dead
Tuesday, August 9, 2067 - 2 billion dead
Thursday, August 11, 2067 - 3 billion dead
Ten days later, more than 4 billion people are dead. Ninety-seven percent of the male population.
A terrible virus runs its deadly course in less than 24-hours.
Charlie, his sister, Paige, and his mom were hiking deep in the wilderness on the Olympic Peninsula when the virus hit. They were waiting for Charlie and Paige's dad to join them, but he never did. Instead Elisha's Bear took him, and 4 billion males, away.
Thirty years later, fourteen-year old Kellen lives in Seattle with his mom and Aunt Paige. Kellen's dad, Charlie, is a loner, a fisherman near Afterlight, formerly Port Angeles. His mom, Dr. Heather Dent, works for PAC, Population Apportionment Council. PAC controls society by restricting male births: no more than five percent of the population should be male.
Kellen and his classmates are about to take the trials which will determine what they were able to do as an adult - if they'd have an education, career, and citizenship opportunities.
According to everyone I'd talked to, the main thing to do when I underwent my trials - the oral parts anyway - was to impress the examiners with my knowledge and sensitivity, to look sincere when I was doing it, and to exhibit my awareness of how EVERYTHING (almost) HAD IMPROVED SINCE WOMEN TOOK OVER THE WORLD.
Males don't do as well as females on the trials. On average 87% of females pass, whereas 72% of males pass. Males have very limited choices, even if they do pass.
After Elisha's Bear, women quickly realized the world and its inhabitants were much better off without men. Wars, crimes, illegal-drug demand, gangs, prostitution, pornography disappeared. The United Nations gained power and countries merged. Laws were created to prohibit men from holding positions of power or influence in the public or private sector.
This is the world Kellen is forced to live in.
Epitaph Road is an entrance to a park in Seattle. It was created after Elisha's Bear. Millions are buried there.
epitaph
1. an inscription on a monument, as on a gravestone.
2. a short piece of prose or verse written in honor of a dead person.
Kellen and his two new housemates, Tia and Sunday, uncover a theory about Elisha's Bear. In an effort to save Kellen's dad, the teens discover a dark and terrifying secret.
You're a skeptic.
If you've heard certain things - conjecture, conspiracy theories, wild-eyed accusations - over the years, you've mostly snickered at them and hurried back to the comforts of what passes for reality. But maybe one rumor - that die-hard, far-fetched, alternate-universe one about the origin of Elisha's Bear, about someone purposefully unleashing it - haunts you. Maybe you're skeptical instead about the so-called truth you've been spoon-fed from an early age - the idea that the Bear just showed up on its own and targeted only males.
You should be.
Epitaph Road is an exciting read if you like action, adventure, suspense, and stories that take place in Seattle and on the Olympic Peninsula.
To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!
Rating: 8 out 10 stars
*Mild language (about 6 swear words)
