This Dark Earth
Authors: John Hornor Jacobs
Advance Praise for
THIS DARK EARTH
“
The Road
meets
World War Z
, this book is a smart, thoughtful look at the end of humanity that delivers horrifying detail packed with an emotional resonance. Deftly written, with eloquent prose peppered with crisp, dark humor, Jacobs crafts a chillingly believable tale that transcends genre fiction.”
—S. G. Browne, author of
Breathers
and
Lucky Bastard
“A savage gut-punch of a tale, lurching hell-bent to a spectacular showdown unparalleled in the zombie canon.”
—Sophie Littlefield, author of
Aftertime and Rebirth
The land is
contaminated
, electronics are
defunct
, the
ravenous undead
remain, and life has fallen into a
nasty
and
brutish
state of nature.
Welcome to Bridge City, in what was once Arkansas: part medieval fortress, part Western outpost, and the precarious last stand for civilization. A ten-year-old prodigy when the world ended, Gus is now a battle-hardened young man. He designed Bridge City to protect the living few from the shamblers eternally at the gates. Now he’s being groomed by his physician mother, Lucy, and the gentle giant Knock-Out to become the next leader of men. But an army of slavers is on its way, and the war they’ll wage for the city’s resources could mean the end of mankind as we know it.
Can Gus become humanity’s savior? And if so, will it mean becoming a dictator, a martyr . . . or maybe something far worse than even the zombies that plague the land?
JOHN HORNOR JACOBS
was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for his debut novel,
Southern Gods
, which
The Onion AV Club
called “sumptuous” and proclaimed “beautifully probes the eerie, horror-infested underbelly of the South.” Having worked in advertising for the past fifteen years, John is also an artist, a musician, and the cofounder of
Needle: A Magazine of Noir
. He lives in Little Rock, Arkansas. Follow him on Twitter at
@johnhornor
, and read his lively ramblings—and check out an interactive map of Bridge City—at
www.JohnHornorJacobs.com
.
MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT
THE SOURCE FOR READING GROUPS
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COVER DESIGN BY RICHARD YOO • AUTHOR PHOTOGRAPH BY CHARLIE ROBERTS
Nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel, John Hornor Jacobs receives highest praise for
Southern Gods
“A sumptuous Southern Gothic thriller . . . beautifully probes the eerie, horror-infested underbelly of the South.”
—
The Onion AV Club
“A brilliant, smartly-written horror-noir novel.”
—Brian Keene, Bram Stoker Award–winning author of
The Rising
“The prologue to this exceptional novel is one of the most terrifying things I have ever shivered through. It will kiss your paltry soul with fear. . . . Great Yuggoth, what a great debut novel!”
—W. H. Pugmire, author of
The Tangled Muse
“A bit of H. P. Lovecraft, a touch of William Hjortsberg. . . . John Hornor Jacobs will turn heads with this debut.”
—Laird Barron, Shirley Jackson Award–winning author of
Occultation
“Fantastic . . . both terrifying and beautiful.”
—Stephen Blackmoore, author of
City of the Lost
“A true Lovecraftian nightmare—not for the faint of heart! Powerful, horrific, and beautiful.”
—Adam Christopher, author of
Empire State
“Compulsively readable and definitely memorable.”
—Gary A. Braunbeck, five-time Bram Stoker Award–winning author of
Coffin County
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Gallery Books
A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright 2012 by John Hornor Jacobs
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Gallery Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Gallery Books trade paperback edition July 2012
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