We Were Never Meant to Survive This

A stunning debut from Jesse Sherwood, We Were Never Meant to Survive This is a dystopian thriller that will leave readers on the edge of their seats. The end of the world is just the beginning ... Jaime, a web developer, is disillusioned by humanity's immersion in the digital world and his own hand in its creation. When a colleague returns from a survival school hidden in the Catskill Mountains, Jaime decides what the hell, why not? Making fire with sticks, butchering animals, crafting a bow--these are just a few things Jaime learns. All the while, the school's enigmatic founder, A, whispers of Day Zero, her prophecy that the world will end and be born anew. As the other students become more fervent, the day arrives and civilization outside of the school collapses, just as A had foreseen. In the aftermath, as A's grip tightens and she forces her followers into obedience, Jaime begins to understand that she will do anything to sculpt her vision into reality, even as blood begins to spill.

Jesse Sherwood is a writer from Western New York. He has been published in The Saturday Evening Post, Guernica, and McSweeney's Internet Tendency. We Were Never Meant to Survive This is his debut novel.