Rivers: A Novel

Summary

Following years of catastrophic hurricanes, theGulf Coast, stretching from the Florida panhandle to the western Louisianaborder, has been brought to its knees. The region is so punished and depletedthat the government has drawn a new boundary ninety miles north of thecoastline. Life below the Line offers no services, no electricity, and noresources, and those who stay behind live by their own rules.

Cohen is one who stayed. Unable to overcome thecrushing loss of his wife and unborn child who were killed during anevacuation, he returned home to Mississippi to bury them on family land. Untilnow he hasn’t had the strength to leave them behind, even to save himself.

But after his home is ransacked and all of hiscarefully accumulated supplies stolen, Cohen is finally forced from hisshelter. On the road north, he encounters a colony of survivors led by afanatical, snake-handling preacher named Aggie who has dangerous visions ofrepopulating the barren region.

Realizing what’s in store for the women Aggie isholding against their will, Cohen is faced with a decision: continue to theLine alone, or try to shepherd the madman’s captives across the unforgivingland with the biggest hurricane yet bearing down, and Cohen harboring a secretthat may pose the greatest threat of all.