It's here! Browse the 2024 Penguin Christmas gift guide
Afterland

Afterland

Summary

THE INTELLIGENT NEW POST-APOCALYPTIC THRILLER FROM THE AUTHOR BEHIND BRAND NEW APPLE TV HIT SHINING GIRLS

'A smartly written thriller that opens with a satisfying bang . . . splendid' STEPHEN KING
'Powerful and intelligent' GUARDIAN
'A major, major talent' GEORGE R.R. MARTIN
_______

A WORLD OF WOMEN
A MOTHER AND SON ON THE RUN

Three years after a virus wiped out most men on earth, Cole's son, Miles, is one of the rare survivors.

Yet in this changed world, there are women who would kill to get their hands on that most prized commodity - a living boy.

Getting Miles to safety means crossing America with deadly pursuers hot on their heels - including Cole's own sister, Billie.

But if there are some who will commit any crime to possess Miles, Cole must face some terrible choices to protect her son . . .
_______

The powerful and intelligent new thriller from the author of Richard and Judy bestseller The Shining Girls and the prize-winning Zoo City

Included in 'Best Books of Summer 2020' in Elle, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly and Oprah Magazine
_______

'Bowstring-taut, visceral, and incredibly timely: Beukes's plague-tale is a parable about the glory and terror of Americanism in times of calamity' Cory Doctorow

'A fast-moving thriller [that] splices gut-punching action sequences and feminist gender politics with an impressively light touch. Bubbles with big ideas. This intelligent speculative novel about a pandemic feels alarmingly close to home' Metro

'Afterland is that rare creature, a ripping tale that neither shies away from big questions nor interesting answers' New Scientist

'Lauren Beukes is a writer with a startling imagination, and a masterful ability to rewrite the rules of whatever genre she turns to' Ben Winters, author of Underground Airlines and Golden State

Reviews

  • A smartly written thriller that opens with a satisfying bang . . . splendid
    Stephen King, New York Times

About the author

Lauren Beukes

LAUREN BEUKES is the award-winning and internationally bestselling author of The Shining Girls, which has been adapted by AppleTV+ starring Elisabeth Moss, as well as Zoo City, which won the Arthur C. Clarke Award, Moxyland, Broken Monsters, and Afterland.
Her novels have been published in twenty-four countries, and she's also a screenwriter, comics writer, journalist, and award-winning documentary maker. She lives in London with two trouble cats and her daughter.
Learn More

More from this Author

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more