"Haunting..." --San Francisco Chronicle  "Riveting..." --Kirkus  "Powerful..." --Vanity Fair

"Sometimes you're better off dead. . . ."

When Royce Bruyere chose to be cryogenically frozen upon death, he figured coming back to life would be exciting. Neat. Bonus time. The world he awakes to is nothing of the sort.

A Chinese invasion has crippled the United States, dividing the country in a decade-long stalemate along the Mississippi. Royce's successful reanimation is unprecedented, making him the Chinese regime's most prized possession--but not for long. Eager to control life and death, the Chinese reanimate other "cryonics," until something goes horribly wrong.

Royce travels through a future wrought with violence and despair, only to discover the cure for the disease lies within him. It's a race against time as he flees the Chinese and the bloodthirsty victims of a terrifying epidemic in the hope of saving the country from apocalypse and creating a life worth living.

From the book:

"I didn't have the slightest inkling I was going to die that day. Though some will argue that I didn't really experience death. The blood stopped coursing through my veins--this much is certain--just as it will some day for you, but there were no pearly gates, no departed loved ones guiding me into the light. While I was away, I experienced nothingness. Perhaps this was intentional, as the great cosmic scorekeeper knew I wasn't finished walking the earth."
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