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Dry
601 pages
A terrifyingly plausible survival thriller that strips away the comforts of modern life to reveal the raw, desperate edge of human nature.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like watching a slow-motion car crash that suddenly accelerates into a terrifying free-fall. It is a propulsive, dread-soaked experience that makes you acutely aware of your own thirst. The narrative moves with the ruthless efficiency of a ticking clock, plunging you into a chaotic, sun-baked landscape where the thin veneer of civilization evaporates in a matter of days. The prose is sharp and cinematic, shifting between perspectives to capture the claustrophobic panic of a society turning on itself. It is a harrowing, visceral read that forces you to grapple with impossible moral choices alongside the characters. Fans of gritty, realistic survival stories will devour this tense exploration of what happens when the most basic human necessity vanishes.
- Mood
- parched
- desperate
- claustrophobic
- chaotic
- dread-soaked
- Tone
- urgent
- gritty
- pragmatic
- tense
- harrowing
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- the thin veneer of civilization · survival versus morality · environmental collapse · sibling bonds · human desperation
- The writing
- Sharp, cinematic, and visceral, utilizing multiple perspectives to build relentless momentum.
- The arc
- Starts with creeping suburban unease that rapidly escalates into sheer panic, culminating in a harrowing test of humanity before reaching a scarred, sobering resolution.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave high-stakes, realistic survival thrillers that ask tough ethical questions about what people will do when pushed to the brink.
Content notes
- violence
- dehydration and starvation
- gun violence
- mob mentality
- parental loss
About the book
EVERYONE'S GOING TO REMEMBER WHERE THEY WERE WHEN THE TAPS WENT DRY.
The drought--or the Tap-Out, as everyone calls it--has been going on for a while now. Everyone's life has become an endless list of don'ts: don't water the lawn, don't fill up your pool, don't take long showers.
Until the taps run dry.
Suddenly Alyssa's quiet suburban street spirals into a war zone of desperation; neighbors and families turning against one another in the hunt for water. When her parents don't return, and she and her brother are threatened, Alyssa has to make impossible choices if she's going to survive.
Critically acclaimed author Neal Shusterman teams up with Jarrod Shusterman in this story of survival, when the California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions.
This description comes from the publisher.
Description from Open Library.
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