In this work of dystopian near-future fiction we have a disaster engineered by an oligarchy. Billionaires in power in the United States, the golden elite, hoard resources for themselves, making a few cities walled enclaves and ejecting residents they do not need. The two main characters, Laurie and Giles, are among those displaced from Seattle. Everyone outside the walls must fend for themselves as they face job loss, devalued currency, disrupted supply chains, and vanishing law enforcement. Many become refugees; this economic apocalypse is the setting for a survival thriller.
Giles is a stock-broker who invests his clients' savings, and he starts out as an insider, in the confidence of one of the wealthy planners and policymakers for the Seattle enclave. He finds a new calling helping struggling refugees outside the enclave barter what they have for what they need to survive. Pretty soon he is in hot water with the elite and they eject him.
Laurie, Giles' client, follows her job as a database administrator in health information technology out of Seattle when the whole company is ejected. The company promptly goes under and she is soon homeless. She needs sewing and food preservation equipment and supplies for her survival strategy. Giles helps her convert her devalued retirement investments into usable objects and get Laurie to her friends' ranch where she hopes she will be welcome.
The main characters' struggles take them from Seattle to Montana to Minnesota, gardening and bartering for their lives. Their humanity and desperation lead them to more and more risky decisions. With petroleum fuels gone, they need to replace the gas tractor at their ranch refuge. They take a dangerous road trip with a mission to bring home heavy work horses. But if Giles and Laurie cannot buy the horses, will they steal them? They have come too far not to, but can they pull it off?
For lovers of speculative fiction, this fast-paced story explores wealth inequality in a vulnerable democracy. As their plan progresses, wealthy insiders suffer deprivation due to poor planning, and outsiders find that mutual aid and the golden rule pan out better than pure self-interest.
