When you’ve lost everything, what’s left to lose? In a post-pandemic world stripped bare of people, ten-year-old Dallin Smith wanders the vast red-rock desert of Utah searching for signs of life.

Haunted by loss, the unexpected return of his childhood friend Taylor Nielsen brings him comfort, guidance, and something darker he can’t quite name. But as their relationship slowly unravels, Dallin must face the most harrowing truth of all: the real battle for survival must be fought within his own mind.

Shards is a disturbing, morally complex story of hope and horror, of joy and heartbreak from Bob Palmer, writing as Jack Wakefield.

Perfect for fans of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven, and Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend.