THE DEADING

Under The Dome meets The Last of Us in this harrowing climate fiction novel about the downward spiral of a seaside town after it becomes infected by a mysterious ocean-borne contagion.

In a small fishing town known for its aging birding community and the local oyster farm, a hidden evil emerges from the depths of the ocean. It begins with sea snails washing ashore, attacking whatever they cling to. This mysterious infection starts transforming the wildlife, the seascapes, and finally, the people. Once infected, residents start "deading": collapsing and dying, only to rise again, changed in ways both fantastical and physical. As the government cuts the town off from the rest of the world, the uninfected, including the introverted bird-loving Blas and his jaded older brother Chango, realize their town could be ground zero for a fundamental shift in all living things. Soon, disturbing beliefs and autocratic rituals emerge, overseen by the death-worshipping Risers. People must choose how to survive, how to find home, and whether or not to betray those closest to them. Stoked by paranoia and isolation, tensions escalate until Blas, Chango, and the survivors must make their escape or become subsumed by this terrifying new normal. At points claustrophobic and haunting, soulful and melancholic, The Deading lyrically explores the disintegration of society, the horror of survival and adaptation, and the unexpected solace found through connections in nature and between humans. Nicholas Belardes, a dual-ethnic Chicano writer, is currently a graduate candidate in fiction studies at University of California where he received the Founder's Award, given to a promising new student each year, and worked with Stephen Graham Jones and Tod Goldberg. He has also worked extensively as a ghostwriter, including ghostwriting a number of NYT bestselling YA novels. His work has appeared in Speculative Fiction for Dreamers (Ohio State University Press), El Porvenir Ya!, and Boom California's Postcard Series Collection (University of California Press/Angel City Press).