In Anticipation: Aftertime

Was it the chicken or the egg that came first?? I can no longer recall what initially drew me to this book: the dramatic and intense cover art, or the intriguing book blurb. Both seem to suggest a book that's epic in scope and grim in tone...no forgone conclusions for an HEA here.

Awakening in a bleak landscape as scarred as her body, Cass Dollar vaguely recalls surviving something terrible. Having no idea how many days—or weeks—have passed, she slowly realizes the horrifying truth: Ruthie has vanished.
      And with her, nearly all of civilization. Where once-lush hills carried cars and commerce, the roads today see only cannibalistic Beaters—people turned hungry for human flesh by a government experiment gone wrong.
      In a broken, barren California, Cass will undergo a harrowing quest to get her Ruthie back. Few people trust an outsider, let alone a woman who became a zombie and somehow turned back, but she finds help from an enigmatic outlaw, Smoke. Smoke is her savior, and her safety. For the Beaters are out there. And the humans grip at survival with their trigger fingers. Especially when they learn that she and Ruthie have become the most feared, and desired, of weapons in a brave new world...

How crazy does that all sound? It's just got to be a blast! A very harrowing, freaky blast. The author, Sophie Littlefield, has written quite a few YA novels, which at first led me to believe that this would be a YA book. But given the pretty heavy themes hinted at above (not to mention the protagonist is a mother), I'm going to say that's a "not as such, sir." :o) But anywho. From Ms. Littlefield's comments, it looks like this is the first in a series of books.
The cover. Oh, the cover! I couldn't for the life of me find out the name of the artist who drew up this piece (does anyone happen to know?), but what a fantastic job they've done. The thrust of the situation is quite obvious...desolation, trauma, solitude. But the details are deliciously few, leaving one to wonder..."something really bad just happened...what next?" Heck, I even dig the fact that the bird up in the corner isn't some imposing raven (whose symbolism we're all familiar with), but a frikin...what, a pal warbler or something? Love it! ^_^
So looking forward to reading this.

Aftertime by Sophie Littlefield will be released in February 2011 by Harlequin LUNA.