Set in the fictional town of Union Grove, New York, the novel follows a cast of characters as they navigate a world stripped of its modern comforts, ravaged by terrorism, epidemics, and the economic upheaval of peak oil, all of which are exacerbated by global warming.

[2] Narrated by Robert Earle, a local carpenter who has lost his wife and son, the novel focuses on four separate "cultures" that represent the directions society could go after a breakdown of modern social norms.

The citizens of Union Grove are living on the tail end of a national catastrophe, with their community slowly falling apart from neglect and natural decay.

As the story begins Brother Jobe comes to town, the leader of the New Faith Church, a religious group that has fled the south and settle into the old high school.

The overarching premise, however, is a stark look into the future at the dire consequences of the poor American urban planning system, and the complete lack of workability the contemporary suburban arrangement possesses without the continuous input of easy-to-find and abundant energy to maintain its infrastructure.

Reverend Loren Holder – Pastor of the traditional white steepled First Congregational church in Union Grove, his thoughts dwell in the past while he tries to keep up the town's spirits.

A former trucker and blue collar worker, Karp is now the leader of a group of a hundred "like-minded former motorheads, greasers, bikers, quasi-criminals and their families who had drifted in over the years".

The San Francisco Chronicle's review described the book as an "impassioned and invigorating tale",[4] while the Chicago Tribune concluded that it was "brilliant cautionary fiction".