And in the Dark They Are Born - Francis Garrett

A deaf teenager and a middle-aged scavenger navigate a post-blackout America occupied by warring tribes.

When Vitri returns from a day of scavenging downtown Waco, Texas he discovers that his wife has killed herself and their young son. Eager for answers, Vitri does what nearly everyone did after the blackout: he leaves town.

Meanwhile, in Monroe, Louisiana, Reyn, a deaf thirteen-year-old lives with her addict mother in a Jeep. By day, they drive from hospital to hospital in search of supplies. By night, they trade those supplies with the yellow-masked tribe controlling the highway. When tragedy lurks within one particular hospital, Reyn feels there's no choice but to head northwest, toward the father she hopes she still has.

The paths of Reyn and Vitri boldly converge and, as they learn to communicate with one another, Reyn and Vitri are forced to confront their pasts, their grief, and to weigh whether or not the path they've elected to share is wide enough for the two of them.

And in the Dark They Are Born is a novel from a fresh voice in literary fiction, and is a great fit for fans of Cormac McCarthy's The Road and Charles Portis's True Grit.