Mahlia and Mouse are young refugees, and Tool is a human-animal hybrid “half-man” bred solely for destruction; each seeks safety away from the Drowned Cities, once the Gulf Coast of what used to be the United States. It is now a vast swampland overrun by gators, vicious coyote-wolf hybrids, and militias made up of child soldiers fighting for control of a lawless and perilous land. Bleak and violent, but honest about the vague and conflicting realities of war, with well-developed, believable characters and page-turning action.