Salvation City

When a flu pandemic wipes out most of the population, teenager Cole Vining is adopted by the pastor of a small evangelical community in southern Indiana. As Cole's parents had been atheists, he finds his new life—which involves lots of prayer, Bible study, and anticipation of the Rapture—pretty disorienting. He is eventually tracked down by his aunt, who, appalled at his conservative environment, offers him a much different life, giving him some serious choices to make. Narrator Stephen Hoye shines in his portrayals of the characters, especially the charismatic Pastor Wyatt. But while the slow-motion apocalypse that unfolds in PEN/Hemingway Award nominee Nunez's (www.sigridnunez.com) sixth novel is well told, the outcome following some extended Christian soul-searching may trouble certain listeners, limiting its appeal. A marginal purchase. [The Riverhead: Penguin Group (USA) hc was described as being similar to but "lighter" than Cormac McCarthy's The Road and was recommended for YA readers as well as fans of medical thrillers, LJ 8/10.—Ed.]—John Hiett, Iowa City P.L.