The Eleventh Plague

#x1C;With its crumbling Starbucks and rusting theme parks, The Eleventh Plague hits disturbingly close to home, vividly depicting a world that has nose-dived into a futuristic nightmare. Fifteen-year-old Stephen Quinn struggles to define his rules of survival in Jeff Hirsch#x19;s excellent, taut debut novel.#x1D; - Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games In an America devastated by war and plague, the only way to survive is to keep moving. In the aftermath of a war, America#x19;s landscape has been ravaged and two thirds of the population left dead from a vicious strain of influenza. Fifteen-year-old Stephen Quinn and his family were among the few that survived and became salvagers, roaming the country in search of material to trade for food and other items essential for survival. But when Stephen#x19;s grandfather dies and his father falls into a coma after an accident, Stephen finds his way to Settler#x19;s Landing, a community that seems too good to be true, where there are real houses, barbecues, a school, and even baseball games. Then Stephen meets strong, defiant, mischievous Jenny, who refuses to accept things as they are. And when they play a prank that goes horribly wrong, chaos erupts, and they find themselves in the midst of a battle that will change Settler#x19;s Landing forever.

Jeff Hirsch graduated from the University of California, San Diego, with an MFA in Dramatic Writing. THE ELEVENTH PLAGUE is his debut novel. He lives in Astoria, New York, with his wife, and you can visit him online at www.jeff-hirsch.com.