A BETTER WORLD by Sarah Langan

4 stars

In a near-future world ravaged by climate change where it’s a constant fight for survival, the Farmer-Bowen family, barely scraping by in a tiny Brooklyn apartment, gets a rarified offer to live in Plymouth Valley, a walled-off elite company town in South Dakota. The scientist dad, Russell, who’s been summarily laid off from his work from the EPA as government funding falls apart goes to work for the company BetterWorld, which has invented a disposable fabric that’s replaced plastic world-wide. The pediatrician mom, Linda, can only work as a volunteer, while their twin 15-year-old twins enroll in the excellent school. They get a gorgeous house beautifully decorated, access to the luxuries of fruit, vegetables and free good, clothing…all their expenses covered. The only caveat: they have to pass an annual review for the first 17 years before earning full time residency in this safe haven.

And like every company town, there’s a huge hidden steep price tag for living there.

Linda already senses danger lurking in their interviewers with flashes of evil or murder coming to her mind, and on a tour of the town seems to see a large creature lurking in the depths of the town’s nuclear fall-out shelter. Then there’s everyone’s repeat and vague warnings about Hollow: a set of neighborhood customs that they’re assured are not a religion, but sure seems to be one: A “Hollow-Following” that increasingly appears to have a sinister underlying. And there’s the ominous ever-present warnings of “Beware the Sacrifice.”

Try as they might to fit in, the Farmer-Bowens struggle to connect to their vacuous, seemingly scared peers. Linda becomes a truth-seeking vigilante despite increasing warnings to stop asking questions, and powerful secrets of the town start to emerge. While survival drove the family to the company town in the first place, does staying there put their continuing survival at risk? At what price is utopia?

An intriguing plunge into the scary powers of group-think, tinged with horror.

Prepare to stay up late night page-turning with unease to a shocking ending.

Thanks to Atria Books for an advanced reader’s copy.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.