Ashes of the Earth / Eliot Pattison / 358 pages

Carthage, a small settlement that has survived the Apocalypse, may not be the spark of civilization its four founders envisioned.  It may, in fact, be its dying ember.  One of the founders, Jonah, has kept a journal detailing the life of the colony.  It shows the colony as a living organism, and demonstrates how, despite all their trials and self-destruction of advanced societies, individual humans have found a way not only to survive but to celebrated life.  In code, it shows that a northern town, St. Gabriel, is eating way at Carthage from the inside with smuggled drugs, while it erodes its resolve with treasure from outside.  The governor is corrupt.  Jonah is murdered.  Hadrain, an ex-teacher, idealist,  and sentimental, habitual drunk, is determined to find Jonah's murderer.  This is an engaging adventure/mystery story packaged in an enticing format.