Wilhemina - Mina - Clark, a sentinel in The Sanctuary, formerly downtown St. Louis, "believes they need to escape, no matter the risk. Better to seek out life than wait for death in this dried - out fishbowl." Lewis Meriwether is curator of the Museum of the Past located in City Hall. A bit of a mad scientist, he is a recluse. Upon introduction of these two characters at the very beginning of the novel, coupled with the setting, the reader cannot help but grasp the obvious allusion to the historic Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804. Clark's brother is York and (Saca)Gawea is a young messenger leading them along the dried up Missouri River to Oregon through the Dead Lands. Lewis keeps a journal of their journey in which he refers to their group as "The Corps of Discovery." Back home in The Sanctuary, the corrupt mayor and his sadistic deputy, Slade, control the surviving remnants of the flu pandemic - a population riddled with mutations and deformities and critically short on water and food. Lewis's assistant at the museum, one Guttersnipe Simon, foments rebellion and mutiny. The is an edge-of-your-seat post apocalyptic thriller with clever, insightful allusions to an important historic event.
"The same reason humans always explore. To satisfy their curiosity, and to see what they might exploit."
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