Wayward

Brought to you by Penguin.

The thrilling sequel to the bestselling Wanderers, a ''career-defining epic [that] deserves its inevitable comparisons to Stephen King''s The Stand''. (Publishers Weekly)

They sleepwalked through an apocalypse; now they have to rebuild.

Five years ago, they walked across America to a destination only they knew. The sleepwalkers, as the rest of the country named them, were followed by their shepherds: friends and family who gave up everything to protect them.
They finally stopped in Ouray, a small town of Colorado that would become one of the last outposts of human civilisation. Because the sleepwalking epidemic was just the first in a chain of events that led to the end of the world - and the birth of a new one.

The shepherds and the sleepwalkers, now awake, strive to rebuild the world that was taken from them. Among them are Benji, the scientist struggling through grief to lead; Marcy, the former police officer who just wants to protect those she loves; and Shana, the first to become a shepherd and whose bravery is sorely needed.

But the people of Ouray are not the only survivors, and the world they''re building is fragile. Cruelty builds under the leadership of self-proclaimed president Ed Creel, and in the very heart of Ouray itself is Black Swan, the A.I. who dreamt up the apocalypse.

Against these threats, Benji, Marcy, Shana and the others have to find hope in each other. Because the only way to survive is together.

''Move over King, Chuck Wendig is the new voice of modern American horror'' Adam Christopher


© Chuck Wendig 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022