A lone wolf bounty hunter roams a bleak post apocalyptic landscape where scraps of humanity barely hang on and survive. There isn't anything all too unique about that premise, but this book manages to quickly set the scene and grab your attention with it. Without ever revealing anything about why the world has gone to hell, Jay Posey thrusts you right into the story at the start which very much reminded me of the feeling that you get when you start a new video game.  There is little up front world building, things just are the way they are, and you better figure things out quickly if you want to survive. The book starts just that way when Three, a bounty hunter, finds himself inexplicably drawn to help a woman and her young son who are clearly in a bad way. The woman, Cass, is a drug addict who lacks the money for her next fix, and along with her son, finds herself on the run from some really bad people. Three's sixth sense warns him that helping these two will be the decision that leads to his death but he does it anyway, and thus starts a gritty and compelling journey across a futuristic wasteland.

The landscape of this ruined world is mostly abandoned buildings and dust with small pockets of humanity holed up behind walls wherever possible. Despite this destruction pieces of high tech still work and most humans contain embedded systems that allow them to electronically communicate with each other and access remote map/gps satellites. Unfortunately, travelling at night is unthinkable because that is when the Weir actively hunt and it is not safe to be exposed at night. The Weir are some kind of enhanced, super strong former humans with blue eyes that can track any kind of electronic activity and at night they are out hunting for prey. That means those embedded systems are a liability and their use is strictly off limits after dark. Those killed by the Weir are often captured and converted into Weir as well so the war of attrition is one that humanity is slowly losing.

The story follows Three, Cass, and Wren as they run across the wasteland from a group of bad ass people known as RushRuin. These killers are chasing Cass and Wren and the "why" behind it is doled out slowly as the book progresses. Three is adept at surviving out in the ruined world but keeping Cass and Wren alive as well is possibly more than he can manage. Toss in RushRuin on their heels and things only go from bad to worse as they flee for their lives. The story was entertaining, and the apocalyptic setting was interesting, but the lack of "world building" and explanation leaves one feeling a bit cheated when it is all said and done. No explanation is ever given for why the world is the way it is nor any insight into the Weir and why they exist. I still enjoyed it but you should only pick this one up if you are willing to go along for the ride for the sake of the characters and not the big picture.

Luke Daniels does a decent job of narrating the audiobook. I tend to associate Luke' narration style with military sci-fi but he handles these characters well and makes them all unique.