America has been forever alter by the ravages of a nuclear attack that sent it spiraling toward a virulent new destiny—and by the vestiges of the pre-dark world itself, where humanity's internecine battle between good and evil rages on. Though many of twenty-first-century America's darkest legacies have been entombed beneath the ruins of a wounded planet, some remain dangerously alive...

 

Emerging from a gateway in New England, Ryan Cawdor and his band of wayfaring survivalists ally themselves with a group of women warriors who join their quest to locate the Illuminated Ones, a mysterious pre-dark secret who may possess secret knowledge of Deathlands. Yet their pursuit becomes treacherous, for their quarry has unleashed a deadly plague in the twisted plot to cleanse the earth. As Ryan's group falls victim, time is running out—for the intrepid survivors... and for humanity itself.