Saba has seven very short days to wrest her postapocalyptic world into a direction more conducive for growth and development while also bringing down the coldhearted DeMalo and his Tonton henchmen. Hampered by an emotional connection to DeMalo and treachery from within her own small group, the task seems insurmountable. This is the concluding and most absorbing book in the Old West flavored Dust Lands trilogy, and Young has done a stellar job populating a spare yet beautiful landscape with flawed, heroic characters. Read Blood Red Road (2011) and Rebel Heart (2012) first and then settle in for a heartbreaking and satisfying conclusion.

The concluding volume to Young's post-apocalyptic series (think Hunger Games meets Chaos Walking) finds protagonist Saba torn among competing loyalties as she struggles to defeat charismatic villain DeMalo. While some of the particulars are contrived here, the series' general strengths--the unpolished, folksy narrative voice and thematic celebration of the ability of human bonds to overcome corrupt systems--shine through.