The Suicide Collectors

A macabre world in the wake of a strange plague is the setting of David Oppegaard's debut novel, "The Suicide Collectors."

For the last five years, people have been subcoming to the Despair. Now nearly 90 percent of the world's population is dead, with the shadowy "Collectors" sweeping in to clean up the mess.

When Norman fights for his wife and kills one of the Collectors, he knows it is time to leave his town, population 2. With his neighbor and friend, Pops, in tow, they start a cross country journey to Seattle, where rumors abound of a scientist trying to stop the Despair. Along the way, they meet an orphaned girl, Zero, are attacked by the Collectors, and Norman soon learns that every step is one closer to his destiny - and the secret behind the Despair.

A strange, dark science-fiction story, this is a new twist to the post-apocalyptic/plague world setting. It may get compared to recent movie, "The Happening" but I like the explanation behind this book much better. It is a page-turner; I read it one cold afternoon in one sitting.

"The Suicide Collectors" is published by St. Martin's Press. It is 294 pages long and $23.95.