Into the Mist
The end of the world arrives with bombs and a mysterious green fog in P. C. Cast’s supernatural novel Into the Mist.
Mercury, Stella, Imani, and Karen wrap up a teacher’s conference at a mountain resort in Oregon. Taking a travel break at a scenic overlook proves to be life-saving when bombs begin to drop from the sky, shattering the idyllic calm of the morning and flattening nearby cities. Then an electromagnetic pulse shuts down communications across the nation, including the computer systems in vehicles. In the aftermath, a green fog roils across the land. Of those who survived the initial blast, the women are changed; the men report feeling broken inside before bleeding out.
The book sustains its action, even in quieter moments. Everything shifts in an instant as the green fog alters the women at a cellular level, giving them abilities like enhanced intuition. That intuition keeps the pace moving, spurring the women to leave the resort and seek a more permanent home.
The lack of a communications array means that all information about the rest of the world—even about places that are in close proximity—comes from outsiders who almost never make it past the chapters they appear in. The book represents a balancing act of character creation, world-unmaking, and emotions. Moments of levity are interspersed with the poignancy of acute losses; the suspense of avoiding both the fog and corrupt survivors is strong. The question of how to create a new world from the ashes of the old one, and of finding out how and why the old one burned, is a mystery for next time.
Into the Mist is an exciting apocalyptic novel in which the world grapples with sudden, devastating transformations.
Reviewed by
Dontaná McPherson-Joseph
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
