Contemporary apocalyptic literature has a firm historical
foundation to build on; from Biblical visions to 21st century
fictions, writers have wrestled with the “what ifs” of
plague, natural disaster, total war and technological failure. In
recent years, as new and virulent strains of influenza have circled
the globe, they have become fodder for not only fear and precaution
but also imaginative speculation. Several notable storytellers ---
Stephen King, Margaret Atwood and Jose Saramago, to name just a few
--- have written about pandemics and their aftermaths, and debut
novelist Carla Buckley joins their ranks with THE THINGS THAT KEEP
US HERE. Buckley’s tense tale follows one family through an
avian flu epidemic, which kills about 40 percent of the
Earth’s population.

Not quite a year after separating, Ann and Peter Brooks find
themselves confined to the same house, along with their two
daughters and one of Peter’s colleagues. As a veterinarian
turned biology researcher, Peter is one of the first to realize
that a deadly strain of H5N1 is in the region. He is called out to
investigate a rash of bird deaths, and even before the results are
confirmed at the lab, he knows the enormity of the situation. H5N1
has already swept through Korea and other places around the globe,
and now he has found it in his own city, which is soon
quarantined.

Ann is sent home from work, and the girls’ schools are
closed. She rushes to the store to stock up on essentials, and
already, in the first days of the disaster, there is widespread
panic as everyone fears running out of food, water and gasoline.
Peter and Shazia, a beautiful Egyptian woman who is employed along
with Peter at the university lab, show up at Ann’s when
Shazia has no place else to go. Soon, the five of them are in
survival mode, rationing food and water and trying at all costs to
avoid contamination. Their precautions are warranted as neighbors
begin to succumb to the flu, and the city, the nation and the world
are plunged into chaos.

After a bit of an awkward start, Buckley gains momentum a couple
of chapters in and really shines in describing the situation inside
the house and around the city as Ann and Peter work to keep
themselves and their wards alive. The tension between them due to
the breakdown of their marriage adds to the complexity of the
story, and Buckley throws in some interesting challenges along the
way: they find themselves caring for a neighbor’s
six-month-old baby, they must mediate the relationship between
daughters Kate and Maddie, they live without heat or electricity
through the winter, they adopt a starving dog, and sometimes they
have to venture out into the ravaged city in search of food and
supplies. Again and again, the family is tested.

Buckley manages to keep the story dramatic yet realistic. It is
a frightening page-turner, examining ordinary people in
extraordinary circumstances. The pandemic seems unlikely but has
enough basis in history and current flu epidemics to cause readers
to pause (and maybe even stock up on some bottled water!). Buckley
is in good company with other writers of apocalyptic and
post-apocalyptic stories, and while her novel is less literary than
many classics of the genre, it is a confident and timely first
outing with just the right blend of horror and realism.