Description: "Laura de Lâeon is a radar astronomer who studies Potentially Hazardous Objects (PHOs) such as threatening asteroids and comets at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California. In Los Angeles in 2020, several crises are coalescing. The first strain of SARS-CoV-2 triggers the lockdowns, the city roils with protests of Derek Chauvin's murder of George Floyd and the police killing of Breonna Taylor, while the Bobcat Fire sweeps across the San Fernando Valley. In the midst of these emergencies, Laura is struggling to keep her family alive. Simultaneously, Laura is trying to write the history section of a Congressional report titled the National Near-Earth Object Preparedness Strategy and Action Plan. This report will advise Congress that it must develop a system to detect and deflect PHOs, and the section Laura is working on cites several historical meteorite impacts as proof that the Earth is now undefended against a significant impact event"--
Review Quotes: "Murray's precise eye for quotidian detail coupled with her ability to humanize global turmoil make this novel both deeply personal and profoundly universal. Murray is a captivating storyteller at the top of her game."
--Daniel A. Olivas, Latino Book Review
--Elizabeth McKenzie, author of The Portable Veblen: A Novel