Concrete & Ruin
In the ruins of civilization, humanity is the rarest resource left.
When the lights died—so did the illusion of safety. The world as they knew it crumbled, and humanity followed right behind it.
After a devastating CME wipes out the modern world, Portland becomes a graveyard of smoke, starvation, and brutality. The streets belong to gangs. The weak disappear overnight, and threats lurk in every alley. A place where every scavenging run could be their last, and every act of mercy carries consequences.
Ben Carter only wanted to keep his children alive—instead, he became something the old world never prepared him to be.
A killer.
A leader.
A man forced to weigh one life against another.
As organized factions tighten their grip on the ruins and entire city blocks vanish into violence, Ben’s small group of survivors faces an impossible truth—No one is coming to save them.
The real apocalypse has only just begun.Concrete & Ruin is the pulse-pounding and harrowing first book in the Fallen World Series, part of the bestselling As the Light Dies universe. A brutal and emotionally charged survival epic where faith, family, and humanity are pushed to the breaking point, perfect for fans of SILO, The Last of Us, One Second After, and Station Eleven.
Portland is burning, and staying alive is getting harder.
The city belongs to the gangs now.
They control the streets, take what they want, and kill anyone who gets in their way. Food is scarce. Ammunition is precious, and mercy can get you killed.
Ben Carter has kept his family alive through the worst of it, but their luck is running thin. The shelter that kept them safe can’t protect them forever, and somewhere beyond the smoke and bodies is a way out.
If they can reach it.
Portland is getting meaner. The survivors are getting desperate. And the farther Ben goes to protect his own, the more blood he leaves behind.
There are no good choices anymore.
Only the ones that keep you breathing.
Smoke & Ash is the brutal second book in the Fallen World Series, part of the bestselling As the Light Dies world. Perfect for readers of Going Home, The Borrowed World, and Edge of Collapse.
Coming September 2026