Seek Immediate Shelter Vincent Yu 9780715656334

'BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER'

A failed musician, a grieving mother, a squabbling couple, a wife with a destabilising secret, an insecure teenager, a grasping junkie, an abandoned son - when the emergency alert comes, every resident of Beckitt, Massachusetts is already looking for something: comfort or closure, forgiveness or salvation. But as each sees the dire message appear on their phones, those everyday fears and desires sharpen into a single acute point, their lives teetering on the edge of an unknowable abyss.

Then the second message comes in: 'FALSE ALARM. PLEASE DISREGARD. ALL CLEAR.'

First comes relief; then comes the reckoning, as each person is forced to face the unforeseen aftermath of decisions they made when they thought they might never get the chance again...

A breathtaking exploration of relationships in all forms, Vincent Yu's debut examines the delicate balance between love and loyalty, betrayal and forgiveness, and ultimately celebrates the courage to embrace a new beginning.

Vincent Yu is the winner of the 2021 Ashley Bourne Prize for fiction from Ploughshares. His work has been published in Prairie Schooner, StoryQuarterly, Ninth Letter, Able Muse, and elsewhere. He lives in Brooklyn and works as a sales manager at W.W. Norton/Liveright.