Ask a bookseller, Halloween edition: An apocalyptic read keeps you asking 'what else could happen?'

This Halloween, Gretchen West of Valley Bookseller in Stillwater, Minn., recommends the novel “Leave the World Behind” by Rumaan Alam, which came out earlier this month. It begins with a utopia gone wrong. A family of four is vacationing off the grid at a secluded rental on the East Coast, when they are interrupted by a knock at the door. The owners of the rental (so they say) have fled a mysterious blackout in New York City and would like to come stay. Service and Wi-Fi is down (naturally), and from there, the family notices many happenings that are not quite right: strange animal noises, cracks in the windows, and other chilling sounds.  West says, “you know there’s something apocalyptic going on, but it’s not this violent, graphic apocalyptic story. It’s just very ominous and unsettling.” As the author reveals details bit by bit, West says she found herself asking, “What would I do in this situation? How would I protect my loved ones when I don’t know what the danger is?...One of the things I’ve constantly been thinking this year is ‘What else could happen? What else could happen in 2020?’ and I found myself thinking the same thing while I was reading the book.” That not-knowing kept her turning pages and then eagerly discussing with friends afterward.