Fallout: A Novel

by Liz Kay

For the military families who live in Benjamin Franklin Village, family life isn’t just family life, but a vital front in the Cold War. It’s a patriotic act, a performance of the American Way. They have backyard cookouts and go to high school football games and try to live like they aren’t in a perpetual state of almost-war. They smile outwardly, join social clubs, and hide the unhappiness that goes on behind closed doors. That is, until the Vaughns arrive. Still reeling from the loss of her mother, sixteen-year-old Samantha Vaughn is a wild child looking for trouble, but when she finds it, her father’s rank means she’s the only kid who won’t pay some kind of price for it. When her social circle shrinks overnight to prissy but pretty Becky Jennings and surly, anti-social David Williams, the frictions between the three of them turn to dangers that none of them recognize. For the women, sturdy, seasoned Army wives Madge Williams and Abby Jennings, Colonel Vaughn’s second wife, Joanne, pulls them out of their ’50s-era military culture and into the modern age. As a newly liberated Madge pushes at the boundaries of an unhappy marriage and Abby struggles to find her place in their changing friendship, Abby’s tight grip on old loyalties keep her from recognizing the threats circling her own family and her friend’s. And when a mysterious package is left on the front step of one of their homes, someone won’t survive the explosive fallout.

320 pages, Paperback

Expected publication October 13, 2026

About the author

Liz's poems have appeared in such journals as Willow Springs, Beloit Poetry Journal, Nimrod, RHINO, and Sugar House Review. She is the author of the poetry chapbook Something to Help Me Sleep and the illustrated collection The Witch Tells The Story And Makes It True. Her debut novel, Monsters: A Love Story was published by Putnam. Her forthcoming novel, Fallout, will be published by Red Hen Press.

Reviews

[Chelsea Pfannenstiel]

Thank you to Liz Kay for the advanced reader copy. Review to follow:

This book felt like stepping back in time through someone’s personal journal. The thoughts that we keep inside were said out loud and I felt like we were really allowed to see the process of life in the military on a personal level.

As three women meet in base housing in Germany we get to see them become fast friends despite differences, arguments, concerns of war, nuclear destruction and bomb threats. They traverse military life together, taking turns holding each other up. Paralleled to the women’s friendship is the friendship between all the children. The reader gets to see the children’s concerns, how they process (or don’t), their fears, excitement and bravery as they live alongside their military fathers.

As a military spouse myself, I found this book interesting and relatable. I highly recommend giving it a read!

[Kylee Cain]

Blurb-
Fallout is a gripping Cold War-era domestic drama that delves into the hidden tensions, loyalties, and secrets of American military families stationed in 1980s West Germany. The story blends coming-of-age drama with high-stakes suspense and rich historical detail.

Review-
Whether you grew up in the military, experienced life overseas in any era, have family who served, or are just curious about the day-to-day of military families, you should read this. I experienced so much nostalgia reading this, even though the settings were 30 years apart. It shows the life and challenges of military families stand the test of the time, no matter the conflict or region.

[Samantha Hokky]

As a fellow military brat and current spouse, this book was an interesting peek into the lives of military brats from a different time and how the lives of us brats have changed and evolved over the years. I enjoyed the layers of all the characters and families and their relationships to one another, with glimpses into real military life hardships and drama.