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Watershed
16-year-old Cassie is the best water thief in Los Angeles, but her luck is about to run dry.
Born as water finally ran out in the American West, Cassie doesn’t remember the brutal civil war that followed—only that her parents died in it. Now the tyrannical Judges rule, and their Dowser henchmen would execute Cassie if they caught her.
Just when Cassie’s about to leave that dangerous underworld behind forever, she fills in for an injured (boy)friend on one last job. It goes sideways. Cassie flees for her life.
She finds shelter with a band of nomadic revolutionaries who call themselves the Transcendents. They’re a ragtag squabbling twin boys, a kindly doctor, a brooding water raider, his bristling lover, and a host of other outcasts who have joined forces on a secret mission to reclaim their world.
As the Transcendent caravan winds across the desert, Cassie is torn between joining their cause and finding a way back home. But her disappearance had a ripple effect she could never have imagined, and larger plots are afoot that will change the country—and her own life—forever.
* * *
Cassie’s post-apocalyptic world is one today’s young adults may live to know. What does climate science predict it really could be like—and how far would you go to survive it? Told from diverse viewpoints with women leading the way, Watershed takes you on a dystopian adventure across a parched land, and will leave you thirsty for more…
Born as water finally ran out in the American West, Cassie doesn’t remember the brutal civil war that followed—only that her parents died in it. Now the tyrannical Judges rule, and their Dowser henchmen would execute Cassie if they caught her.
Just when Cassie’s about to leave that dangerous underworld behind forever, she fills in for an injured (boy)friend on one last job. It goes sideways. Cassie flees for her life.
She finds shelter with a band of nomadic revolutionaries who call themselves the Transcendents. They’re a ragtag squabbling twin boys, a kindly doctor, a brooding water raider, his bristling lover, and a host of other outcasts who have joined forces on a secret mission to reclaim their world.
As the Transcendent caravan winds across the desert, Cassie is torn between joining their cause and finding a way back home. But her disappearance had a ripple effect she could never have imagined, and larger plots are afoot that will change the country—and her own life—forever.
* * *
Cassie’s post-apocalyptic world is one today’s young adults may live to know. What does climate science predict it really could be like—and how far would you go to survive it? Told from diverse viewpoints with women leading the way, Watershed takes you on a dystopian adventure across a parched land, and will leave you thirsty for more…
374 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 14, 2019
8 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
HN Deeb
1 book7 followersWhen he’s not writing novels, HN Deeb writes scripts. He currently writes on How To Get Away With Murder. His other television credits include See, FBI, and Blindspot, and he has served as an Advisor in Residence for the Sundance Institute Collab. His big break came when he was selected for the prestigious Warner Bros. Television Writers’ Workshop. Before that, he was a linguistic anthropologist and an international lawyer, and brings his love of language, culture, and law to bear on his stories. He lives with his partner amid extended family in southern California, where the long-term water crisis is real and growing.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 21, 2020
I loved the pace of this book, and the I loved the characters. The theme--water shortages--is very timely.
It's fantastic when people in the arts community 'answer the call' to help raise awareness about the environmental challenges we face, and in such a compelling way as was done here. I hope H.N.Deeb publishes more novels in this same vein.
It's fantastic when people in the arts community 'answer the call' to help raise awareness about the environmental challenges we face, and in such a compelling way as was done here. I hope H.N.Deeb publishes more novels in this same vein.
February 5, 2020
Rollicking adventure on an important topic
Characters who really come to life on the page all struggle in their own ways with a very realistic crisis - too little water in the western United States. Deeb takes us from city thieves to caravans and gangsters’ homes in a fast-paced future of shaky alliances and desperate plans. Here’s hoping for more adventures in the world he has created!
Characters who really come to life on the page all struggle in their own ways with a very realistic crisis - too little water in the western United States. Deeb takes us from city thieves to caravans and gangsters’ homes in a fast-paced future of shaky alliances and desperate plans. Here’s hoping for more adventures in the world he has created!
August 10, 2022
It truly is an impressive and heartbreaking adventure across a desert. Loved the characters and the themes of friendship and sacrifice. The end of the story was totally unexpected, but well done.
“Living organisms are mostly water but give oil when they die.” —HN Deeb, Watershed
“Living organisms are mostly water but give oil when they die.” —HN Deeb, Watershed
June 16, 2019
My only issue with this book will be having to wait for the next in the series! The characters were so multi dimensional and the story itself was so riveting, I just didn’t want it to end.
September 2, 2023
Really enjoyed this book. I want to read the next one!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews