A Small Gray Dot

by P.B. Cannon, Ainsley Morris (Editor)

It is the year 2047 and twenty-five-year-old Tennessee Murray has realized his ambition to teach and his dream of publishing a book. He is preparing to marry the love of his life and things couldn’t be better. Then one morning he steps out into foggy weather and finds the world has taken a turn for the extremely bad. In a matter of minutes, half the population of Earth dies in a horrible fashion. It’s not an ultimate war or biological disaster, and no oversized meteorite hit the planet or any other such catastrophe. It is sudden, it is deadly, and it is inexplicable. Seven and a half years later, Tennessee, now a tracker in a diminished world that is limping along, sets out to find a missing young woman and makes a discovery that sheds light on the longstanding mystery. He also learns that a finale is in store for the remaining peoples of Earth. Could the fate of the world hinge on the actions of an ex-middle school English teacher?

326 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 1, 2021

About the author

P.B. Cannon lives in Charlotte, NC.

In addition to writing science fiction and fantasy (and a smidgen of horror), she enjoys a good read, working crossword puzzles, walking, drawing, and painting.

She is a retired electronics technician and admits to having worked at a variety of other jobs during her life, including being a dishwasher, a busgirl, a housemaid, a motel/hotel maid, working in a fast-food joint, a telephone operator, and a store clerk. There have been other, not-so-glamorous jobs, including picking cotton.

She also daydreams a lot.

Find her at Blue Sky: https://bit.ly/48hTbBH

Reviews

[Christina McMullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic dystopian future from Bea Cannon, but like nothing else she's written. Most of what I've read from Bea has been set in the far flung future, but not this. Instead, we're treated to a near future where a horrific event changes the world suddenly and for the worse. Tenn is a great protagonist and it's easy to empathize with his situation, especially given the absolute hell he's put through from page one. While this is a full, self-contained story, I kind of hope we get to see a bit more of this world in future books. As always, highly recommended.

[R.L.S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly Hopeful Dystopian

Tennessee is a middle school English teacher about to marry the love of his life when the Event hits, taking his fiancee, his parents, his sister...just about everyone he cares about.

In the chaos that follows the Event, Tenn tracks down one of his few surviving family members--only to find the kid in a morgue. That begins his career as a tracker--one of the best. And tracking leads him to dangerous secrets...

A Small Gray Dot is a fast-paced tale that still manages to have complex characters that a reader can care about. The picture of society limping along in a half-functional state is particularly well done.

Though the resolution felt a bit oversimplistic to me, and the bad guys less three-dimensional than I usually prefer, I thought the world-building in this book was excellent, particularly in the Blue Heaven neighborhood.

I'd strongly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys science fiction, especially of the dystopian variety.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book about an aspiring writer. I liked Tenn and felt the story was easy to digest. Don't want to give anything away but the good stuff starts at the end of chapter two. From that point, I was sucked in and had to find out what happened. Quite horrifying. If you like science fiction, I certainly recommend it.