C.J. Leede is back after her disturbingly dark Maeve Fly with a book that goes hard and epic in American Rapture. Readers may be surprised by something quite different, but it is nevertheless engrossing and thrilling.

Sophie is a good Catholic girl who has lived something far beyond a sheltered life with her domineering parents who oversee every step she makes, and decide on every move she makes. Her brother has been banished from the home after being discovered with an illicit magazine involving men, and is now in a “special place” to “make him better.” Sophie knows very little of boys or normal life, but she does know of guilt from her god for being a woman.

Meanwhile, a virus is running rampant and getting closer to their secluded world. Infected go crazy with lust and attack anyone they see. Is this the end times or something else?

Leede takes on a big assignment with an apocalyptic story for her second novel, but it is a personal story that hits home for her. Readers will be glued to the page, not knowing how bad and bizarre things will get. Along with some interesting and complex characters, American Rapture will delight readers.