Clean Air

By: Sarah Blake

Narrated by: Sol Madariaga

In this postapocalyptic story of mystery, suspense, grief, and loss, a girl processes her mother’s death as a serial killer’s presence makes her already dangerous world even more deadly.

The climate apocalypse has come and gone, and in the end it wasn't the temperature climbing or the waters rising. It was the trees. They created enough pollen to render the air unbreathable, and the world became overgrown.

In the decades since the event known as the Turning, humanity has rebuilt, and Izabel has grown used to the airtight domes that now contain her life. She raises her young daughter, Cami, and attempts to make peace with her mother's death. She tries hard to be satisfied with this safe, prosperous new world, but instead she just feels stuck.

And then the tranquility of her town is shattered. Someone—a serial killer—starts slashing through the domes at night, exposing people to the deadly pollen. At the same time, Cami begins sleep-talking, having whole conversations about the murders that she doesn't remember after she wakes. Izabel becomes fixated on the killer, on both tracking him down and understanding him. What could compel someone to take so many lives after years dedicated to sheer survival, with society finally flourishing again?

Suspenseful and startling, but also poetic and written with a wry, observant humor, this “skillful blend of postapocalyptic science fiction, supernatural murder mystery, and domestic drama is unexpected and entirely engrossing” (Publishers Weekly).

©2022 Sarah Blake (P)2022 Algonquin Books

Critic reviews

“Suspenseful and startling.”—The Nerd Daily

“A cli-fi novel for our times . . . Blake explores profound questions of human nature and free will. . . [and] invites a profound consideration of the decisions we’re making in this very moment.”—Oprah Daily

“Blake’s originality is on full display in this post-climate-apocalypse, murder mystery, science fiction, thriller extravaganza.”—Ms. Magazine

So So Narration

I would have liked this book overall more if the narration were a bit better. The narration didn't change much for different characters, and I felt like there just wasn't much emotion. Overall, I think it's a great story with a original idea for an apocalypse and what happens after, although I wish the science was explained more.

A literary page-turner!

There is so much to love about Sarah Blake’s Clean Air. Part eco-thriller, part supernatural mystery, part domestic novel, the book invites readers into a post-apocalyptic world that feels both richly imagined and entirely familiar.

One of the book’s greatest triumphs is its depictions of motherhood. Blake captures the complexities and contradictions of raising a young child—the mundanity of daily routines, the anxieties of releasing a child into a dangerous world, the humor and surprises and deep love that accompany childrearing. It is so refreshing to see motherhood portrayed in a way that isn’t belittling, sentimental, or unrealistic.

The book is packed with other delights as well—beautiful language and descriptions (it’s no surprise that Blake is also an accomplished poet), inventive forms (Izabel’s unsent letters to her daughter and the murderer are just fabulous), a diverse cast of characters, and some real surprises. The monster posters are pretty great too (you’ll just have to wait and see).

I can’t recommend this literary page-turner highly enough.