Remnant – Kate Genet

I once dubbed Kate Genet ‘the lesbian Stephen King’ then recanted the statement in favor of calling her ‘the lesbian Nancy Drew’. After reading Remnant I realize my first proclamation was premature but nonetheless accurate. 

Remnant has all the elements of a good, old-fashioned horror story: the tingly ‘Oh !@#$ what’s going on’ feeling; the sickening drop when you realize what’s going on, then the subsequent wavering between hope and despair of surviving this very bad thing.

In Remnant, the very bad thing is that one morning Cass wakes up and her boyfriend’s gone. (I just heard a collective groan from half the lesbians reading this. Hold on. Stick with me. I had to trust Ms. Genet and so will you. I promise it will be worth it). So the boyfriend is gone, all his family, and the chickens too. Other than the native birds singing merrily in the bush, there doesn’t appear to be another living creature around but for a darling horse named Esmerelda. As she searches vainly for other humans, Cass gradually realizes that not only is everyone vanished but the land seems to be quickly reclaiming the evidence of human existence. Cities disappear in volcanic upheavals. Homes, stores and streets are engulfed by the encroaching vegetation. Cass and Esmerelda appear indeed to be remnants of a suddenly lost civilization. Just as Cass starts – oh, but wait. I can’t say more without giving away the fine suspense of the novel. You’ll have to read it yourself to find out if Cass is the only human left on earth, or at least in New Zealand.

There were enough twists and turns in Remnant to keep me up late two nights in a row. I get up fiendishly early so rarely stay up late with a book but Remnant was just too fun to put down. Reading it felt like being at a slumber party with your best girlfriends, you know, that magic time after you’ve all gone to bed but are too wired to sleep, so you tell ghost stories until someone gets too scared and makes everybody stop. Then you tease that poor girl for being a baby but you’re secretly relieved.  

Remnant is only available as an e-book, but Genet is all the incentive you should need to pop seventy-nine bucks for a Kindle. I was lucky enough to discover her on Smashwords when her writing was free but Genet is still a bargain with her works priced at $4.99 or less. 

Genet’s brand of horror is not without humor and tenderness, so don’t be put off if you’re not much of a horror fan. And I’m not even sure if horror is the correct genre. Maybe call it futuristic sci-fi and leave it at that? Whatever the genre, Remnant doesn’t disappoint. It’s a quick, fun, spooky read. Enjoy!