On his sixteenth birthday, Alex Barret reaches a turning-point in his life when, like all kids his age, he’s scheduled for a medical procedure called ‘Appraisal’. Meant to extend life, Appraisal is unpredictable, and in rare cases, like for Alex’s dad, can actually shorten it. Everything else in Alex’s world costs, but for some reason Appraisal is free for all, even the desperately poor, like him. Alex has heard of every possible Appraisal scenario over the years - on the day of his treatment, he knows what to expect. So how is it possible that Alex’s outcome is ‘none of the above’? Now he's on the run from a ruthless army led by the most powerful man in the world, and his only hope is to track down his long-lost uncle - who’s supposed to be dead.

In the late 21st century, Peak Oil has reduced western civilization to the economic level of the third world. The sight of an automobile is a head-turning event, and a family’s vegetable garden is its most treasured possession. The meager food production of local farms is hauled to the city of Vancouver by a continuously running train called the Food Train. While the city center is severely overcrowded, its outlying suburbs, dependent on cheap fuel for survival, have been abandoned and are now inhabited only by the homeless and outlaws. Community College instructor Richard Hampton and his younger brother Danny live an uneasy existence along with their docile, laid-back dog, Zonk. Still stunned by the brutal murder of their parents four years earlier, and burdened by a promise to his dying mother to look after Danny, Richard has switched off. He is only half alive. Richard’s world is blown apart when Danny disappears and the police are too busy keeping a lid on a hungry, overcrowded city to search for him. Following Danny’s enigmatic journal, Richard ‘jumps’ the Food Train to the violent, sprawling suburbs. Mistaken for a criminal, held prisoner, and condemned to death by a community of outcasts, he’s rescued by Carrie, a fiercely independent woman who joins in his quest. Their search leads them through the remnants of civilization, facing criminal gangs, renegade militias, and the hardships of the road. Their trail finally ends at a deserted complex in the remotest corner of the suburbs. What they discover there will alter their lives and their world forever.