Amerikan Sunset

About the Book

The airlines aren't flying. How are three people supposed to travel a thousand miles and then leave the country after the federal government defaults on the national debt?

Alexandra, beautiful and spoiled, decides to leave her home in Ohio to join her fiancé, Michael, in Mobile, Alabama, from where they plan to depart the crumbling remnants of America. On her journey, she is accompanied by Liz, a close family friend who's reason for making such a dangerous expedition is to join her mother in Montgomery and to offer her assistance through the coming economic and social crisis. Nick, Alexandra's brother and platonic friend to Liz, joins the mission of offer protection to the two women. Their adventure begins as they depart Ohio in Nick's truck, but as all forms of government checks begin to bounce, including payroll and welfare, the economic structure of society breaks down to the point that gasoline becomes unavailable and lawlessness is the norm.

When gasoline beomces unavailable, the trio must continue their daring mission on bicycles. As their haszardous expedition progresses, they encounter armed thugs roaming the highway, a rapist who fears nothing from police who no longer have any authority, and junkies who have taken possession of a remote pharmacy. Only after Liz endures the harrowing ordeal of a violent assault, followed by the unjustifred murder of her mother, can her sarcastic, tough-as-nails attitude erode to reveal the true and deep feelings that she has for Nick.

Even as the very fabric of society unravels, a glimmer of hope sparkes as regular citizens try to reorgnaize and go on with their daily lives, attending weddings, a birth, and a funeral. When the three travelers finally reach their destination, the struggle to get there has transformed them in surprising ways, just as the country has been transformed, forever.

About the Author

Jennifer Ladewig was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1966. Her family moved to Hudson, Ohio in 1978, after a few years in Virginia. Today, from her home in Birmingham, Alabama, Jennifer enjoys writing, photography, traveling, and chasing after her two children, Dylan and Alexandra. When everyone is asleep, she can sometimes be seen with a plate of cheese puffs and a magazine, catching up on the week's events.