American Fiction Awards 2022 finalist in Medical Thriller and Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction categories

A family convoy flees the pandemic-torn U.S. as implacable foes wreak vengeance and seek the only vaccine

A fragile but determined patriarch leads twenty followers and their priceless vaccines out of plague-ravaged California ahead of mercenary-led bikers. Despite the group's peaceful intentions, desperate Covid-20 survivors target them and trigger needless violence. New romances spark while longstanding relationships crumble in the pressure cooker environment. In theory, the family can save many lives, but not if they're liable to be taken hostage. Delays incurred to share vaccine knowhow leave the convoy vulnerable. Tensions boil over as the pacifist and militant factions square off.

The marauders channel their maniacal fury into waging a war of annihilation even as the convoy lurches toward Canada and the hope of new lives. In Idaho's panhandle, the mercenaries use kidnapped children to bait their trap.

What Readers say:

"This book defies expectations. It picks up where Dark Cure left off with the convoy in trouble. Along the way, the lives of everyone in the group are under threat and many of them die or are wounded. Their opponents are so awful, I couldn't wait for someone to kill them. The legal and police systems no longer work while the pandemic grows in strength and society breaks down. Hard Road is a thought-provoking book that kept me up late two nights in a row to finish it. Not for the faint of heart." H. Cader.

"I read Hard Road straight through in a single six-hour session. It's that good. It's that exciting. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes well-crafted, action-packed thrillers." Steve S.

"I read Hard Road eagerly after devouring Dark Cure, part 1 of West's second trilogy. I marveled at the author's ability to devise a plot that is complex but at the same time grippingly entertaining.

This book, describing the protagonists' journey from the Bay Area to the Canadian border in a time of Covid-caused societal breakdown, is another classic West page-turner. I found it almost impossible to put down as plot twist after plot twist kept me hooked.

Two books into the series, I still have no idea how it will end and who will survive: West puts everyone and everything at risk, and readers are warned not to become too attached characters. The Haven can't come soon enough." A.J.

"The medical thriller for 2021, Hard Road chronicles a family's frantic race to find sanctuary in a land ravaged by a mutant strain of Covid. The scarily plausible, well-thought-out plot keeps unfurling surprises with every weave and turn of the convoy's progress toward distant safety.

Hard Road maintains the pulse-racing, page-turning style that has become a Bradley West hallmark." J William

"West's follow-up to Dark Cure, Hard Road, as its title implies, presents a sojourn into the unknown. It's a rare mix of hope and despair, blue and gray skies with astonishing twists, which are the hallmark of West's cleaved visions. Characters are lost and then found again, vindicated and shorn of humanity in the quest for survival. The road is endless as are the thrills. Buckle up, but not too tight. The corners are fraught with danger and familiar betrayal. A must-read. Chas S.

"Hard Road is an action-packed chase where our heroes continue their journey toward safety. While we all love the good guys, the bad guys are awesome, ranging from downright diabolical to extremely violent. A great read." Mike E