The Rift

FRACTURE LINES PERMEATE THE CENTRAL UNITED STATES. Some comprise the New Madrid fault, the most dangerous earthquake zone in the world. Other fracture lines are social—— economic, religious, racial, and ethnic.

What happens when they all crack at once?

Caught in the disaster as cities burn and bridges tumble, young Jason Adams finds himself adrift on the Mississippi with African-American engineer Nick Ruford. A modern-day Huck and Jim, they spin helplessly down the river and into the widening faults in American society, encountering violence and hope, compassion and despair, and the primal wilderness that threatens to engulf not only them, but all they love...

Cover Art by Ares Jun

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

First printing, 1998

Printed in the United States of America

eISBN: 978-1-62579-263-1

Copyright 1998, 2013 by Walter Jon Williams
Published originally as by “Walter J. Williams.”

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

Electronic version by Baen Books
https://www.baen.com