An alternate history novel about the aftermath of nuclear war

Cover image of "Resurrection Day," a novel about the aftermath of nuclear war

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Ten years ago millions of Americans and Soviet citizens had died in a nuclear war. Washington DC, Miami, San Diego, and several other cities lie in rubble. The United States is now a second-rate power, dependent on aid from Great Britain. Chafing under martial law, the survivors struggle to feed and clothe themselves. The aftermath of nuclear war is ugly in every way. Complainers end up in “decon camps” reminiscent of World War II. Now, in 1972, elections have resumed, and George McGovern will soon face off against Nelson Rockefeller for the presidency. Meanwhile, an enterprising Boston Globe reporter, Carl Landry, struggles to investigate the murder of an old man against the express orders of his editor. Thus begins Brendan DuBois’s skillful alternate history of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Resurrection Day.

The central characters

Carl Landry is a combat veteran granted a job as a general assignment reporter at the Boston Globe. He’s the protagonist of this tale. But seven others play pivotal roles in DuBois’s devilishly clever story.

The Americans

Merl Sawson, an old man in tattered clothes whose death launches Carl’s investigation. He’s suspicious because the man had promised to deliver evidence of a big scandal before he was murdered.
General Ramsay (“The Rammer”) Curtis of the US Air Force, now retired, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and Commander of the Strategic Air Command. He’s credited with having stopped the nuclear war between the USA and the Soviet Union and has become the virtual dictator of the United States.
George Dooley, the Globe‘s Metro Editor and Carl’s boss.
Major Cullen Devane, an army officer assigned as “Oversight Editor” at the Globe, who acts as a censor under the prevailing martial law regime.

The British

Sandra (Sandy) Price, an enterprising reporter for The Times of London. She teams up with Carl for a long stretch of his investigation into Merl Sawson’s murder.
General Sir John Sheffield, OBE, CR, retired from the British Army, who visits Boston on a mysterious errand, only to meet his death there.
Major Kenneth Hunt, a British paratroop commander assigned to an air base across the border in Canada.

Resurrection Day by Brendan DuBois (1999) 376 pages ★★★★★

Winner of the Sidewise Award for Alternate History

Photo shot by a U2 spy plane over Cuba in October 1962, which leads to a nuclear war in this alternate history novel — One of the aerial photos shot by a U2 spy plane over Cuba in mid-October 1962 which triggered the Cuban Missile Crisis. In this alternate history novel, that crisis led to nuclear war ten years earlier. Image: National Archives

Mystery piles on mystery

Carl Landry’s investigation will lead him far from the cut-and-dried question of an old man’s murder into the thicket of politics at the highest level. At the outset, he seeks only to learn who killed Merl Sawson, and why. But the case will soon point to other troubling questions. What really happened in October 1962, when the US invasion of Cuba triggered a nuclear attack by the USSR? Did JFK really die, as all the evidence suggests, or did he survive, as the cultists believe? What’s going on in New York City, where troops patrol the streets against some unstated threat even after the city has been evacuated? Why are the British sending over food and medicine? What’s in it for them? And will Nelson Rockefeller, who is allied with General Curtis, defeat George McGovern, who advocates for change? Everyone expects that to happen, but could things change?

About the author

Photo of Brendan DuBois, author of this novel about the aftermath of nuclear war — *Bendan DuBois in 2012, when he won $23,000 on Jeopardy. Image: WMUR*

Brendan DuBois is the author of twenty-nine novels of suspense, several of them coauthored with the wildly prolific James Patterson. Many of his books have featured on the New York Times Bestseller Lists. Most of his books are straightforward mystery novels. But he is best known for Resurrection Day, which won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History. DuBois was born in New Hampshire in 1959. He lives in the state with his wife.

I’ve also reviewed another outstanding novel on a similar theme: When Angels Wept: A What-If History of the Cuban Missile Crisis by Eric G. Swedin (An alternate history of the Cuban Missile Crisis). And I’ve reviewed several other good books about Cuba, including: