Day One

by Kelly deVos
Published by: Inkyard Press
on December 1, 2020
Pages: 480
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In the sequel to Day Zero, stepsisters Jinx and MacKenna must put aside their enmity and work together to rescue their little brother…and possibly save the world. A nonstop whirlwind of a read for fans of Marie Lu, Rick Yancey and Alexandra Bracken.
RULE ONE: THOSE WHO PANIC DON’T SURVIVE
IT’S AS TRUE NOW AS IT WAS THE DAY OUR WORLD EXPLODED INTO CHAOS
Jinx
Three months ago, all I wanted was to stay up late playing video games and pretending things were fine. But with my parents’ role in a massive political conspiracy exposed, I ended up on the run, desperate to rescue my little brother, Charles, from the clutches of The Opposition.
I used to hate my father’s obsession with disaster prepping. But as I fight my way across a war-torn country and into a secret military research facility with only my stepsister to count on, I realize that following Dr. Doomsday’s Guide for Ultimate Survival might be our only hope of surviving to see Charles again.
MacKenna
Once, I had it all. The right backstory. The right qualifications. But my life as a student journalist was destroyed forever in the explosions that triggered the country’s meltdown. Now I’m determined to help Jinx get our little brother back. But we also have to find our own reasons to survive. Somehow, I’ve become the first reporter of the new civil war. In a world where your story is your ultimate weapon, I have to become the toughest freedom fighter of all.

Interview with Kelly deVos

The Day Zero duology is not just an apocalyptic thriller but also has a major political plotline. How did our current political climate play into the storytelling?

The current political climate had a major impact on both the story and me as a writer. My first book, FAT GIRL ON A PLANE, was a contemporary story about a teenage fashion student who dreams of becoming the next great designer. After that book, I was supposed to work on similar stories. I was trying to write a book about two fashion-obsessed teens on a road trip across America. But I found I just couldn’t stick to that story given what was happening in current events. So, I started working on DAY ZERO instead.

When you wrote Day Zero, how much of Day One did you have plotted? 

You probably won’t believe this, but I actually had most of the plot for both books outlined before the 2016 election. Back then, like many people, I assumed that Hillary Clinton would win the election. The idea for the books began with the question, “What would happen if a someone like Donald Trump became president?” Of course, we all know how that turned out!

I was especially interested in the people who were becoming preoccupied or overly involved in conspiracy theories. One of the book’s most dominant characters is Jinx’s dad, Dr. Maxwell Marshall, a doomsday prepper whose theories about the end of the world actually precipitate the very type of crisis he felt he was trying to prevent.

Without spoiling Day Zero, what advice would you send your main characters going into Day One? 

A lot of the book concerns what happens when trust in political and information systems erodes to the point that those systems stop functioning as intended. So, my advice to my characters would be, trust each other. Stay together. And drink lots of water!