“Beckitt’s emergency began on a calm spring morning: an expansive chill in the air; the sun soaring over rangy, adolescent clouds; miles of rolling green mowed into submission, flanked by grand columns of oak and maple, through which the wind shivered, And a symphony of cell phones throbbing in sudden unison. Terror and confusion jolting through town like an electrical impulse.”
Those are some of the opening lines to Vincent Yu’s novel Seek Immediate Shelter. On this particular morning in Beckitt, Massachusetts, an emergency message is sent to all cell phones: “Ballistic Missile Threat Inbound, Seek Immediate Shelter. This is not a Drill.”
Each chapter in the book features a different townsperson and how this emergency affected their lives, both in those fourteen minutes of terror before it was determined to be a false alarm and many months after. For instance, David Li hurries to his car and, in his terror, doesn’t wait for his wife and child or for his garage door to completely open. Nina, owner of a music store, sends a thoughtless text to her daughter. Jacob has a heart attack and dies. And then there’s Chase Sun, who works for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency and is responsible for the false alarm.
As the book jacket says, after the all clear, “First comes relief; then comes the reckoning, as each person is forced to face the unforeseen aftermath of decisions they thought might be their last.” It’s an interesting idea to ponder: if you thought your death was imminent, what would you do, who would you call and what would you say?
If you’ve ever had those thoughts, then you must read Seek Immediate Shelter by Vincent Yu.