Book One of The Last Safe County

She wasn’t supposed to bring him back. She did it anyway.

Eight years after the collapse, Mabel Gray survives inside Ridgeline Valley, a hidden settlement in Washington’s Cascade Mountains. Its forty residents are held together by strict rules, guarded borders, and the fragile belief that survival depends on keeping the outside world out.

Mabel follows the rules. Mostly.

Then she finds an unconscious boy beside a mountain road, watched over by a loyal dog who refuses to leave him. Somewhere beyond the valley, the boy’s injured father awakens on a hillside with a broken wrist and only one purpose left: finding his son.

Bringing the child home should be an act of mercy.

In Ridgeline Valley, it may be an act of betrayal.

As winter closes in and long-buried secrets begin to surface, Mabel must decide what survival is worth—and whether a community can remain safe after sacrificing the last pieces of its humanity.

“This series feels like a warm fire in a cold world. I didn’t want to leave the county.”—Ashley McClannahan

Roads Home begins The Last Safe County, a gripping post-apocalyptic survival series from USA Today bestselling author A. R. Shaw. Perfect for listeners who enjoy hidden communities, gritty survival realism, loyal dogs, found family, and hope hard-won in a broken world.

Begin the journey into The Last Safe County today.