Seeker by Glenn S. Robertson takes place in the American West a hundred-odd years after a plague called the Red Death causes civilization to collapse. Andrew Shelton, better known as Ghost, rides on horseback into his hometown of Casper, Wyoming, now part of the Rocky Mountain Free Zone. Ghost is a seeker — he collects, buys, and sells remnants of the pre-apocalypse world, from books and magazines to recipes and printed-out emails. He is visiting the town’s mayor when a posse of raiders attacks the town and kidnaps Neva, a young girl who has “special abilities.” Ghost takes off with several comrades in search of Neva, aiming to bring her home. Eventually, he finds Neva, but now he knows that he'll have to face King John, a brutal, sadistic warlord who thinks killing is a sport.

Glenn S. Robertson’s Seeker is an exciting, realistic novel of the future that compares favorably with Philip K. Dick’s post-apocalyptic novels. The characters in Seeker are three-dimensional and complex. The setting is easily imaginable — you can almost see the town, with its stables, saloon, and the city gates where armed guards greet all visitors. The use of the West’s majestic scenery, such as Devil's Tower, gives it a sense of immediacy. In addition, readers interested in Native Americans will be pleased to find that in the world of Seeker, the tribes have regained their power and many of their former territories. Fans of futurist novels and Western-themed fiction alike definitely won’t be disappointed by Seeker.

In 2026, a scourge known as the Red Plague wipes out most of humanity. Fast forward to the year 2134, and the US has returned to the old days of the Wild West. An evil tyrant calling himself King John has taken over Denver and lords over all the surrounding region. He hears about a girl named Neva from Casper, Wyoming, who has special powers, and orders her to be kidnapped. Andrew “Ghost” Shelton is a seeker; he searches for artifacts from the past. The mayor of Casper asks Ghost to rescue Neva from King John, who also happens to be Ghost’s nemesis. Can he rescue the girl and put an end to King John’s reign, bringing peace to the frontier? You’ll need to read Glenn S. Robertson’s Seeker to find out.

Seeker is a brilliant take on a dystopian future. Transporting readers back to the Wild West is pure genius and opens up a lot of scope for this narrative. King John is just evil, and despite it not being part of the plot, you can picture him in a black hat, with the hero Ghost in a white one. At the end of almost every chapter is a flashback to some point in the previous 100 years. Glenn S Robertson cleverly uses diary entries, letters, and even engravings on a wall to hint at what happened since the Red Plague hit. In perfect Western fashion, the two enemies meet face to face for an epic showdown. Anyone who likes dystopian fiction or those who love westerns will enjoy Seeker as much as I did.