Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam is both social satire and horror story. Amanda and Clay escape city life in NYC, taking their teenage kids, Archie and Rose for a family vacation at a luxury AirBnB cabin in the woods a few hours outside the city. However, their vacation coincides with a blackout in NYC and then G.H. and Ruth, the wealthy owners of their rental, show up seeking a place to stay during the emergency. (Clay and family are White and the landlords are Black, but I thought the landlords’ identity was tied to their wealth and class rather than race). Then things get Stephen King-ish. Deer engage in mass migration. A flock of flamingos land in the swimming pool. An unidentifiable and deafening noise causes glass to crack. The teenage son’s teeth start falling out. These six people don’t know what’s going on but must get through it together. The kids seem to deal with it better than the adults, who are flawed, childish, and selfish. It makes you wonder what would/will happen in real life if some catastrophe shuts down the infrastructure we all take for granted. Here’s what Kirkus Reviews says:

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/rumaan-alam/leave-the-world-behind/