Tanya is your average recent graduate of grad school on the day that the nuclear bombs fall, all over the world. After a confusing, and harrowing, couple of hours, she finds herself inside Crystal Palace, a large, military-run sanctuary. The outside door is sealed.

As the weeks and months go on, the perception among the thousand or so people inside Crystal Palace is that Colonel Pierce, the commander, is turning into a dictator. Meantime, other pockets of humanity around the world start to make themselves heard. Tanya, and Jack, her boyfriend, are involved in a plot to overthrow Pierce, and rejoin the lawful American government. Pierce finds out, and exiles Tanya and Jack to the radioactive surface.

The radiation sickness comes pretty quickly. When Tanya and Jack are almost dead, they are visited by an anonymous individual who says that radiation sickness can be cured. They come across some strange black trees. Tanya is grabbed by one of the trees, and cured. But, it involves a rather large physical transformation. Jack refuses; he would rather die as a human.

Tanya is introduced to other transformed people (they're called panthers) and other sanctuaries. She also learns of a religious fanatic who wants to kill all panthers, since they are spawns of Satan. On live TV, the American President confesses that others are to blame for starting the war, and names them. The "bad guys" sanctuary is surrounded by several thousand human, and panther, soldiers.

This novel is surprisingly good. It feels plausible (may we never find out for sure), it is very easy to read, and has plenty of action. This would make a really good movie, and is well worth reading. ( )