• Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2022 December #1
  Markley's second novel is reminiscent of his first (Ohio, 2018)—ambitious, sprawling, chock full of characters—but all turned up to eleven. Spanning 2013-39, Deluge charts the devastation of unchecked climate change and the continued fracturing of society that comes with it. The story starts with scientist Tony Pietrus, who issues a dire warning that's dismissed as alarmist, and then fans out to a host of other characters: charismatic climate activist Kate Morris; Shane Acosta, founder of an ecoterrorist organization; Keeper, who's fighting drug addiction and struggling to make a living; the Pastor, an actor turned Christian, white supremacist presidential hopeful. As fires, dust bowls, hurricanes, and other startling weather events ramp up, the political elite and their constituents retreat further to the left and right, and the coinciding social terror Markley tracks is all the more upsetting because of its plausibility. Readers would do well to keep the book's multiple viewpoints sorted from the beginning and should know that, with unrelenting doom throughout its 800-plus pages, this is a demanding but worthwhile read. Copyright 2022 Booklist Reviews.

Stephen Markley is the acclaimed author of Ohio, which NPR called a “masterpiece.” A graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, Markley’s other books include the memoir Publish This Book and the travelogue Tales of Iceland.