LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND (Rumaan Alam) - November 26/23

 I read most of this on the plane to California, which was maybe not the best choice given how grim and bleak it is. (I finished it in a lineup at Knott’s Berry Farm.) Alam is a pretentious writer and much of the novel is wildly overwritten but I nevertheless was pretty engrossed throughout. ***1/2 out of ****