Immobility by Brian Evenson
Josef Horkai awakens remembering none of the details of his life. He can only recall the sweeping circumstances about everyday existence prior to the Kollaps. He can remember what that decaying building over there once was, but he can’t remember what he did for a living once upon a time. Horkai only knows what he’s told. He has awakened after thirty years in cryogenic storage to learn he has the amazing ability to survive outside in the irradiated world. He is completely hairless and can regenerate. He was once human but now he is not. He’s paraplegic and if his spinal cord isn’t re-severed every few days the disease that allows him to survive in this world will slowly paralyze him and kill him.
This is all an awful lot to take in but time is of the essence. His awakeners want to send him on a quest to retrieve the seeds the human colony needs to rebuild. Since Horkai looks like the keepers in the mountain he is the only one who can retrieve them.
While this is bleak and dark SciFi it is also a psychological thriller. In fact, it is a GREAT psychological thriller. If you like second and third guessing the motives of people in novels do not pass this one by. A slight, yet jam-packed novel, that makes you think long after you turn the last page.
