In W. R. Flynn's apocalyptic novel, "Shut Down," we discovered that the worldwide economic catastrophe brought about by peak oil, the overuse of scarce resources, wars, government deficit spending and overpopulation has left human civilization decimated and in ruins. Most survivors across North America have banded together in isolated farming communities closed to outsiders. This is the story of Corbett, Oregon, one of the larger self-sustaining colonies, two years after the collapse. This novel introduces a severely wounded outsider, Michael "Buck" Baccellieri, who is discovered unconscious and near death along the bank of the Sandy River by two members of the tightly-knit Corbett colony. As Buck struggles to recover from his wounds, the people of this small isolated community face a new danger and are united by a sudden outpouring of compassion for a stranger.