The Shelter Cycle

Name: The Shelter Cycle
Price: 35 AUD
Availability: PreOrder
ISBN: 9781593768331

Peter Rock, MD, FCCP, MBA

$35

Paperback

Forthcoming
Pre-Order now

QTY:

English

Soft Skull Press
25 August 2026

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

""The Shelter Cycle is a beautifully crafted, beautifully felt novel. Rock's rendering of place is, as usual, flawless. He knows terrain so well, both geographical and human, where we hide and where we can be found. The writing is fierce, smart, and moving. This is the real deal."" --Percival Everett

The Shelter Cycle tells the story of two children, Francine and Colville, who grew up in the Church Universal and Triumphant, a religion that predicted the world could end in the late 1980s. While their parents built underground shelters to withstand the impending Soviet missile strike, Francine and Colville played in the Montana wilderness, where invisible spirits watched over them. When the prophesized apocalypse did not occur, the sect's members resurfaced and the children were forced to grow up in a world they believed might no longer exist.

Twenty years later, Francine and Colville are reunited while searching for an abducted girl. Haunted by memories and inculcated beliefs, they must confront the Church's teachings. If all the things they were raised to believe were misguided, why then do they suddenly feel so true?

By: Peter Rock MD FCCP MBA
Imprint: Soft Skull Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 209mm, Width: 139mm,
Weight: 369g
ISBN: 9781593768331
ISBN 10: 1593768338
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 25 August 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

PETER ROCK is the author of eleven previous works of fiction, including My Abandonment, which won the Alex Award and was adapted into the film Leave No Trace by Debra Granik. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. Finishing out his 23rd and final year as a professor of creative writing at Reed College, Rock lives in Portland with his wife and two daughters.