Trapped in the R.A.W.: A Journal of My Experiences During the Great Invasion by Kaylee Bearovna with an Afterword by Pearl Larken and Appendices Compiled by the We Survive Series Group

A young woman working alone in a small special collections library is trapped in the building when invaders overrun her town. She barricades the doors, peeks through a window, and watches in horror as people are murdered outside. The invaders wear uniforms that cover them completely, making it impossible for her to see their faces. However, she realizes at once that they do not intend to subjugate the population. They intend to annihilate it.

Trapped in the R.A.W. is a journal of the young woman’s solitary struggle to protect the books while keeping herself fed, hydrated, warm, and sane.

“Kate Boyes’s Trapped in the R.A.W. is a very fresh take on the alien invasion theme. Tracing the story of a young archivist caught up in a terrifying and mysterious assault on her small town campus, the book is simultaneously a first-hand account of survival, a post-apocalyptic memoir, a narrative of first contact, and an ode to libraries. Human, humane, and often darkly humorous, this is one of the most charming dystopian novels I have read in a very long time.

“Trying to sit out an alien invasion in a library…for the discerning SF reader it just doesn’t get better than that.”
Jackie Hatton, author of Flesh & Wires

“Everything in this book is unexpected: the invasion, the invaders, and especially the hero, an ordinary young woman who deals with the unspeakable in simple ways that prove quite extraordinary. She is on her own and terrified, with no special powers or super technology, and yet she manages to reason and act. At a time when superhero exploits take up so much storytelling space, it is delightful to read a tale in which people take care of themselves.”
Nancy Jane Moore, author of The Weave

Kate Boyes is the author of a biography of Paul McCartney. Her creative nonfiction has been published in a number of anthologies, including two volumes of the American Nature Writing series. As a travel writer for Fodor's, she contributed to their Historic America Guide to the Old West, Gold Guide to the Rockies, Skiing USA, and the guidebook created for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Her latest play, which deals with the issue of homelessness, was produced by the Red Octopus Theatre Company in 2018. Trapped in the R.A.W. is her first novel. She lives on the coast of Oregon.