Rhino

More than two centuries after the Third World War turned civilization to ash in a global nuclear fire, the Earth is a poisoned, radioactive wasteland. Violent geomagnetic storms block out the sun. Humanity survives in giant airships above the storm-wracked skies, kept going by the Hell Divers, who risk their lives dropping to the surface for vital parts and supplies.

This book is not about the Hell Divers, though. It follows the survivors on the ground, and in particular Nick Baker, a frail orphan born in the constant darkness of an ITC bunker. As a child he worked in a machine shop and dreamed of what might lie beyond the dark skies and poisoned wastes. That dream turned into a nightmare when Cazador raiders attacked, massacring his people and enslaving the survivors.

The story follows Nick from his harsh early life underground to a war fought across the ravaged surface, as a boy slave grows into a towering, fearsome warrior determined to free his people from the Cazador empire. It is a postapocalyptic adventure by Nicholas Sansbury Smith about the man his enemies will come to fear as Rhino.