P055 The Mercy Journals

Allen 'Mercy' Quincy, the protagonist of this novel, writes as he begins his journal:

If I go to my memories directly I'll never survive. I will take the longer road and lay an ambush. I will describe my world. I will tell you about Ruby.


The Mercy Journals is set 1n 2047 in the wake of a third world war. Owing also to runaway effects of climate change and the collapse of nation/states, over a third of the global population has already died. 

Former soldier Allen "Mercy" Quincy suffers from PTSD and is haunted by guilt and lingering memories of his family. When he meets a dancer named Ruby, she breathes new life into his carefully constructed existence. He begins to journal.

Here are some great comments from reviewers and readers to entice you:

"Part Lord of the Flies, part Romeo Dallaire's Shake Hands With the Devil, I came out of this book deeply touched by the characters who moved through it, but also more alert. There's a sense of the prescient in this novel - of where we could end up if we're not careful."

Aislinn Hunter, author of The World Before Us

"Not since Margaret Atwood's Snowman have we met such a desperate and compelling hero as Allen Quincy, doing his best to survive in a post-apocalyptic world."

Merilyn Simonds, author of The Convict Lover

"Casper's wry lament for the world is utterly unforgettable. She creates a slow apocalypse and finds real human voices and aching in the collapse and rebirth of society." 

Emily Schultz, author of The Blondes


The Mercy Journals (Arsenal 2016) is Claudia Casper's third novel. It won the prestigious Philip K. Dick Award for Science Fiction. Her debut novel, The Reconstruction, was a national best-seller.

Learn more about Claudia on her website and blog. and order her books from your favourite bookstore.

Following its broadcast dates, this program becomes a Podcast on writers radio.ca/podcasts and from your favourite podcast provider.

Writers Radio broadcasts from Halfmoon Bay on the Sunshine Coast in Canada, ancestral land of self governing shíshálh Nation of the Coast Salish peoples. We are grateful for their land stewardship and wisdom teachings.

Carole Harmon

Go to WritersRadio.ca and listen to the current episode.

Writers Radio is a free 24/7 non-commercial internet radio station that presents new and recognized writers reading their own work.

Writers Radio is proud to be a registered nonprofit society in British Columbia, Canada.