Palimpsest

The first thing the contagion takes isn't flesh - it's your story.

In a quiet Midwestern county, people begin to lose their names. Fathers forget their children. Neighbors clutch photographs until the corners rub blank. Some victims gather scraps of paper into altars, whispering fragments of strangers' lives until they dissolve into silence. The pathogen is called N-13-but locals call it the Palimpsest.

When her father succumbs, mortician June Archer discovers that stitching names into garments can briefly anchor the fading. Dr. Karim Voss, a weary linguist, finds that cadence and rhythm slow the spread. And Moth Reyes, a runaway thief, survives by mimicry-until the voices she borrows echo back at her.

But when an emergency broadcast saves one child, the county celebrates-only to realize the broadcast has carried the infection further than ever before. Radios die in sequence. Silence spreads like a tide. And the survivors must face a terrible truth: the Palimpsest doesn't just kill-it learns.

Palimpsest is Book One of The Palimpsest Sequence, a slow-burn, psychological zombie apocalypse saga that blends atmospheric dread with a pathogen thriller. Perfect for fans of The Passage, Station Eleven, and World War Z who crave unforgettable, literary horror.