The Boys of the Zodiac Cancer Penny Candles by Vivien Dean is an unusual and haunting futuristic, featuring appealing characters and fascinating world building. Some readers may find its leisurely pace not to their liking. Normally, I would be one of those readers, except that the world building held my attention so strongly. From its mysterious beginning, the pace shifts into a lower gear while the romance and world building dominate the middle of the story. The pace picks up towards the ending, which provides the answers that our characters have been seeking as they face a suspenseful development from Sullivan’s past.

The story takes place about 170 years from now with the central part of the United States sealed off by the government in a primitive state of quarantine after being the target of a bio-weapons terrorist attack long ago. Within the heartland, people live in isolated, rural communities. Outside, along the coastal area, the population enjoys a state of advanced technology, and the elite among them are bred for physical perfection to serve in the Strike military force, which acts as an army-for-hire in various conflicts around the globe.

Sullivan is a former Strike soldier, discharged after a head wound, who finds himself trudging through the quarantine zone on a mission he can no longer remember. All he knows is the name of the man (Rafe) whom he’s supposed to locate, which he does in the community of Chadwick, Kansas. Rafe and his mother are Cuban Americans who relocated to the heartland from Miami under mysterious circumstances. When Rafe and Sullivan come together, they must deal with their rising mutual attraction while unraveling the mystery of their unknown connection through Sullivan’s forgotten past.

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