Nancy Smith, assumes in her novel The Slow Kill that the drought that began in her hometown of Austin, Texas in 2011 does not end. Increasing surface temperatures on earth result in weather patterns where some regions are mired in floods from constant storms and others, like Austin, are stripped sterile by unending drought. For years, the struggle has been to survive disease and starvation, but as the story opens there is reason for hope. The characters in this father/son story must decide if they are individuals living in isolation or are they part of a community?