Seek Immediate Shelter
Listen to a sample
Winner of the Barnes & Noble Discover Prize 2026
BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
One ordinary morning, in an unexceptional town, every mobile phone lights up with the same emergency alert.
In this compelling, darkly funny and moving debut novel, each of Vincent Yu’s utterly relatable, flawed characters is given a choice: in the face of mutually assured destruction, do we reach for grace and mercy or do we hold on to hate and fear?
Eighteen minutes later the town learns via text that it was a false alarm and the question changes. Can we forgive each other for what’s been said and done when the world didn’t actually end?
Book details
- Format
- Paperback
- ISBN
- 9780715656334
- Published
- 6 August 2026
- Pages
- 304
- Duration
- Dimensions
- 129 x 198 mm
- Genre
- Fiction
- Imprint
- September
Reviews
'Propulsive and poetic, Vincent Yu's Seek Immediate Shelter explodes with characters at once sad and lonely, fierce and funny, selfish and selfless, all mirroring missiles themselves as they hurtle toward the consequences of their choices in the wake of a false missile alarm. This is a book that asks not so much what it means to be human, but to be a person - foibles, shame, desire, gluttony and all. A masterful debut'
'A brilliant thought experiment, this novel deftly and ruthlessly explores ignoble truths characters must face about themselves after a false alarm of world-ending proportions. Equal parts thrilling and touching, Yu’s portrait of a not-destroyed-after-all Massachusetts small town reveals the cowardice and heroism within each individual heart'
'Can we ever really change our lives? Vincent Yu’s intriguing novel, exploring a wonderful array of responses to a terrifying moment, examines the many and varied ways we confront the possibilities of transformation within the confines of our familial bonds'
'Vincent Yu is a writer of incredible grace and insight who understands that the best fiction is about trusting characters to reveal themselves under the right pressure... [Seek Immediate Shelter] is a profound work about connection and disconnection that left me reeling and wanting more. A daring, prodigious debut'
'Compelling and cinematic... Yu's vivid and beautiful descriptions of these "difficult to like but easy to empathise with" characters display the skilfulness of this storyteller in full force'
