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I'm a sucker for apocalypse and post-apocalypse stories, but McHugh's collection is something extra-special. Her protagonists differ dramatically in age, cultural background, income levels, and values, and they are all real and compelling; the settings vary widely in place and time (some in the present, some in a recognizable near-future), and each story is a fully realized and absorbing vignette — I'm never in a rush to start the next story because of how fully the previous story occupies my mind. I especially love that while the subject matter is dark, the stories are often funny, and most have an element of hope.