In the year 4247, two survivors awaken from a bombing raid into a world they no longer recognize. Downey and Judith crawl from the ruins of what was once America, now called Nuamerica, to discover that civilization has twisted into something unrecognizable. The old world is gone, replaced by strange tribes, bizarre customs, and a terrifying new order where the rules of humanity have been rewritten. As they struggle to understand this nightmare future, they must confront an even deeper question: how much of their former selves can they preserve in a world that demands they become something else entirely? Coblentz, writing in the 1920s, crafts a fever dream of post-apocalyptic strangeness that reads like H.G. Wells colliding with a lost pulp magazine. The headhunters of the title are not mere metaphor but a visceral reminder that in Nuamerica, humanity's darkest instincts have been given free rein. For readers who crave obscure early science fiction that refuses to play by modern rules, this is a fascinating, deeply weird time capsule of apocalyptic imagination.
