A harrowing, humane, and very beautiful book. -Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You

A searing dystopian vision of a young boy’s flight through an unnamed, savaged country, searching for sanctuary and redemption-a debut novel from one of Europe’s bestselling literary stars.

A young boy has fled his home. He’s pursued by dangerous forces. What lies before him is an infinite, arid plain, one he must cross in order to escape those from whom he’s fleeing. One night on the road, he meets an old goatherd, a man who lives simply but righteously, and from that moment on, their paths intertwine.

Out in the Open tells the story of this journey through a drought-stricken country ruled by violence. A world where names and dates don’t matter, where morals have drained away with the water. In this landscape the boy-not yet a lost cause-has the chance to choose hope and bravery, or to live forever mired in the cycle of violence in which he was raised. Carrasco has masterfully created a high stakes world, a dystopian tale of life and death, right and wrong, terror and salvation.