Why I Wrote Darkness Falls by Kyle Mills

The concept for this book–the destruction of the world’s oil supply–actually started out as a component of my previous book, The Second Horseman.  The more I researched the subject, though, the more it seemed like an idea that deserved a book of its own.

The ramifications of America’s dependence on oil are so much direr than you’d realize from casual thought. When I first considered the scenario, I figured a serious drop in oil availability would be a nightmare, but a more or less manageable one. Digging deeper uncovered some disturbing questions. How would I feed myself? I’m not a farmer–I rely entirely on the trucks that stock our local grocery store. What if the shelves were suddenly empty? The obvious answer is that I’d drive to a more distant store. But what if there was no gas to fill my tank? The more I thought about it, the easier it became to picture a cascade effect that would descend the country into violence and anarchy.

Initially, the problem with the idea was that I didn’t think there was anything that could cause this kind of a sudden, catastrophic shortage. Oil is pretty resilient and the supply is reasonably well diversified. Enter bacterial contamination.  I had never really heard of hydrocarbon-eating bacteria before I started this project, but not only do they exist, they’re actually quite common and pose a constant threat to drilling operations. Quickly the scenario went from ridiculously implausible to frighteningly realistic.

As an added bonus, this book gave me an excuse to look into the growing environmental movement.  I’ve always considered myself to be a conservation-minded guy, but the direction environmentalism has taken lately seems symbolic at best and completely nuts at worst.  Is there really anything that can be done, or are we doomed to follow the path that all animals do: destroying our ecosystem until Mother Nature finally pushes back?

My favorite novels have always been ones that deal with serious issues in a way that feels current and real, while keeping the pace high and the characters fun.  Hopefully, that’s what I accomplished with Darkness Falls.