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Kyle Mills book, Darkness Falls, is a thriller with a plot built on eco-terrorism wiping out the bulk of the world’s oil supply in a matter of months. What follows is not just the hunt for the bad guys, but an examination of how society will change as oil becomes scarce, accelerating what humanity will experience in the coming decades.

As Mills writes on his website, kylemills.com:

The ramifications of America’s dependence on oil are so much more dire 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. Deeper thought brought up 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 of that store 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.

One of the evolutions the US experiences in the months that followed is a movement to an agrarian society and the development of communal farms. Food can no longer be transported, and large commercial farms can no longer produce food affordably.

Think it can’t happen?

From Yahoo:

High gas prices drive farmer to switch to mules
Wed May 21, 7:51 PM ET

High gas prices have driven a Warren County farmer and his sons to hitch a tractor rake to a pair of mules to gather hay from their fields. T.R. Raymond bought Dolly and Molly at the Dixon mule sale last year. Son Danny Raymond trained them and also modified the tractor rake so the mules could pull it.

T.R. Raymond says the mules are slower than a petroleum-powered tractor, but there are benefits.

“This fuel’s so high, you can’t afford it,” he said. “We can feed these mules cheaper than we can buy fuel. That’s the truth.”

And Danny Raymond says he just likes using the mules around the farm.

“We’ve been using them quite a bit,” he said.

Brother Robert Raymond added, “It’s the way of the future.”

I’m not normally an alarmist, nor even an environmentalist (I’m a friggin Republican, for chrissakes), but I read this book last year and immediately told my wife to teach our daughters to garden. I’m just saying. Want to get your brain wrapped around the challenges ahead? Check it out at the library or buy it over at Amazon: