# What book was this?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-was-this/590710>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 29, 2011, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-was-this/590710 "2011-07-29T06:20:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![zephyr9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9fc348/32.png) [@zephyr9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zephyr9)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-was-this/590710/1 "2011-07-29T06:20:51Z")

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I read a book years ago about post-apocolyptic America…it was a novel…it might have been a Dean Koontz-like author, that sort of genre…  
It had a scene toward the beginning where a boy had to cut off a general’s hand to save his life, and later in the book, survivors had all caravanned to the Great Salt Lake.  
Does anyone know what this book was?

There was another I remember, about a man on the run from the government…it was in the 80’s I read it, when I was in my late teens…it was the first concept I ever got of satellite tracking systems…this poor guy (the hero) was running, but there was absolutely **nowhere to run**. He ran all over the country, he was in like a little truck. Maybe with a girlfriend and dog, perhaps.  
Does this ring a bell for anyone?

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**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-was-this/590710/2 "2011-07-29T11:08:34Z")

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Probably **Swan Song** by Robert McCammon.

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**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-was-this/590710/3 "2011-07-29T11:12:16Z")

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Beaten by 4 minutes. Curse you elfkin!!

:: shakes fist ::

Yeah, it’s certainly Swan Song.

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**Author:** ![zephyr9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9fc348/32.png) [@zephyr9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zephyr9)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-was-this/590710/4 "2011-07-29T15:19:26Z")

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A great big THANKS! Man this board is great. Only here could I have got that.