A Novel by Rick Foerster
Forgetthis tosurvive
A post-apocalyptic survival story with a psychological bite
Keep readingIt may be easier
to fear the monsters
than face what made them.
Years after the world broke, an orphan lives by one rule above all: “forget this to survive.” Forget his past. Forget his pain. And forget the moment he failed his parents.
This morning, he’s a new arrival at a survivor camp that sends a truckload of orphans into a ruined city to scavenge — and face the once-human Wild who wait inside. Their mission is simple: come back with a full pack or don’t come back at all.
Today, he’ll survive. Tomorrow, he might not want to. And yesterday? Yesterday was dead. The past would feed on the present if you let it.
But one by one, the orphans he tries not to care about begin counting on him. One by one, the memories he buried start crawling back. And if he’s going to save himself and the few people the world has left him, he’ll have to do the one thing that terrifies him most of all:
Remember.
Read this if you loved
Post-apocalypse, psychological thriller, dystopian, coming of age
Dark, with existential weight
The RoadCormac McCarthy
WoolHugh Howey
Station ElevenEmily St. John Mandel
Brutal, yet tender
The Knife of Never Letting GoPatrick Ness
A Monster CallsPatrick Ness
Hell Followed With UsAndrew Joseph White
High stakes, found family
The Last of UsNaughty Dog
Red RisingPierce Brown
The Hunger GamesSuzanne Collins
Skip it if you
- Are sensitive to bleakness and overwhelming despair
- Believe certain characters should be protected
- Want a cozy, comfort read
- Can't handle suspense, violence, monsters, or profanity
Content note: this novel contains violence, trauma, and death involving minors.
What it explores
Memory as weapon and salvation
Should we let go of the past, or hold on to it?
The cost of being erased
They say you die twice — once when you stop breathing, and again when somebody says your name for the last time.
The seduction of withdrawal
When the world becomes too much to carry, how do we answer it?
The apocalypse within
The end of the world is the easy part.
Most post-apocalyptic stories ask how we survive. This one asks what survival costs.
What early readers said
Holy crap… a serious page turner.Noah
I woke up still thinking about it.Brian
Had me crying, from a book, for the first time since high school.Diego
I wanted to come back to it each night.Kate
Hard to put down, so I didn't.Mark
Strong themes that are profound and engaging.Celia
Asks us who we truly are and what we hide away.Sara
I don't usually read books this fast.Austin
Fun, fast paced ride.Dave
Read the first page
Forget this to survive, he’d said, the first rule of many. The words remained, but the moment they came from didn’t. I made sure of that. The rule worked before, and today, I’d need it again.
Beside me, a boy started crying. We were pressed shoulder to shoulder, two of many, on the cold metal bench of a truck we’d been on since before sunrise, as buildings slid past behind us—gray, towering, like graves waiting to be filled. Each block farther from the walled-off camp that held us last night.
Inside, it stunk of sweat and dust as we rocked back and forth. A tattered dark green tarp had been pulled taut above us, over a few metal poles that bridged one side of the truck bed to the other. Several long tears, showing streaks of sky beyond, suggested this was far from the truck’s first ride.
Around me, too many shoes didn’t fit. Sleeves hung over dirt-caked knuckles. Skinny arms folded tight across ribs in a feeble attempt to take up less space. Heads down, eyes fixed to the floor—nowhere, maybe a better place than here.
There were twenty of us. Maybe? I cautioned myself against counting. Counting would require looking. Looking would require seeing. And seeing would, worst of all, require remembering: the first way to bleed.
I tried to ignore the crying boy, but couldn’t. He had those quiet whimpers he was trying to control the way kids do. They broke through anyway, slipping past his defenses and mine, past clenched teeth and squeezed eyelids.
The rest is coming. Get the next chapters when they go out.
A novel by Rick Foerster
Forget
this tosurvive
Expected Spring 2027
Cover reveal coming soon
Be there when it lands
Early access editions, cover reveal, release date, and a few other specials for subscribers only.
- Length
- Roughly 300 pages. Under 5 hours estimated reading time.
- Reader
- Upper young adult (14+), with adult crossover
- Series
- Reads as a standalone. Four books planned.
- Publisher
- Blank Page Press
- Expected
- Spring 2027
About Rick
His explorations about life remain terrifically interesting.
Rick Foerster is a recovering startup executive who walked away from a successful career to write about meaning, identity, and the terrifying risk of feeling anything at all. His fiction blends propulsive action with psychological and philosophical depth. He also writes essays on work, reinvention, and modern ambition at The Way of Work.
He wrote Forget This To Survive out of a long obsession with our need for belonging in a world that feels indifferent, and the internal battle to stay human when the world — and your own mind — want you to disappear.
Questions
What is Forget This To Survive about?
Forget This To Survive follows Torin West (nicknamed “Shep”) a 17-year-old memory-haunted orphan trained to “forget this to survive.” He’s forced on deadly supply runs into a ruined city, but to escape the camp that exploits him, he must scavenge the one place he refuses to look: yesterday.
Forget This To Survive is a pulse-pounding post-apocalyptic thriller and dark coming-of-age story about identity, found family, and the stories we tell ourselves to keep going. For fans of The Last of Us, Silo, and Chaos Walking.
What age is Forget This To Survive appropriate for?
Forget This To Survive is an upper-young adult novel with adult crossover appeal, best for readers 14 and up. It contains violence, peril, and death, handled with restraint rather than gore. Adult fans of character-driven post-apocalyptic fiction will enjoy its psychological and philosophical depth. In general, it will resonate with readers who’ve felt the weight of systematic failures, the impulse to numb themselves to reality, and the desire to deceive themselves (and others) when it comes to harsh truths.
Content note: This novel contains violence, trauma, and death involving minors.
Is Forget This To Survive a “zombie” book?
Not exactly. The monsters (“the Wild”) have zombie-adjacent features, but… you know what? I’m just gonna leave it there. If you’re expecting a pure “zombie slasher” (e.g. The Walking Dead), you may be disappointed. Readers who want a fresh take on post-apocalyptic fiction (e.g. The Last of Us) will feel at home.
Is there a love triangle in Forget This To Survive?
If there was one, I guarantee you at least two of them would die very quickly. The relationships that drive the story are friendship, found family, loyalty, and betrayal.
Is there a hidden political message in Forget This To Survive?
Yes: how to manage a child labor camp in a post-apocalyptic economy.
How dark or violent is Forget This To Survive?
The book has suspenseful scenes, but it’s not as scary as most horror. And there’s some violence, but the gore (mostly) happens off page. It’s heavy, but funny in places and earns its hope instead of handing it to you.
How long is Forget This To Survive?
The book is intentionally short-ish at approximately 72,000 words — about 300 pages. Early readers consistently said it’s a fast-moving read told in propulsive chapters.
Is Forget This To Survive part of a series?
Forget This To Survive works as a standalone book, but may evolve into a series (I already have 4 books planned). The book ends with a few open threads… let me know if you want to see them continued!
Did AI write Forget This To Survive?
No. Every sentence of Forget This To Survive was written by me (Rick talking here). I did not use AI to generate prose (i.e. “write”). I did use some AI as a light editor during revision, such as identifying grammatical issues or continuity issues. In the development of the book, I also hired 2 coaches, 2 editors, 1 cover designer, and worked with 12 beta readers. I’m pretty sure they’re all human.
I ran my manuscript through Pangram (AI detection software) and scored “99.3% Human.” Apparently, I’m 0.7% not human, which, if you were to ask my wife, probably feels generous.
Where and when can I buy Forget This To Survive?
Forget This To Survive is coming soon at online retailers, like Amazon. It will be available in print (hardcover and paperback) and ebook.
Sign up for updates and you’ll be the first to know when it comes out.
Forget. Survive.
Then remember again.
Early access editions, cover reveal, release date, and a few other specials for subscribers only.