Following the energy crisis of the late twentieth century, America has been abandoned.

Now, a century later, a small group of European explorers returns to the now climatically mutated continent. But America is unrecognizable — the Bering Strait has been dammed and much of the country has become a desert, populated by isolated natives and the bizarre remnants of a disintegrated culture. The expedition sets off from Manhattan on a cross-country journey, through Holiday Inns and abandoned theme parks, to uncover a shocking new power in the heart of Las Vegas.