In 1918, America is fighting a war on foreign soil while rumors of a deadly epidemic cause panic on the home front. The uninfected town of Commonwealth, Washington, votes to quarantine itself, and two young friends guard the town entrance. Their objective: to keep strangers, and the disease, out. That's a glimpse into the opening of Thomas Mullen's book The Last Town on Earth, chosen for Murray State's 2010 Freshman Reading Experience. Here, Jacque Day speaks with the author.