Here is the query letter, minus the spoiler-filled final paragraph, which introduces the story fairly well:
Skyler is immune to a disease that has wiped out most of humanity. Only one place on Earth is safe for those not immune: Darwin, Australia, where a space elevator of alien origin suppresses the disease. Trapped in the city, the ragged citizens of Darwin rely on food grown aboard orbiting space stations to survive. They rely on scavengers like Skyler for everything else.
With a small crew of fellow ‘immunes’, Skyler leads missions into the dangerous world beyond Darwin’s safe-zone, searching for the useful relics of old Earth. Spare parts, ammunition, books -- for a price, Skyler will find it. When a reviled political leader hires him to retrieve information from a long-abandoned telescope, and smuggle the data to scientists living in orbit, Skyler is thrust into the middle of a conspiracy.
The book is, of course, more complicated than that.
Note: I also trimmed out the first and last paragraphs. If you're an aspiring writer and interested in the "full query" for learning purposes, including the intro and outro, drop me a note.
An excerpt of the book is available here.
