 Following two novels for children, "A Report from Group 17" was the first of two dystopian novels that O'Brien wrote for adults.His last novel, "Z for Zachariah" (1974), depicts a conflict between two survivors of a nuclear war and deals with similar themes.12-year-old Allison Adam lives with her mother and 2 brothers in an isolated farmhouse by Seneca Lake (a reservoir that was being planned at the time O'Brien wrote his story) near Washington D.C. Every day after school, Allie stops by the walled grounds of Villa Petrograd, property of the Soviet embassy, and climbs a tree to view monkeys at a small zoo there.