The 5th Wave is a young adult science fiction novel written by American author Rick Yancey. It was published on May 7, 2013, by G. P. Putnam's Sons. The novel is the first in the 5th Wave trilogy, followed by The Infinite Sea and The Last Star. The story follows 16-year-old Cassie Sullivan as she tries to survive in a world devastated by waves of alien invasions that decimated the Earth's population