I've been working on a post-apocalyptic novel and wanted some feedback

The story takes place forty years after the Fall in the frozen ruins of Montana. It follows nineteen-year-old Jude Mercer, who was raised in a military program called Project Ash, run by an organization known as the Concordat. He grew up in a compound where children were trained to hunt the deadliest creatures left in the world.

The creatures are known scientifically as Echotra, but most people simply call them Apex. They originated from an ancient bacterium discovered inside a fossil that ended up changing human biology and reshaping humanity itself.

The whole thing eventually turned into a 554-page novel, which is honestly still a little crazy to me considering I wrote it in about four months.

I've spent so much time working on this story that it's hard for me to tell how it comes across to other people. Does the premise sound interesting, or is there anything that stands out to you?