All that's needed for evil to prevail, is for good men to do nothing

24 years ago, the father of the current president broke away from the Republican Party and started his own loyalist party with strong ties to the conservative church. Martial law is declared, supposedly for a short time like a year or so. A wall is built on the borders with voluntary labour (maybe an idea for the current president?), first in the south and later also in the north. Illegal aliens are rounded up and get deported. News from the outside world doesn’t get in anymore. Why would Americans be interested when they have everything themselves? But also domestic unnecessary travel is banned. A massive firewall goes up to block foreign enemy propaganda coming in and research into AI and prediction computer-programs are absolutely forbidden. Even a breeding program is installed to avoid congenital diseases. Most Americans are not averse to these measures as they live in peace and have free healthcare and education. Life for the average Joe isn’t too bad or so it seems in DC, where the privileged families live. Those things are all temporary measures that will be revoked when democracy is restored.
Since the son took over, things have gotten worse; more checking points, compulsory portraits of the president in every room/office and church services before work (don’t miss them or you get a black mark). He promises the return to democratic elections, but only when he’s guaranteed to win. To win he must be loved. He’s obsessed with being loved and will do ANYTHING to achieve that.

If anything, this is a disturbing and frightening read. Some of the elements in this book come scarily close to things we see happening now and in the past. I must declare strongly that I do not think that the recent Covid-9 restrictions on travel or freedom of movement do not have anything to do with the restrictions that are mentioned in the book, and I do not think that it was the author’s intention to criticise those. If anything, those measures were too little, too late and released too soon. It would have been good if we could count on common sense and civil responsibility of the average citizens but unfortunately, reality proves that there’s little of that to be found (and not only in the USA).
This story paints a bleak picture of America’s possible future. One that’s constructed from real circumstances and practices borrowed amongst others from Stalinist USSR, DDR’s Stasi, and North Korea’s Kim Yong-Un. Most frightening is that this prognosis for the future skirts the edges of reality in several places and is even plausible when taking into account the shenanigans from USA’s current president (he would love, to declare martial law) and the logical reasons given for the initial measures. The author describes a world that’s our own but as if it’s in a nightmare. It poses a number of very serious and difficult questions. How far would you have gone in the creating of this new America and how long would it take before people’s eyes would open up? And as you see what happens today, you can fool an awful lot of people for an awfully long time. It also contains a ‘hidden’ warning against the unlimited experiments with AI and similar technology/science that can unleash something that may soon spin out of control. Freedom and liberty mean different things to different people, but freedom of speech happens to be one of the most essential freedoms of our western civilisation. But this also includes that you can criticise those in government and those holding the popular/politically correct opinions. And I see that those last things are creeping into our daily life.

Personally I don’t think that Americans will give up their sacred freedoms as easily as happened in the book, but given the right amount of severe calamities coinciding, you’ll never know.
The main characters of this story belong to 2 privileged families. The Frome boys and Buchanan girls grew up in the shadow of the white house with fathers that were friends of the old president and they all believed strongly in the ideals of the Loyalist Party. But when Aaron Frome disappeared, he was assumed to have joined the rebels and the family fell from grace, they were interrogated (tortured) and the dad committed suicide eventually. Gideon joined the army and was sent to fight on the wall (yeah like Jon Snow) and now returned as a hero. He’s popular, what makes the president jealous and brings him a wicked idea.
Kate Buchanan works for Homeland security and monitors the chatter on their internet and dutifully reports encrypted threats. In secret, she has built an AI machine that can predict the future better than humans. When 1 day her sister is mentioned in one of the alerts, the computer predicts a nuclear attack in 3 weeks time with an increasing possibility rate. She deletes the name from the report but the Secret Service disregards the alert. As this prediction machine is illegal, she can’t tell anyone about it.
Every chapter starts with a relevant quote from famous Americans. I can’t say that I agree with every single one of them, but there’s food for thought in most. It also proves that when you take a quote out of its relevant context, it can be used to illustrate or support the opposite of what was originally intended.
The last chapter feels a bit rushed as if there was a deadline waiting. I suppose it was the only way to get the SS out of the way but it's not an elegant solution. The book has an open ending, a cliffhanger even that leaves ample room for a sequel.
This is certainly one of the best books that I’ve read this year (not all of them new though) and the suspense creeps to incredible levels. Just one of those books that I could not put down until my tablet battery ran empty.
I thank NetGalley and Sideway books for the free ARC they provided me with; this is my honest, unbiased review of it.