Description
In Michael Hopping’s darkly envisioned America, corporate control has proceeded apace.
Political resistance has been outlawed, and activists who seek progressive change are considered enemies of the free market state. It is an America that could happen tomorrow—or may already be in place.
Caitlin Schmidt, a young woman of privilege, has chosen to defy the powers that be. She and others in the Digger resistance work to build an alternative society in the shadow of the free market. They also support a local campaign against Palomar Coatings, a company whose wastewater discharges are blamed for polluting the municipal water supply. One prominent protester is disappeared by the secret police of the Internal Security Authority and dies in custody. That’s only the start of an increasingly dangerous battle between activists and Palomar supporters, which include the secret police, mainstream media, citizens worried about jobs, and a violent white supremacist group known as The Brotherhood of the Fiery Sword.
Caitlin’s lover, Xan Hicks, doesn’t consider himself an activist, but that doesn’t mean he’s passive. Years earlier, in the aftermath of a catastrophic earthquake, he’d attempted to rescue a friend from the rubble of a Memphis hotel. Failing that, he did manage to bring another man and his two little girls to safety. Unfortunately for Xan, cable news was waiting when they emerged from the wreckage, and since that night he has been in hiding from his fifteen minutes of fame. Now, he fears for Caitlin’s safety and begs her to leave politics alone, before it’s too late.
“With uncanny prescience and nuanced story, Hopping deftly crafts the convoluted personal and political relationships in a disturbingly familiar world….”
~ Clare Hanrahan, author, Conscience & Consequence: A Prison Memoir
“Absolutely first-rate. The plot is gripping, not to say frightening. It is chillingly close to reality.”
~ Sarah-Ann Smith, author, Trang Sen: A Novel of Vietnam
