Trigger Warning: Torture, rape, graphic violence
In this cautionary tale of the decay of democratic systems, author Kimberly Amato delivers the chilling reminder that every generation discards the lessons of history at its own peril - and that of generations to come.
On New Year's Day 2045, a desperate remnant of the 20-year-old resistance prepares for its final stand against the ruthless tyranny of the new world order. As cells of resistance across the world crumble, this tattered underground - literally, housed in the subterranean tunnels of the New York subway - strikes on two fronts: the prison which conceals a sadistic experimental medical facility and the very seat of power, where the battle reaches its explosive conclusion.
Their leader Ellie Goldman, a renegade agent of the former Multinational Security Council remembers democracy in its last throes. Yet as disillusioned, debased, and desperate - one could argue, insane - as Ellie is, she retains the cache of compassion.
Amato has created a soul-grindingly brutal post-apocalyptic world where everybody is a potential enemy—anybody could turn you in to the authorities. Human life is worthless; women, useless except as receptacles. Skin color is a crime. The prisons are full of thought criminals, people of color, women, and rebels, overseen by guards whose fate has been determined by the state's assignment testing.
Mistrust and division are everywhere, even among the brothers of the resistance, even between the real brothers, Sam, a student dedicated to the resistance, and Tim, a prison guard ensnared in the government's torturing, extremely violent and sadistic machine. As the novel accelerates to its shocking but inevitable conclusion, the brothers act out the timeless struggle between love and so-called "duty"—actually the noose of authoritarianism--as the fate of humanity is decided by one idealistic woman determined to give the world a fresh start.
