“A dystopian thriller, an action book through which the author masterfully describes a world in disintegration.”
NO MAJOR SPOILERS
Here we are in the near future faced with many social problems, when state institutions are overwhelmed and almost ineffective. Wars smoldering for years break out again here and there; seemingly endless natural disasters burn huge chunks of the planet’s flesh; dead economies, rations and cards, plagues and revolts are the order.
In an increasingly polarized society, resulting from the new world order, which led to dramatic and fundamental changes in the social hierarchy, there is an ongoing dispute, more and more violent, between the SYSTEM and the members of that society. Common people have moved from the periphery to the bright side of the New Town. The outskirts are occupied by „outcasts”, who, in the not too distant past were important, well-read people, who were excluded because of this by the „dominating and greedy core of an elite without moral and common sense.” This is the „picture” of the society where the action happens and which we feel close to materializing nowadays.
Because crimes multiplied fast enough and prisons were filled with criminals and there were less and less guards, an American senator had the idea of building prisons on decommissioned ships, placed somewhere in the middle of the ocean, with minimal costs, without guards, without any possibility of escape or rescue and very safe, because they had the most feared jailers: the sharks!
Those who were to be imprisoned here were among the most dangerous. This is the kind of prison where Melissa and Seed arrive, each representing the interests of completely opposing „institutions”, that aimed to release scientist Simon and bring him to the „institution” to which each of them belonged. The prison consisted of 4 oil tankers: Missouri, Haru, Abkhazia and Potemkin, placed in a square and anchored at an underwater volcano. This „Noah’s Ark” was full of „freaks and misfits.” What was needed for life on the „Iron Island”, as the prisoners called the prison, was supplied every two weeks by parachute. The new contingent of prisoners also reached there in the same way as the supplies. Most of them perished in the ferocious jaws of the sharks.
The mission to release the scientist proved particularly difficult. Hierarchies had already developed on the 4 ships and it was difficult to keep your head on your shoulders. The scientist was the one who held the formula of an unparalleled discovery: cold fusion, „a type of alternative energy, more secure, more efficient and with a production-delivery cost close to zero”, which every citizen of the planet could afford. But if we change only one variable in the equation, it becomes the most powerful weapon of mass destruction. Finally, the forces of good win and humanity is saved, it is not known for how long.
The book is written in an exciting manner, the scenes unveil at a fast pace and that’s why it is hard to describe it. It contains all the success ingredients of an American action movie: a lot of adventure, suspense, intrigue, fantasy and the characters are so expressive and real that you can almost touch them. An exciting book, a book that anticipates the future of humanity, or does it? This is a book that will not allow you to put it down right up to the last page…
The book contains surprises and raises concern…. Read it and you will be convinced!
„Once upon a time, the world was better, people cleaner, laws fairer and more correctly applied. There was still respect for HUMAN and especially for its proven value. They were written in capital letters, now rare, such as honor, gratitude, esteem, balance, modesty and love, especially love… In time, a huge serpent, greed, crushed and destroyed what was meant by human nobility. ”
A dystopian thriller, an action book through which the author masterfully describes a world in disintegration. Among the captivating action of the book, we also distinguish strong social messages addressed to society. A book with a brilliant moral lesson.
Reviewed by:
Roxana Neguț
Added 16th December 2021
