An intriguing blend of speculative fiction and dystopic cautionary tale, Jon P. Roth’s novel revolves around two former college roommates and their attempt to stop an insidious government-funded, black budget operation.

Devon Birch is a genius software engineer in charge of the development of a much-anticipated video game. But his bosses want the violence ratcheted up, and Birch balks: “Ignorant parents will buy this game for their kids, legions of growing humans taught to hate and devalue each other with maximum skill and violence…,” he thinks to himself.

Just days before the video gaming company secures financial backing, Birch sells his house, buys a motorcycle, and disappears, leaving his boss in a murderous rage. Birch’s old roomie, Angel Oleastro is heading a high-security project, building drones for alleged military use. But as the job’s mission begins changing, Angel soon realizes he could be involved in a grand-scale conspiracy to control—i.e., enslave—the world’s population. Discovering Angel’s predicament, Birch attempts to help his friend stop the drones’ covert spread before it’s too late.
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The story’s commentary about video game violence is particularly powerful, as is its theme about humankind’s growing dependence on technology and separation from the natural world. The sequences where Birch is simply existing—watching birds, walking through rows of corn, etc.—are shockingly profound.

The novel’s many thematic strengths are offset with some questionable decisions, however. Angel’s boss is revealed to be a furry —an oversexed man who dresses as a squirrel called Nutkin—which, while humorous, negatively impacts the storyline’s intensity. Also, the sequences involving contractors hired to retrieve downed drones are gratuitously brutal and will surely shock and offend many readers. Lastly, the thread about Birch’s reoccurring nightmare could have been removed and not have impacted the narrative’s power.

That aside, this novel has a lot to say. Fans of contemporary science fiction and mainstream thrillers will enjoy the action and adventure, as well as the thematic punch.

Also available as an ebook.