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The United States is in disarray. The government has little control and uses its waning power and influence to fleece any group it can: a true kleptocracy. Latinos have been sorted into a collection of barrios around the United States, where they were going to be sorted for deportation. Instead, they were just left there. However, the barrios set up their own governments and militias. Most goods and commodities are brought and sold through the barrios, and life within them is much better than life on the outside. Martin, a gringo, is a cop in the barrios. His main job is to help lost people, give directions to the public bathrooms, and stay out of the way of the local Latino militia—the Greenhats. However, when Martin's decency gets the best of him, and he saves some Latino girls from violent smugglers, he becomes much more involved.
He begins dating Eliana, a Latino teacher who is one of the women he saved. This is frowned upon, but the two continue their relationship. When the U.S. president, Cassandra, has finally burned all her bridges, she realizes her time is up. Her successor decides to buy out all the barrios and send the inhabitants packing. It appears to be a good deal for the barrio's citizens, but nothing coming from the government is ever a good deal. Martin wants Eliana to stay with him, but she insists that it is a death sentence due to her race. She wants him to go with her, but he feels that without his job, he will become like one of the lifeless outsiders he sees show up on market day for free food.
Martin's novel is a dystopian work with a setting that is more contemporary than futuristic. It is doubtful dystopian books will ever go completely out of favor, but in times of major political strife, they seem to be more common. It is easy to make comparisons with this work to those classics like Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four and Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. However, this book recalls a much different, more modern title: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. The similarities may not be immediately apparent, as Snow Crash is a work of science fiction heavily influenced by the cyberpunk genre and virtual reality.
Stetina's book seems even less futuristic than today, as people still rely on newspapers and the radio to get information about current events. There is little talk of any other technology. However, the system Stetina has in place with the government failing and stealing all it can, while the barrios, like city-states, are the areas of commerce and stability, parallel very well with Stephenson's corporate-run city-states. Both have these small areas that are self-governed and protected, and which only give a cursory nod to the U.S. Government. It is actually within these little sanctuaries, or prisons, depending on your point of view, where life can have any means of normalcy. Both books demonstrate that threats to these small, independent areas have significant importance and far-reaching impacts.
Stetina's book is well-written and easy to read. The pacing is consistent, and his writing includes multiple offerings of memorable and quotable lines. Martin is a likeable protagonist, although both he and Eliana often sound more mature than their actual age. The final paragraph helps drive home the themes while recalling T.S. Eliot's "The Hollow Men." Overall, this is a good book, and fans of dystopian works as well as those who are interested in character development will thoroughly enjoy this read.
A 2025 Eric Hoffer Book Award Montaigne Medal Finalist