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Living in Grandville, California, Tobias is well-employed with the First Community Bank. When he learns that the new liberal President of the United States is going to push the transition of parts of California, Oregon, and Washington into a semi-autonomous, socialist experiment named Utopeana, he is not overly concerned. However, he begins to notice how news and information are becoming tightly controlled and that taxes are dramatically increasing. Following this, Utopeana issues a plan that will pull most individual citizens' retirement into the government. Well-versed in financial matters, Tobias finds a loophole and starts a program through the bank. He titles the program Play It Safe. It is designed to put individuals’ retirement funds out of the government's reach. The program is very successful, but Tobias soon learns the consequences of standing up to Utopeana. He is audited; the land he inherited from his parents is being threatened; and he is refused the right to leave Utopeana to visit his extremely sick partner. Tobias finally realizes the existential danger he is in. He devises a plan to escape Utopeana and search for legal means within the existing United States to fight for his land.
Salazar’s novel falls into a long line of dystopian stories. Like Salazar’s, many of those deal with the fallout of an extremist political party obtaining power. In this book, the socialist agenda is the cause of the loss of individual rights. Alex Garland’s 2024 movie Civil War shows a similar struggle where an authoritarian government takeover causes parts of California and Texas to secede, plunging the country into chaos. George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is a literary classic closest to Salazar’s book in terms of tone and theme. Both feature a socialist government that controls the flow of information and operates under a regime of propaganda and surveillance. Any individual who doesn’t completely conform will be persecuted and sent to a re-education camp in order to learn the correct manner of thinking. In Orwell’s version, the protagonist doesn’t escape, and the reader witnesses the complete collapse of the protagonist’s individualism. Salazar offers a more hopeful outcome where rational minds win out and the rule of law will ultimately prevail.
Salazar’s book is well-edited. The writing is clear and easy to follow, and the pace remains steady throughout. He easily nods to current political and societal events and weaves these topics into his narrative. The influence of previous politically driven dystopian works is clear, but Salazar manages to make his story reflect the immediate times of today. Particularly noteworthy is the manner in which the author shows the progressive loss of rights, which moves from society as a group until it finally falls directly on the individual, or in this case, the protagonist, Tobias. The reader sees the clear progression of the government’s control, but it seems to surprise Tobias when it strikes him that he is being individually targeted. Some readers will note that the large amount of content focused on the political landscape somewhat hampers the protagonist's and secondary characters' full development, but that is common in the genre. Orwell’s version may hit harder and induce more widespread fear when considering the loss of independent thought and the ability of a government to persecute the individual, but Salazar offers a fresh and contemporary take on the tale. Readers who enjoy the genre, especially those involved in political discourse, will find this an engaging title.