By Robert Ferrigno (New York: Scribner,2006, 395 pgs.)
What would America be like if it became an Islamic Republic in the future? The setting for the book is Seattle, 2040. ‘Black Robe’ religious police are roaming the city arresting those who violate the dress and language codes. Most Christians have fled to the old South, which is a separate country called “The Bible Belt”. The Catholic Christians, who were persuaded to remain, have definitely become second-rate citizens. Mormons have there own territory in Utah & southern Idaho, and Nevada is an unaligned “Free State”. San Francisco has become a fundamentalist conclave, where homosexuals are hung from bridges & Jews are executed immediately. In the process, science & education is severely restricted, and America has become a third-world country. This is the future that many in the middle east are seeking for America and for the whole world.
The story is a non-stop chase through Seattle, the underground, California & Nevada. The heroes have information which could change history & probably the country. An assassin is dogging their every move. It is a ‘can’t put it down’ novel filled with all sorts of ‘what ifs’. In the end, you are convinced of one thing–you really never want to live in an ‘Islamic Republic’. The ‘war on terror’ really does become a little more real and important in the process.