THE GLASS BOX - J. Michael Straczynski


Riley Diaz is a fighter. When she is picked up and prosecuted for part in an 'illegal' protest, she is given the option of a prison sentence or time spent in an  American Renewal Center for re-education. The centers are a relatively new concept, based on the Emergency Detention Act of 1950 which has never been removed. There is little to no oversight to what happens in the Center and the sadistic doctor tasked with rehabilitating the criminals has an inordinate amount of leeway to do as he pleases.  And he pleases to do quite a lot.

But Diaz does not bend or break to the doctor's outrageous methods and the other patients in the center slowly come to see Riley worthy of following. She even manages to befriend the loner nicknamed 'Frankenstein'. 

Riley has connections on the outside, but for various reasons those connections are waning and if there's any chance of shutting down the questionably legal program from the inside, time is running out.

Author J. Michael Straczynski has written an exciting, powerful, allegorical, dystopian tale. 

Riley Diaz is the star of the book here and Straczynski provides the nearly perfect heroine.  Tough but at risk, we get behind her as soon as we meet her, and we absolutely get caught up in her story, rooting and cheering when she gives the unkind doctor what's coming to him - even if it results in some (un)expected consequences.

There's page-turning excitement in the conflict between Riley and the doctor and with Riley trying to find a sympathetic ear among the staff. The relationship with Frankenstein is just a little over the top - anyone who knows the story can pretty much anticipate what's going to happen. But Straczynski's writing keeps us going, even if we do know what's going to happen. 

In addition to the writing, the storyline is is captivating in large part because it rings so true. The Internal Security Act of 1950, 64 Stat. 987 (Public Law 81-831), AKA the Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950 is an actual law, giving the President "the authority to apprehend and detain each person as to whom there is a reasonable ground to believe that such person probably will engage in, or probably will conspire with others to engage in, acts of espionage or sabotage." Given the atmosphere in current politics, it's not much of a stretch to see something very much like this happening. Science fiction?  One could see this as a call to action.

Looking for a good book? The Glass Box by J. Michael Straczynski is an exciting, quick read of a tomorrow that is maybe a little too close to today for comfort.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

4-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

The Glass Box

author: J. Michael Straczynski

publisher: Blackstone Publishing, Inc.

ISBN: 9798212007795

hardcover, 266 pages

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MURDLE VOLUME 1 - G. T. Karber

Image
 I enjoy puzzles of many different varieties. I had not heard of 'Murdle' before this but essentially this is a combination of the game of Clue and a Sherlock Holmes micro story. With suspects, possible murder weapons, potential locations, and/or motives plus some very brief hints, readers are meant to combine the logic of what's know with deductive reasoning to identify the killer (or killers?) in 100 different mystery word puzzles. I will admit right off the bat that I did not do all 100.  I didn't even do half of these, but I did so some random sampling through all the categories (Elementary, Occult Medium, Hard Boiled, and Impossible). I did not get any correct in the Impossible category (of course not ... they were impossible!) and only one correct in the Hard Boiled (of five). The Elementary puzzles were, as expected, pretty easy and the Hard Boiled only a little bit more difficult. Each mini mystery comes with a grid printed in the book to help the reader-detecti
Read more

VINYL RESTING PLACE - Olivia Blacke

Image
 Juni Jessup and her two sister, Tansy and Maggie, have gone into business together in their hometown of Cedar River, Texas, opening a combination record store and coffee shop. Vinyl LPs are making a comeback after all, despite critics thinking the medium was dead.  But speaking of 'dead' ... finding a dead body in the supply closet just as they are looking to have a grand opening is not part of the plan.  Juni's life gets more complicated when their uncle, Calvin, already a suspect in the murder, disappears. And the police officer leading the investigation is Juni's EX-boyfriend (who passive-aggressively keeps putting himself back into her life). Convinced that her uncle would never murder anyone, Juni sets out to prove his innocence - which isn't easy since he's making himself look guilty - because Calvin is family and family is EVERYthing to Juni. As readers of my blog know, I'm not a big fan of most cozy mysteries, but the setting caught my eye and my in
Read more

THE RAVEN THIEF - Gigi Pandian

Image
 With Tempest Raj now a member of the company, Secret Staircase Construction (a company who, as their title suggests, builds mystery-themed, secret rooms inside homes) has finished their first job. Their client now wants to celebrate to kick off her new beginning - new home and new life now that she's divorced from her cheating ex-husband, famous mystery author Corbin Colt. First up, a mock séance to remove any trace of Corbin from the property, led by Tempest's friend, Sanjay.   But during that séance, while all those gathered sat in a dark room holding hands, Corbin's dead body crashes the party, falling across the table in front of everyone. There were eight people in the room, and they were all holding hands, but all the evidence points to one of them being the murderer.  Suspicions point to Ash, Tempest's grandfather, because he was the only one with Corbin's blood on him. Of course, as a doctor, he was also the only one who checked on the body - wherein he acq
Read more