Review: Revolver

Revolver by Michael Patrick Hicks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In an all too plausible dystopian future, Cara Stone agrees to be on Revolver, a web show where the contestant raises money for his or her family before killing themselves on live TV. Too bad Cara has other plans...

Michael Patrick Hicks is one of those sneaky Goodreads authors that pretends to be an ordinary reader and rarely mentions his own books. Pretty slick, huh?

Anyway, Revolver is a dystopian novella reminiscent of Richard Bachman's The Running Man. Society has gone to hell in a hand basket since the women-hating, gun-loving religious zealots took over. Food riots are common and The Revolver is the only way out for a lot of people. Yeah, it's way too plausible and not as far away as one might hope. Cara ruminates on her past as the show time grows near. When the cameras role, things quickly go off the rails with Cara wielding the smoking gun.

Michael's writing packs a punch, both in terms of subject matter and word choices. Also, the suspense is agonizing. There are some powerful moments in the book and I'm at a loss at how to express myself. Fear for the future? Hell, fear for the present?

Revolver is one powerful little novella and a chilling vision of things to come. Five out of five stars.

Note: For the month of May, Michael is donating the proceeds from Revolver to the ACLU. See his website for details.

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