New Dark Ages

October 29, 2018
Set in the late 1970s, Kinsella’s sequel to 2017’s Recipe for Hate awkwardly blends a heavy-handed alternate history political plotline with the search for a serial killer. Earl Turner, a junior congressman from Maine, has rocketed to the top of the Republican presidential field with his America for Americans theme and his racist slogan “Right is White.” The X Gang, “a group of young punk rockers who clash with those who peddle racism and hate,” are disheartened that one of their own, who performed under the stage name of Danny Hate, has become the demagogue’s right-hand man. Meanwhile, Theresa Laverty, a “stunningly beautiful lesbian FBI agent,” and NYPD cop Pete Schenk are on the trail of a murderer who has killed two people in Manhattan and one in Ottawa. All three victims attended a concert by the Hot Nasties, a Portland, Maine, punk rock quartet. The two story lines predictably intersect. Readers will struggle to suspend disbelief about a post-Watergate America embracing an over-the-top Trump caricature.

November 1, 2018
Grades 10-1 Punk rock philosopher-king X and his roguish sidekick, Kurt Blank, are back in this sequel to Recipe for Hate? (2017). The rocker detectives are on tour; however, not all the news is good. Kurt is nursing a brand new speed habit, while X is more aloof than ever. Even worse, the band's drummer, Danny, has decided to join the presidential campaign of Earl Turner, an underdog riding a wave of white supremacy all the way to the White House. Kurt and X once again find themselves pitted against racists, with the stakes extending past the borders of their town. Kinsella has taken everything from the first installment of the X Gang series and ratcheted it up. The book depicts the good and bad of early '80s punk?the vibrant personalities as well as the violence and drugs embedded into the scene. The addition of Turner injects a political element into the story, making it prescient and impactful. This book will hit home for older, politically aware teens looking for a story of unconventional heroes rising up against reckless hate.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)