Flashback

Starred review from May 23, 2011
Simmons makes some logical if depressing extrapolations from current political and economic developments in this outstanding mystery thriller set in a near-future dystopic United States. The loss of credible deterrence after the U.S. drastically reduced its nuclear arsenal as part of a deal with Russia has led to devastating attacks by Muslim terrorists on Israel. Most Americans take flashback, an addictive drug that brings back favorite memories, to relive the past when they should be planning for the future. One such addict is Nick Bottom, a former Denver police officer, who loses himself in re-experiencing good times with his late wife. Billionaire Hiroshi Nakamura, one of the fragmented nation's nine regional Federal Advisors, hires Bottom to find the unknown assailant who cut the throat of his only son, 20-year-old Keigo, six years earlier. Bottom, who worked on the unsolved crime, uses flashback to pick up a trail suggesting a far from simple motive for Keigo's killing. Simmons keeps the action moving briskly and smoothly, despite the novel's length.

Even this trio of capable narrators cannot turn this lemon into lemonade. Ostensibly, it's a murder mystery that takes place in 2032. Disgraced former police detective Nick Bottom is hired by Nakamura, a top official in a disintegrating America, to reinvestigate the unsolved murder of Nakamura's son The author hits you squarely over the head with his right-wing politics. America has declined because of Obama; Muslims and Mexicans have taken over; 911 is a celebrated holiday; global warming has been declared a fraud--and on and on. Had he removed the polemics, the book would have been somewhat entertaining. The three narrators all complement each other: slick narration on the part of Bryan Kennedy, rough voices on the part of Richard Davidson, and great accents from Joe Barrett. But they just can't carry the whole production. A.L.H. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine