Jennifer Government

Max Barry's satire is set in a Ralph Nader nightmare. It's the near-future in the Australian Territories of the U.S. The government has been privatized. The entire world (except France) is run by Big Business, and the term "corporate conscience" remains an oxymoron. In Barry's world, hostile takeovers mean real war between rival companies. His highly original characters are the comic book equivalent of American consumerism. Michael Kramer gives a terrific performance. He makes Buy Mitsui, millionaire nice-guy, sound like a gentle bear. Jennifer Government, federal agent with a barcode tattooed on her cheekbone, sounds steely and paranoid. Hack Nike, hapless pawn in a game of Ultimate Chess, is convincingly bewildered. Kramer gets right into the wacky sensibilities of the author, and the results are tremendous fun. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

January 6, 2003
Free enterprise runs amok in Barry's satirical near-future nightmare: the American government has been privatized and now runs most of the world, including "the Australian Territories of the U.S.A.," where the book is set. American corporations sponsor everything from schools to their employees' identities, and literally go to war with one another. By taking a drink at the wrong water cooler, Hack Nike, a merchandising officer at the athletic shoe company whose name he bears, is coerced into a nefarious marketing plot to raise the demand for Nike's new $2,500 sneakers by shooting teenagers. Hank becomes responsible for the death of hapless teen Hayley McDonald's; he and two top Guerrilla Marketing executives, both named John Nike, are soon pursued by the ruthless Jennifer Government, a former advertising executive who is now a federal agent with a personal ax to grind—and preferably to sink into the cranium of her hated ex, one of the John Nikes. Barry tosses off his anticorporate zingers with relish; his sendup of "capitalizm"—a world where fraud is endemic and nearly everyone (except the French) is a cog in vast wealth-creation machines—has some ingenious touches. The one-joke shtick wears thin, however, and is simply overdone at times ("I'm getting rid of Government, the greatest impediment to business in history," says John. "Yes, some people die. But look at the gain!"). Barry's cartoonish characters and comic book chase scenes don't allow for much psychological subtlety or emotional resonance. Still, if it's no 1984, this breezy, stylish read will amuse the converted and get some provocative conversations going. (On sale Jan. 21)Forecast:Doubleday promises a "guerrilla marketing" campaign, and the book's weird, eye-catching title should help grab readers' attention. Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney's Section 8 Films have optioned film rights, and foreign rights have been sold in Australia, Finland, Germany, Japan, New Zealand and the U.K.

In the near future, giant corporations rule the world, and governments are but competing firms, and by no means the most powerful ones. Instead of family names, workers take on the names of their employers. In this mega-industrialized world, the swashbuckling cop of the title, the one with the barcode tattoo under her eye, must bring to justice executives who have ordered random murders in order to boost the price of their top-of-the-line sneakers. This satiric thriller from down under draws a Yankee narrator, Patrick Frederic, a very capable Yank who delivers all the thrills and chills and humor we could wish. Y.R. 2005 YALSA Selection (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine