Review of ‘2039’

Posted on March 27, 2014

In 2014, the United States is perhaps at a crossroads. Extreme partisanship has created what amounts to gridlock in Washington, DC, and the fallout of paranoia from 9/11 continues to threaten our personal liberties. What, you might ask, will the country look like in another quarter century? In 2039, industrialist turned author Martin Shapiro extrapolates the future based on what is happening now.

The story of Jonathan and Ida Kadish, well-to-do Jewish citizens of a United States that has become what amounts to a police state, where personal liberty is a thing of the past, and every aspect of a citizen’s life is controlled by an impersonal, uncaring state bureaucracy. Shapiro paints a dismal picture of a possible future in a gripping story of one family’s desire to live life on their own terms. One doesn’t have to agree with Shapiro to enjoy this story, which is replete with details – many eerily similar to, or projections of, current trends.

A compelling tale of what could happen if you fall into the category of the type of person who ‘wonders what’s happening.’

Four Stars to Shapiro for a work of dystopian fiction that sets a high bar for alternate future novels.