Thursday, March 24, 2016

BOOK REVIEW: "Every Kingdom Divided" by Stephen Kozeniewski


2035 A.D. 
After The 2nd American Civil War 
Jack Pasternak, a laid-back California doctor, receives a garbled distress call from his fiancée in Maryland before her transmissions stop altogether. Unfortunately for Jack, citizens of the Blue States are no longer allowed to cross Red America. 
He is faced with an impossible choice: ignore his lover’s peril or risk his own life and sanity by venturing into the dark heart of the Red States. When the armies of the Mexican Reconquista come marching into Los Angeles, Jack’s hand is forced and he heads east in an old-fashioned gas guzzling car.

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Books are supposed to do one of two things: take you away from reality or make you think long and hard about it. Every Kingdom Divided does the latter. Particularly in the current situation of America, this book has a Hell of a lot of things to make you think. Yes, it's dystopian fiction, but that doesn't mean that the subjects touched on are not very realistic and possible.
The book is reminiscent of authors like Orwell with a little Bradbury thrown in for good measure. It is America, thrown into a blender and come out damaged, but not completely destroyed. I remember when reading this that I had a million thoughts going through my mind, a million ideas, and all of them came from one brilliant writer. Kozeniewski is a favorite of mine, and this book was a departure from the other works of his that I have read, but it was no less enjoyable.
Now, the reason this book gets a four instead of a five is that, as a reviewer and reader, I know what readers look for, and this isn't a book that everyone can get into. For fans of speculative fiction, dystopian, and political fiction, this is a great, very gritty story. I loved it, and I think many others will, too.

4/5--dark and dsiturbing.

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