Published 16th February 2023 by Orenda Books.
From the cover of the book:
In a near future, where civilisation has collapsed, a government of youth has taken power in North America. All older people deemed responsible for the cataclysmic climate emergency are relocated, but a breakaway group escapes exile to seek freedom … at devastating cost…Civilisation is collapsing…
Frustrated and angry after years of denial and inaction, in a last-ditch attempt to stave off disaster, a government of youth has taken power in North America, and a policy of institutionalised ageism has been introduced. All those older than the prescribed age are deemed responsible for the current state of the world, and are to be ‘relocated’, their property and assets confiscated.
David Ashworth, known by his friends and students as Teacher, and his wife May, find themselves among the thousands being moved to ‘new accommodation’ in the abandoned southern deserts – thrown together with a wealthy industrialist and his wife, a high court lawyer, two recent immigrants to America, and a hospital worker. Together, they must come to terms with their new lives in a land rendered unrecognisable.
As the terrible truth of their situation is revealed, lured by rumours of a tropical sanctuary where they can live in peace, they plan a perilous escape. But the world outside is more dangerous than they could ever have imagined. And for those who survive, nothing will ever be the same again…
***********
In a near future where the impact of climate change has radically altered the face of the earth, civilisation is collapsing, and drastic measures are deemed vital to mitigate disaster. The young have taken power in America laying the blame for the future they have been handed squarely at the feet of the earlier generations. To compensate for their inaction, anyone older than a prescribed age must now be 'relocated' to the barren wastes of the south, forfeiting their assets in the process.
David 'Teach' Ashworth, and his wife May, are loaded onto a bus and shipped south with thousands of others who have hit the cut-off age. Their new home is a cramped apartment that they must share with an obnoxious wealthy businessman and his poisonous lawyer wife, two recent immigrants to America who are scarred by the things they have seen in Africa, and a hospital worker whose homosexuality marks him as a target in this age of religious mania.
This reality of this new life is that it offers little more than existence in a concentration camp. Escape is the only solution, fed by rumours of a tropical sanctuary, but for Teach and his new found compatriots this is a dangerous prospect - and what lays beyond the razor wire fence is an unknown in these perilous times.
This story plays out through the narration of Teach in the present as he does his best to record the events of the past for posterity, bleeding back and forth between the life he lives now and the horrors that have brought him to this moment in time. The pacing and nature of the storytelling that Hardisty uses for the present and past are intriguingly different. In the present, an older Teach reflects on the future of humanity as he is approaching the end of a long, hard life, and these sections are full of deeply emotional philosophising, although not without some beautifully wrought dramatic tension. In parallel, the episodes recounting the past are rife with all the worst examples of human depravity that an authentic post-apocalyptic thriller can throw at you. Flipping between them is curiously disorienting, building almost unbearable suspense as the questions you ask yourself at the beginning of the novel are answered by the exquisitely timed reveals dropped throughout the twisting plotlines in the past. This is masterful storytelling from Hardisty, and it holds you fast from cover to cover, leaving you breathless and bloody when a very disturbing truth is finally revealed.
The events leading up to the future Hardisty paints are so realistic that you can taste them - and what a bitter taste they leave. He outlines the conflict between environmental campaigners and climate change deniers with powerful insight, and his prediction about how disaster can not only be hastened by inaction, but accelerated by false political promises, is horrifyingly believable. The conflict between an older generation caught between guilt and denial, and younger generation filled with resentment and the need for retribution is uncomfortably visceral, and deeply thought provoking.
I am impressed by the way Hardisty manages to wrap up so many important messages in such a gripping tale. He lays out plainly how opinion can be manipulated by short-sighted greed; how the arrogance of the few can impact the lives of the many; and conveys some very hard truths about the kind of future we are facing. And yet, as much as this story is intensely unsettling, and full of heinous acts, there are glimmers of the kindness of strangers, and of pulling together in adversity, and it does leave you with a feeling that there is hope. This book is simply outstanding, and it should be required reading!
The Forcing is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.
Thank you to Orenda Books for sending me an ecopy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the author:
The first four novels in his Claymore Straker series, The Abrupt Physics of Dying, The Evolution of Fear, Reconciliation for the Dead and Absolution all received great critical acclaim and The Abrupt Physics of Dying was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger and Telegraph Thriller of the Year.
Paul is a sailor, a private pilot, keen outdoorsman, conservation volunteer, and lives in Western Australia.
Thanks for the blog tour support x
ReplyDelete