A NIGHT IN BABYLON

Two warriors in a vigilante consortium fight against governmental corruption in this novel.

West’s Mad Max–style thriller is set in an apocalyptic version of Southern California several decades in the future. After a catastrophic earthquake rocks the region, the massive destruction—and lack of intervention from regional leadership and influential corporations—causes a general feeling of unrest, dissension, and suspicion of authority, resulting in the founding of several radical militia groups aimed at curbing police corruption. One such group, the Stay Ready Soldiers, is headed by the novel’s malevolent, marijuana-smoking main characters Kali and Geronimo. The SRS pride themselves on aggressively defying leaders that openly betray the Americans they’re supposed to serve: “The government had turned against its own people, and Los Angeles was on the verge of martial law.” Acknowledging that “the City of Angels had become a cesspool of corruption, disease, poverty, and violence,” the armed and angry coalition battles militant police whose mission is to eliminate rebels—particularly the members of the SRS, for whom “the protocol was always shoot to kill.” The novel acquires most of its narrative momentum from this initial setup and the fact that the action occurs over the course of about a single day. The story encompasses resilient main characters, futuristic weaponry, bloody shootouts, and the classic tenets of good versus evil. Overall, it’s a fast-paced ride that should engage fans of techno-thrillers. More hardcore SRS operatives with nicknames such as Dirt, Horse, Numbers, and Bunchy are introduced in the narrative, but Kali and Geronimo consistently take the lead traveling in underground service tunnels and even partaking in interdimensional travel to stealthily strategize and preserve the greater good.

It should be noted, however, that West’s story is not at all for readers who may be faint of heart. The pages overflow with raw dialogue, explicit bloodshed, and torture-filled interrogations as well as sexual assault. From the opening scenes to the chaotic, open-ended conclusion inside Los Angeles’ Natural History Museum, West’s tale offers “an explosive array of death-defying stunts,” just as its narration notes, and it never skimps on describing the many grisly details along the way. Plotting against the SRS is a band of vicious CIA–contracted civil defense mercenaries in a roving “war machine”; its only direction is to slaughter and rid the state of organized bands of opponents. These soldiers are part of the Black Hawk Battalion, an impressively equipped team with microchipped brain stems and advanced weaponry that allows it to overwhelm its targets. The inclusion of these military men makes the story oddly haunting, on the whole, due to its timely mirroring of recent events involving standoffs between protesting citizens and riot-geared police officers. SRS’s tagline, “Freedom Justice Equality,” is one that will distinctly resonate among people who are currently fighting for the same rights. Those readers who are able to stomach the novel’s violent content will find its themes and fearless characters to be both remarkable and relevant.

Bloody battle scenes fuel this futuristic and engaging story of justice and survival.