FKA USA totally and completely reinforces that desire. If this is the future that's coming, thanks, but no thanks, I'm good. Just let me go quickly in one of the several nasty ways it Reed King kills off my fellow Oklahoma citizens - sinkhole, tornado, whatever. Just let it be quick and early please. I just don't want to suffer. Or have to turn into the kind of person who is okay with killing other people to survive.
Look, this is a good book. But it's scary as hell. Seriously, it's terrifying in the same way that Idiocracy has become something of a horror movie in the last few years. Because it just seems so damned plausible. Well, parts of it, anyway.
FKA USA is the start of an epic dystopian journey. I'm guessing from the abrupt, cliff-hanger ending that this is going to be part of a series of books and I can't wait for the next installment, if that's true. Look, it might have been the scariest book I've read so far this year, but it's also one of the best and most memorable.
Truckee Wallace, the hero of the story, isn't always smart or likable, but you just can't help but root for him on his impossible journey across the territories formerly known as (FKA) the United States with his talking goat sidekick, Barnaby.
Reed King has created a meticulously plotted out universe for this story, complete with explanatory footnotes and appendices that add so much to the whole reading experience. If you've read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrel, you'll understand what I mean.
FKA USA will be released on June 18. I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My honest assessment of this book is that it is a must-read!
