The plot is good. Jennifer Government by Max Barry starts with an ad campaign designed to drive up demand for sneakers by making them dangerous to own, because Nike is actually murdering some of their customers. Jennifer is on the case and searching for the contract killer who subcontracted to the police who subcontracted to the NRA. That's when it gets complicated. It's a fast paced thriller, engaging to the end and tension built on every page.
The world-building, however, is what puts this novel over the top. It's the perfect satirical response to the Libertarian dream-world, where companies are more powerful than governments and the free-market doesn't free us but predictably enslaves the populace in an ad-saturated consumersphere. This is the anti-1984, where the size of the government is the problem, because it's too small to effectively stop power abuses by corporations powerful enough to equip and deploy armies and people can't seek retributive justice unless they can finance law enforcement investigations.
Children are brought up to believe that wealth is a sign of virtue in schools run by McDonald's, Mattel, and Wal-mart. The cirriculum has dropped annoying subjects like history and civics in favor of maximum credit and insider trading tips.
Dystopia at it's best. Bravo.
The Game.
The Author.
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