Searing and sublime ... Walter is a slyly adept social critic, and has clearly invested his protagonist with all of the outrage and heartbreak he himself feels about the dark course our world has taken. He’s also invested his protagonist with a self-deprecating sense of humor that keeps his pessimism from veering into maudlin territory. If there’s hope to be found within this harsh landscape, it’s in our connection with one another.
The novel has genuinely severe consequences for some characters, but it also makes a lot of excuses for people, presenting some militia members as just misunderstood or misguided, and Kinnick concludes a profanity-laden screed about the 2016 election by saying that Trump voters 'weren’t really the problem' ... This would be a pleasant read in a vacuum, but in the world that it’s attempting to comment on, it can feel obtuse.
Walter’s trademark mix of clever dialogue, diverting tangents, heartrending emotional stakes, and real-feeling characters caught in amped-up human situations will please a broad range of readers.
