Flashback

Dan Simmons
Reagan Arthur Books (2011)
ISBN 9780316006965
Reviewed by Deb Shunamon for Reader Views (8/11)


This time Dan Simmons has tried something new - a murder mystery novel. The first thing I thought was how was one of the best writers alive today going to make his different from the huge number of crime stories out there already? Despite its familiar beginning where readers are introduced to the hero, the crime, and the use of a drug popular in futuristic stories today, by page sixty-two it was clear that this novel was going to be quite different. Not only will crime enthusiasts be amazed at the uniqueness of it, but it would not surprise me one bit if the author’s life was threatened after “Flashback” comes out.

As usual, Simmons does an amazing job at keeping his readers emotionally involved with the characters at all times, and no one creates better settings. The world of Nick Bottom, his teenaged son Val, and grandpa Professor Emeritus George Leonard Fox, is one that oozes the feeling created by those American newscasts that leave their viewers in a state of panic, wondering if they should run out and buy a gun just in case. As the separate stories of these three are initially told, a bravely written, uncomfortable future of America unfolds. Statements such as “...Val had studied the Q’uran since kindergarten and Islam was the Religion of Peace - any dickshit knew that.” (p.85) are sure to offend some readers, who need to remind themselves that this is just a work of fiction. Doing so will also help them to cope with some of the major changes and controllers of the American and World economies in this story. As time goes on, Dan Simmons is revealing more and more of his concern for his country, and while “Flashback” can be read as a complex murder mystery, it is also a story of humanity, of family, and how one of the most powerful nations in human history could well end up. But there is always hope.

As a mystery and crime novel, “Flashback” holds its own, although the solving of the crime became of secondary interest to me. The descriptions of the completely reorganized USA were far more fascinating. Anyone interested in political history has GOT to read this book as should every single American, even though this politically incorrect USA is sure to be blasphemous to many.  An unequivocal “Holy Crap!” is what I give to the latest novel by a very brave and admirable Dan Simmons.

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