Failed States by Justin O’Donnell
What’s it About?
In an America on the edge of extinction, Thomas La Stella serves as a Deportation Force officer. Government is on the brink of revolution in this grim, fast-paced speculative thriller that questions the fundamental clash between security and liberty.
What happens when a corrupt theocracy stages a political coup in the aftermath of an apocalypse? How do individuals react? How does society move on? Justin O’Donnell ponders those questions and more in his near-future post-apocalyptic thriller Failed States (Atmosphere Press).
Surviving the Aftermath of War
Here we’re introduced to a world ravaged by the aftermath of EMP blasts and a devastating nuclear war. Though places we might recognize appear and are referenced — Albany, New York City, Ohio — any recognition of the places we know is long gone.
Albany has been renamed to New Zion and is the capital of the nascent theocratic American Union, seemingly the only bastion of civilization left in a dying world. New York City has become a wasteland of radiation, marauders and cannibals, the proverbial badlands. And Ohio, well, Ohio no longer exists in any tangible fashion after the destruction of Dayton Day.
This is a world eerily reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road or the Hughes Brothers’ 2010 film The Book of Eli, where morality, ethics and even the basest forms of humanity have all taken a backseat to survival and opportunity.
Moral Struggles and Limited Options
We’re introduced to Thomas La Stella, an officer in the Deportation Force (D-Force) for the American Union, a jaded and cynical man who only hopes to keep his head down, do his job, and take care of his family while retaining a semblance of dignity in the process. His work on the D-Force is not for the faint of heart — it is violent, bloody and often dangerous. When someone is turned away from New Zion it is often an implicit death sentence, if not an outright one.
Tom struggles with separating the work from the man, the orders from the responsibility. Who truly is at fault when someone is turned away from refuge? The person who pulled the trigger or the person who gave the order? Perhaps it’s neither, perhaps the fault lies in the circumstance.
Regardless, Tom hasn’t quite come to a conclusion on that front. His head-down routine is upended when his friend and the President of the American Union is ousted by a coup and replaced by a zealous and fanatical religious sect with textbook cult leader and grifter at its head: Secretary of Faith turned President, Nigel Roddard.
To make matters worse, Tom’s wife, Riley, is in the midst of a very difficult pregnancy that threatens both her life and that of their unborn child. With abortion recently outlawed and limited access to medicines, Tom is left with few paths forward.
Rather than solely focusing on his wife, Tom is confronted with another moral dilemma when the former President contacts him in secret and asks for his help in saving the people of New Zion from their new tyrannical leaders. He’s told that they’ve all been lied to, that there are more pockets of civilization out there, that there are other ways to live. Tom’s wife needs help now but saving New Zion will require patience and cooperation. What’s a man to do?
Exploration of Human Desire Versus Responsibility
Haunting, grim, and evocative, Failed States touches on the many aspects that make us human as O’Donnell juxtaposes personal desires against societal responsibility in the face of fanaticism, fascism and xenophobia during a crisis. In Thomas La Stella, we see a man struggling, one who has done wrong but is all the more human for it. This novel is not for the faint of heart, but for those who want to see how humanity fares when backed up against a wall — look no further than Failed States and the story of Thomas La Stella.
About Justin O’Donnell:
Justin O’Donnell holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Western Connecticut State University. He spent his childhood immersed in online roleplay, playing football, and reading history. When not reading or writing, Justin competes as a bodybuilder and dreams up ways to spin speculative tales about ancient empires, mythological horrors, and apocalyptic hellscapes. Justin currently lives in Port Saint Lucie, Florida with his wife, daughter and mischievous Siberian husky.
Publish Date: 11/1/2022
Genre: Fiction, Politics, Suspense, Thrillers
Author: Justin O’Donnell
Page Count: 214 pages
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
ISBN: 9781639886210
