by Noah Hawley
What does it take to change the world? The "epic adventure" (Booklist) of a band of unlikely heroes on a quest to save one innocent life who may end up saving us all.
For decades, Judge Margot Burr-Nadir has worked tirelessly, case by case, to administer justice from the federal bench of the Eastern District of the United States. Her position already seems like the highest possible honor. So she is surprised when a call comes from the President of the United States inviting her to accept his nomination to the Supreme Court—not least because in choosing her, in an unprecedented attempt to heal a divided nation, the President has reached across party lines.
For Margot, this should be among the brightest spots of an already charmed existence. But the call comes on a family trip to visit their oldest daughter, Story, who has, without warning, vanished as if spirited away in the middle of the night by forces unseen. Margot soon finds herself thrust onto the national stage in the middle of every parent's worst nightmare.
The desperate search for Story's whereabouts soon intersects with the mission of teenagers Simon Oliver, Louise Conklin, and a young man known only as the Prophet. Together, they have escaped from the Float Anxiety Abatement Center in Chicago on the trail of man known as The Wizard: an unimaginably wealthy, almost mythical figure of unspeakable evil who has for years been taking whatever he wants without reaping the consequences. Stopping him, this band of young people hopes to accomplish what their elders can't or won't do: fix a broken world.
Noah Hawley's new novel is an adventure that finds unquenchable lights in dark corners. Unforgettably vivid characters and a plot as fast and bright as pop cinema blend in a Vonnegutian story that is as timeless as a Grimm's fairy tale. It is a leap into the idiosyncratic pulse of the American heart, written with the bravado, literary power, and feverish foresight that have made Hawley one of our most essential writers.
What does it take to change the world? The "epic adventure" (Booklist) of a band of unlikely heroes on a quest to save one innocent life who may end up saving us all.
For decades, Judge Margot Burr-Nadir has worked tirelessly, case by case, to administer justice from the federal bench of the Eastern District of the United States. Her position already seems like the highest possible honor. So she is surprised when a call comes from the President of the United States inviting her to accept his nomination to the Supreme Court—not least because in choosing her, in an unprecedented attempt to heal a divided nation, the President has reached across party lines.
For Margot, this should be among the brightest spots of an already charmed existence. But the call comes on a family trip to visit their oldest daughter, Story, who has, without warning, vanished as if spirited away in the middle of the night by forces unseen. Margot soon finds herself thrust onto the national stage in the middle of every parent's worst nightmare.
The desperate search for Story's whereabouts soon intersects with the mission of teenagers Simon Oliver, Louise Conklin, and a young man known only as the Prophet. Together, they have escaped from the Float Anxiety Abatement Center in Chicago on the trail of man known as The Wizard: an unimaginably wealthy, almost mythical figure of unspeakable evil who has for years been taking whatever he wants without reaping the consequences. Stopping him, this band of young people hopes to accomplish what their elders can't or won't do: fix a broken world.
Noah Hawley's new novel is an adventure that finds unquenchable lights in dark corners. Unforgettably vivid characters and a plot as fast and bright as pop cinema blend in a Vonnegutian story that is as timeless as a Grimm's fairy tale. It is a leap into the idiosyncratic pulse of the American heart, written with the bravado, literary power, and feverish foresight that have made Hawley one of our most essential writers.
Reviews-
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Starred review from November 1, 2021
At the start of this grim, thought-provoking near-future thriller from Hawley (Before the Fall), five Wisconsin teenagers die by suicide in less than two weeks, each writing "A11" somewhere near where their bodies are found. The plague spreads nationwide and then internationally, creating a mind-numbing death count. Adults struggle to understand what's happening, some theorizing that the fatalities are a consequence of the Covid pandemic's social isolation. Many fear the suicides represent an "act of collective surrender" presaging the extinction of humanity. Meanwhile, 15-year-old Simon Oliver, who found his older sister dead from overdosing on the opioids their family business manufactured, is told by a fellow resident of the Float Anxiety Abatement Center near Chicago, who calls himself the Prophet, that Oliver is central to establishing a new utopia to be started by children to save the species and the planet. Oliver joins the Prophet and some others in escaping from Float to realize the Prophet's vision. From the ominous sentence that opens the main narrative ("The summer our children began to kill themselves was the hottest in history"), the author creates an all-too-plausible dystopia rendered believable through matter-of-fact prose. Hawley makes this sing by combining the social commentary of a Margaret Atwood novel with the horrors of a Stephen King book. Agent: Susan Golomb, Writers House. -
November 15, 2021
The young heir to a pharmaceutical fortune and his friends band together to bring down an evil billionaire in Hawley's near-future thriller. It's a few years after the Covid-19 pandemic, and things in America have not been going well. Political strife continues to worsen as climate change progresses, and all of a sudden teenagers start dying of suicide in droves. Simon Oliver's older sister, Claire, was one of these cases, overdosing on the very opioids produced by their family's company. In the months after Claire's death, Simon becomes so anxious his parents have him admitted to a high-end mental health facility for the children of the wealthy. There, a mysterious boy who goes by the name the Prophet convinces Simon to escape the hospital with a few other misfits. Louise, one such misfit, tells Simon of "the Wizard," a Jeffrey Epstein-like figure named E.L. Mobley. Like Epstein, Mobley is notorious for abusing young girls and getting away with it because he has too much money to be held accountable. The Prophet believes Mobley must be brought down, but what can a group of kids do against a vicious billionaire? Hawley is a TV veteran, and he knows how to quickly establish character, maintain pacing, and write excellent action scenes. But this very long book is stuffed with far too many characters, half-developed ideas, and asides from the author that would be more at home in an op-ed than a novel. Almost everyone who's mentioned gets a chapter from their own perspective, resulting in either a promising thread that goes nowhere or a passage that could easily have been skipped without losing anything pertinent to the story. Simultaneously too much and not enough.COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Author and screenwriter Noah Hawley's latest dystopian thriller, set in the near future, is a gripping yet distressing and profound listening experience. After teen suicide becomes prevalent in the U.S., a group of teens go on a mission to save a destructive and brutal society that is focused on greed and ego. It is divided between The Party of Truth and The Party of Lies. Narrator Shiromi Arserio provides an expressive, youthful, and velvety tone throughout the cryptic plot. Hawley, more stoic in nature, speaks during pivotal moments, providing commentary that evokes an existential response. A rapid plot, dramatic characterizations, and a horrific but believable setting will excite thriller fans and have them questioning where today's society is headed. D.Z. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
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March 1, 2022
Set in the near future, where children understand that adults have focused on the negatives--money, greed, self-importance, etc.--with disastrous results, Hawley's (Before the Fall) latest is an apocalyptic and provocative glimpse of what could be. The story follows a small group of rebellious young people on a rescue mission after they break out of the Float Anxiety Abatement Center: Simon, trying to recover from his sister Claire's death; The Prophet, who tells Simon about the man they must stop, The Wizard; and Louise, another young person at the Center. Veteran stage actor Shiromi Arserio delivers a solid reading of this story filled with challenging issues; Hawley reads the op-ed-style sections, where the author stops the story to talk directly to the listener. VERDICT This dystopian tale concerns difficult topics, but is full of drama, thrills, and insights, leaving listeners with a sense that change is still possible. Fans of Stephen King's The Stand will enjoy the tale.--Denise Garofalo
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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Starred review from November 1, 2021
It begins with the suicide of 15-year-old Simon's older sister, Claire, an act that presages a global wave of children's suicides, numbering 1,000 per day. Devastated by his sister's death, Simon is sent to Float, an adolescent center for anxiety. There he meets Louise, who is 15 and Black, and a strange boy named Paul, who is 14 and calls himself the Prophet, claiming he receives messages from God, one of which asserts that He has a mission for Simon--the boy will be instrumental in building a new utopia. With that purpose, the three teens escape from Float. En route to their destiny, they rescue a teenage girl, Bathsheba, from the so-called Wizard, billionaire E. I. Mobley, the sixth richest man in the world, who has a penchant for violating pubescent girls. Meanwhile, hordes of insurrectionists rise up to overthrow the government, launching a violent, epic Manichean war between good and evil. The apocalypse, it seems, is just around the corner. Yes, Hawley has written some of the most savage satire since Jonathan Swift, creating a ridiculous world in which only the young are viable. The plot-rich, cinematic story moves swiftly and compellingly, exciting reader interest and empathy. Anthem is truly an epic adventure.COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
