The Citadel: A Novel

Flesh-eaters. Sex machines. TOMs (television computer communicators). Combugs. Deathwish. The New SS. These are but a few of the sinister innovations imagined in The Citadel, a fast-paced, futuristic novel. The Citadel will appeal widely to readers because the terrifying landscape is recognizably America, and the evils depicted are those of our own making.

Current developments in our society are carried to extremes: health care, including transplants, cloning, and genetic engineering; sexual liberation, particularly bi-sexuality; religious and New Age movements; media manipulation and spinning; national security concerns, specifically the internet; the growth of power in Washington; the Southern Militia Movement; and the aging of the Baby Boomer generation. It is from this society that a segment of the population, the Savages, drops out.

The protagonists are a young man, Joe, and a young woman, Sarah. Joe flees his EducCenter to join the Savages in the rural South and lives with Sarah and her family, who are New Order Menonites. An awkward romance develops in fits and starts. In the larger world, an uprising breaks out among the Savages aimed at toppling the Elite and culminates in a series of horrifying battles.

The Citadel is a timely and provocative political satire. Indeed, recent events in Washington make the story frighteningly believable. The novel also mixes mystery, science fiction, and religion with adventure and is intended to be a more modern and relevant 1984 and Brave New World.