Billy Jakobek has always been different. Born with strange and powerful psychic abilities, he has grown up in the laboratories of Thorne Century, a ruthless megacorporation that economically, socia…
Billy Jakobek has always been different. Born with strange and powerful psychic abilities, he has grown up in the laboratories of Thorne Century, a ruthless megacorporation that economically, socially, and politically dominates American society.
Every day, Billy absorbs the emotional energies, dreams, and traumas of everyone he meets—from his grandmother’s memories of the Holocaust, to the terror his sheer existence inflicts upon his captors—and he yearns to break free, so he can use his powers to help others.
Natalia Gonzalez, a rebellious artist and daughter of Guatemalan immigrants, lives in Heaven’s Hole, an industrial town built inside a meteor crater, where the poverty-stricken population struggles to survive the nightmarish working conditions of the local Thorne Century factory. Natalia takes care of her ailing mother, her grandmother, and her two younger brothers, and while she dreams of escape, she knows she cannot leave her family behind.
When Billy is transferred to Heaven’s Hole, his chance encounter with Natalia sends shockwaves rippling across the blighted landscape. The two outsiders are pitted against the all-powerful monopoly, while Billy experiences visions of an otherworldly figure known as the Shape, which prophesizes an apocalyptic future that could decimate the world they know.
Final Thoughts
I think in a lot of ways this book is cautionary and jarring. The state of the world as it is right now is absolutely heading in the same direction as this novel’s setting. And yet the extremes of Thorne’s evil deeds and goals are so terrifying that I cannot imagine actually witnessing some of these events. Taking the sci-fi elements out of this book leaves us with the terrifying tale of a businessman manipulation immigrant populations and manufacturing antisemitic fervor in order to just make money. Something that happens now, and with disturbing frequency. It really is only a matter of time before that progresses to the manufacturing of otherworldly weapons (if it hasn’t already). This book should be taken as a cautionary tale of where we might end up in a matter of decades if we aren’t careful.
