A Dark Financial 1984 – 4 stars
Imagine a USA where debt to the one remaining commercial bank is mandatory by law. Imagine also a nationwide caste system where your career or job classification paired with your credit score determines the price you pay for goods and services. But worst of all, imagine a private army called a security force owned and controlled by the Bank that considers no dirty trick or despicable act out of bounds for protecting the Bank and its directors.
This is a chilling book of a US that is totally controlled by an out of control financial juggernaut that has slowly over the decades taken over every facet of commerce and government at all levels. The result is a country even more split between the well off and the destitute deemed uncollectibles by the system. Even the government is in debt to the Bank as is virtually every person in the country with no hope of ever paying the debt off.
The book is thought provoking and paints a grim picture of what happens when a government shirks its responsibility then turns over that responsibility to a corporate, for-profit entity with no controls or scruples. It’s a compelling story that can act as a cautionary warning.
But the book has some problems. It missed a 5 star rating, not because of lack of a chilling and inventive story which by itself would have merited that rating, but because of elements in the telling of that story which may keep it from being read to its conclusion by many readers. There are some problems with poor editing and proof reading, but those are minor in comparison with the overuse of inappropriate crude language and graphic sex scenes. I'm no prude and I know that the liberal use of multiple f-bombs seems to have become the norm in many areas of entertainment these days, but some of the foul language used in this book goes far beyond that threshold in many scenes, as do several sex scenes used to show how corrupt and amoral the bank and security personnel have become. I’ll give one scene such as that a pass in order to setup how sleazy the characters are, but the multiple scenes are excessive. We get it; these are bad guys with no redeeming qualities. It doesn’t need to be repeated multiple times. These evil traits could have been alluded to in other more creative and less offensive ways. By repeating these types of scenes and language, it demeans the story and makes it less likely to be read by people who will become offended early in the book and toss it aside, missing the more important message and warning that this book contains.
Recommended with reservations.