Lalami imagines a not-too-distant future in which Americans are monitored by the Risk Assessment Administration. If a person’s risk score passes a threshold, they are imprisoned…but they are not not called prisoners, they are called “retainees” where they are “free, under observation.” After a series of confusing interactions with authorities at an airport, this not-prison called Madison is where Sara Hussein finds herself; and she’s frustrated at the 21 days that she must wait until she can get out. But after her 21 days lapse and she is still deemed too high a risk to commit a crime, she’s held for longer. To complicate matters, she has a Dreamsaver implant which allows the Risk Assessment Administration and its private prison proxy (Safe-X) to use her dreams against her in algorithmically calculating her risk scores. This is a dark book, but Sara Hussein makes it fascinating as she navigates her stay at this not-prison.
–Matt, Annie Bloom’s Books, Portland, OR
Explore possible near-futures through fiction from Annie Bloom’s and other independent bookstores.
