What to read after WARGERY?

Abortion is a cross between war and surgery, hence: WARGERY. This dystopian political satire begins in the remote New Mexico mountains and sandscapes where the atom bomb was developed and tested, forever leaving innocence behind. Journalist Gretta Marlboro launches her career chasing stories with eerie parallels to biblical history and prophecy. The bizarre figure she encounters wandering blindly in the desert morphs into a master political operative who schemes the ascent of Ransom Swain to the Presidency, while secretly plotting vengeance for personal vendettas, and massive manipulation of both broadcast news and Gretta’s professional and private life. Blithe festivities of a beauty queen parade and inaugural wedding mask dark agendas of the Swain administration.

Interwoven with the ominous political backdrop are the private confessions of Mercy, a woman raised fundamentalist whose abstinence-only education left her with the experimental method to learn about sex—and consequences. Her reveals are painfully funny, her authenticity and vulnerability a contrast to Gretta’s controlled and carefully constructed image. Mercy chooses abortion; twice, and deconstructs the hypocrisy of the Christian right.

The nation’s mood darkens when millions of men are arrested—live on television, for entertainment value—then imprisoned, convicted and “disappeared” without due process. President Swain obstructs Gretta’s attempts to decode these events. She eventually confronts her arch-nemesis, Surgeon General Dr. Christian Karma who is practicing shocking medical experiments on the prisoners, on Swain’s orders. Dr. Karma’s secrets unexpectedly entrap both Gretta and himself, revealing the absurd cruelty of Swain’s stealth lawmaking, and twisted outcomes from both the Patriot act and the Supreme Court’s Machiavellian Citizen’s United decision.

           Serious social matters and cultural wars are explored with the lightest of literary touches. Savvy political readers will be wildly amused by nuanced tongue-in-cheek allusions, and this rollicking roller-coaster romp through modern flashpoints will entertain, delight and frighten engaged readers. Unforgettable characters such as fashion mogul Gianni VanDodge; a pregnant gay couple; and a racehorse named Sylvia whose reproductive biology is strangely altered by cantering through a radioactive desert, add sparkle and delight to this genre-bending cautionary tale.