Wasteland (Operation Galton #2) by Terry Tyler ~ A #Dystopian future for the UK @TerryTyler4 #TuesdayBookBlog

Author: Terry Tyler

Kindle Edition

Category: Dystopian, Futuristic, Psychological, Book Review

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The year is 2061, and in the new UK megacities, the government watches every move you make. Speech is no longer free—an ‘offensive’ word reaching the wrong ear means a social demerit and a hefty fine. One too many demerits? Job loss and eviction, with free transport to your nearest community for the homeless: the Hope Villages.

The United Kingdom in the year 2061 is dominated by megacities, which are controlled by the Prime Minister and the Nutricorp organisation. They include hospitals, schools and medical centres and have been touted as offering equality for everyone, except there are always those who have more and better. The majority of people live in the stacks which comprise of fully kitted out and compact apartments. The inhabitants are monitored and their security depends on a healthy lifestyle, good behaviour and keeping their jobs, otherwise it’s more than likely they could end up in a Hope Village.

At the other end of the scale are the wastelanders who choose to make their own way, despite the ruined towns and cities and the hardships of living hand to mouth. There are food banks for those in need and pockets of small communities living off the land. However, even that uncertain future could be in jeopardy as the government implement their plans…

“Phase 10 has Total Dark status; no one apart from the people in this room and those involved in its orchestration will be aware of its  existence. The necessary military operatives are to be housed in a secure location during the final two weeks; they have already been selected and will be handsomely remunerated for agreeing to undergo a memory erasure procedure afterwards.”

Rae Farrer has grown up in UK Megacity 12, unquestioning and accepting her life is the natural way of the world. Until she learns the truth about her family. This knowledge turned everything around and completely changed her life. No longer was she going to allow anyone make choices without her knowledge. 

I went airborne when I discovered this—I felt like I didn’t know who I was, for several weeks. Then came the anger, with my mother for leaving me, with myself for not demanding to know who’d given birth to me, but mostly with my primary carers at NPU for not telling me the truth.

If she was lied to about something as big as this, what else do they lie about? A daring plan was devised, discovery would mean…well, Rae didn’t even want to contemplate the outcome if they were caught.

Set in a not that far fetched future, Wasteland has a great cast of characters, from the strong and likeable to the utterly despicable, incorporating mostly everything in between. The megacity way of life plays on people’s obsession with self perfection and popularity on their version of social media. Terry Tyler always has the knack of creating fully realised, relatable characters with the minimum of description and/or dialogue.

This is a chillingly vivid story, with twists that were totally unexpected and sometimes devastating. It affected me on an emotional level—there was sadness, and anger at the injustices and worse. There are lighter and humorous moments, and the promise of romance to offset the more serious aspects. And as always, Terry Tyler presents a very well written and perfectly paced story, thought provoking and compelling. Once it had me in its clutches it wouldn’t let go.

Book links ~ Amazon UK | Amazon US

About the Author

Terry Tyler is the author of twenty books available from Amazon, the latest being ‘Wasteland’, the sequel to ‘Hope’. She is currently working on ‘Safe Haven’, a post-apocalyptic murder mystery set in the same world as her Project Renova series. Proud to be independently published, she is also an avid reader and book reviewer, and a member of Rosie Amber’s Book Review Team.
Terry is a Walking Dead addict, and has a great interest in all things post-apocalyptic, history (particularly 14th-17th century), and sociological/cultural/anthropological stuff, generally. She loves South Park, Netflix, autumn and winter, and going for long walks in quiet places where there are lots of trees. She lives in the north east of England with her husband.

Terry’s social media links ~  Twitter  | Goodreads | Website | Book Review Blog