The War Years follows the story of Harry, the proprietor of a small, run-down restaurant. As the book starts he’s miserable and he has every right to be. He lives in a future where the world has been ravaged by a deadly virus and people have seemingly worthless inoculations forced upon them. The United States as we know it has fallen and all that is left appears to be a ragtag collection of small struggling settlements. In these settlements food is scarce, corruption is high and everyone is forced to contribute to the “war effort”. A war that cost Harry his beloved brother. No one seems very clear about where exactly the war is or why they are fighting it. It is against the “savage Arabs” and that’s about it. Harry’s eyes are slowly opened when he comes into contact with a strange viscous fluid and he begins to question the stories he has been told. What follows is a thrilling journey where Harry and his ragtag team of allies try to uncover the truth and discover what is going on in their weird little town, and the world at large.

I had not read the first book, but this did not hamper my enjoyment of The War Years at all. The events of the first book and the proceeding years have been hidden away in the book by the authorities, so we uncover the mysteries at the same time as Harry. I’m sure some reveals would hit harder if I’d read the first book but it never slowed me down.

The book reads like a more dystopian version of 1984; if that’s possible. Much like in Orwell’s masterpiece Harry lives in an autocracy where he is repeatedly told everything is okay, despite the rather obvious evidence to the contrary. People are swept up in a form of hyper nationalism that makes no sense to Harry, or the reader. As Harry slips further into his paranoia he in fact becomes saner whilst everyone around him seems increasingly insane. This transition was utterly fascinating to me and was very well executed in the book. It seems clear that Samuels has much to say about the current state of affairs in the world.

Despite its dystopian future setting The War Years seems all too possible after the events of recent years. The War Years is an excellent dystopian thriller that fans of observant and intellectually-invigorating mystery novels will enjoy.

Pages: 452 | ASIN: B0B57SPPX1

Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2022/09/27/we-are-them/