In the aftermath of a natural cataclysm that decimated natural resources across earth, two brothers set up camp in an abandoned area of what was once the United States. Due to the paucity of resources, the brothers face unimaginable perils each day from marauders and herds of gangs pillaging anything in their path. Paranoia and adrenaline are constant realities for the two brothers; peace is a mirage.
One day, one of the brothers, Jay, is kidnapped by a renegade gang, which is capturing and enslaving as many people as they can in an effort to gain control of the region. Nathan, the other brother, plots to save Jay and meets Silver, a sort of femme fatale, who is about as good at combat as the guys are. Eventually, all three plot a rebellion against the marauding gang, led by a thug named Cold, who is seeking a national tyranny of sorts and burning villages that oppose him. The last part of the book–which on occasion descends into rambling action scenes–feels almost like a flashback to Vietnam, but in an Americanized milieu.
Author Daniel Fernández Masís imbues his prose throughout TALE OF TWO BROTHERS with indelible internal soliloquies by the characters, ones that are both stirring battle cries for human freedom, but also valuable insights into humanity coerced into extreme conditions. This is a dystopia, no doubt, but it is not one without hope, and this sense of fatalistic optimism carries the book beyond its depressing and often brutal surroundings. “When death seems to hover over you every day, people will heartbreakingly let go of the possibility of change,” Masís writes . “But hope never vanishes completely. Thoughts and feelings deep within our minds and souls hang on, in solitude, to the notion of life without restraints and violence.”
There’s a lot for readers to like in author Daniel Fernández Masís’ fusion of suspense and insight into the human condition in the TALE OF TWO BROTHERS, attempting to stop a deranged despot in the aftermath of a natural cataclysm that decimates natural resources across earth.
~MP Gunderson for IndieReader