TIME TO PAY THE PIPER envisions a future United States wherein the national debt and other financial issues have become the supreme problem of the day. This is not terribly far-fetched, as our nation is currently on the hook for trillions of dollars. However, Andrew Mooney’s novel proffers a unique solution: kill off all users of public assistance in order to save the country money.
This cynical and dastardly solutions comes courtesy of the Director of the CIA, David Seagull who manages to get the ear of the President. Seagull not only informs the POTUS about the financial benefits of murdering millions of welfare users, but he also reminds his boss about a deadly disease created by the National Socialist Party during the Second World War. Seagull convinces the president to move ahead and the plan is put into motion to fill America’s yearly flu vaccines with the Nazi virus.
The forces arrayed against Seagull include crusading journalists in Europe and one of his own employees—the CIA analyst Rachael Walker. The novel paints Seagull as the epitome of callousness and evil. It is bad enough that Seagull plots to kill off a significant number of innocent Americans, but he also enriches himself in the process by investing in companies that are sure to profit from the tragedy. Seagull’s polar opposite is Walker, who is portrayed as an honest and moral fighter willing to do the right thing no matter what. In between these two extremes is the POTUS, who is a naive bumbler not equipped to deal with the vileness that is Seagull. Making maters worse is China, which decides to use the scandalous plot to stop buying US Treasury certificates, thereby touching off a financial holocaust.
TIME TO PAY THE PIPER is a sharp and clear-eyed thriller that paints a convincing portrait of the machinations of domestic and international politics. Although clearly an exaggeration, Seagull seems like someone who could be found in the halls of power in Washington. The same applies to Walker. Both characters are given lots of time to shine by the author, who should be commended for never letting the narrative flag and always moving from plot point to plot point without unnecessary literary digressions.
Andrew Mooney’s TIME TO PAY THE PIPER is a near-perfect and deliciously cynical political thriller with a sci-fi edge and the makings of a future series featuring an odious, but readable central character.
~Benjamin Welton for IndieReader