Jennifer Government by Max Barry
Max Barry is a gamekeeper turned poacher, an ex-marketing man who in an attempt to redeem his soul is putting the boot into the world of marketing. His second novel - the first, Syrup, is unpublished in the UK - sketches a world where the borders of the USA encompass Australia and the UK, corporatism runs rampant and the government has been reduced to an enfeebled rump desperate for funding.
Merchandising Officer Hack Nike isn't cut out for this future. When he is offered a chance to work in Marketing he is so pleased he bursts into tears. His gratefulness means he does not bother to read his contract before signing it or even retain a copy of it. As he is later reminded: "You dumb shit, why do you think anybody wants you to sign a contract without reading it? Because it's bad, Hack, it's a bad contract."
The piece of paper he has signed requires him to assassinate ten people wearing Nike's latest trainer. Hack is understandably upset about this. He does what anyone would and goes to the police for help. They tell him that he is a fool and that his only option is to subcontract the murders out to them for a large fee. Reluctantly he agrees to do so and the police then sub-subcontract to the NRA who carry out the hit. These murders soon attract the attention of Jennifer Government, an advertising exec turned federal agent. It quickly transpires that the man who masterminded this murderous campaign, uber-capitalist marketer John Nike, has even bigger plans.
Last year Jim Monroe published Everyone In Silico, a science fiction novel that was also an attack on marketing and consumerism. More importantly, it was a very good novel. Jennifer Government is a much broader work than that, it is a black farce rather than cutting satire. Extremely black at times - such as in the scene where Jennifer persuades a man to sell his house to pay for the government investigation into his daughter's murder - but still drawn with overly-large brushstrokes. The characters are all ciphers, even Hack and Jennifer. Some, like Hack's girlfriend Violet, are even less than this. We never believe any of the character's relationships, their lives just click together like jigsaw pieces for the sake of economy of plot. The plot itself is an extreme contrivance where all the pieces fit together with the utmost convenience. It's all too glib to really bite. The consequences of peoples' actions are never dwelt on in any detail; the hero of the piece is after all complicit in mass murder. This moral blackhole rather weakens Barry's attempts at social commentary. He never really gets beyond saying the obvious; that unfettered capitalism is bad, that libertarianism would have horrific consequences.
None of which is to suggest that Jennifer Government is not a very enjoyable novel. It is a witty, fast paced thriller with its heart in the right place. It's also nice to see a book published by AOL Time Warner that gives a bruising to real world conglomerates (the book carries a lengthy and amusing disclaimer) and subverts the technical manual commodity fetishism of most near future thrillers. Besides I'm always going to have a soft spot for a book that underneath the usual back cover blurbs declares itself the "best novel in the world ever."
This review originally appeared in The Alien Online August 2003.
Merchandising Officer Hack Nike isn't cut out for this future. When he is offered a chance to work in Marketing he is so pleased he bursts into tears. His gratefulness means he does not bother to read his contract before signing it or even retain a copy of it. As he is later reminded: "You dumb shit, why do you think anybody wants you to sign a contract without reading it? Because it's bad, Hack, it's a bad contract."
The piece of paper he has signed requires him to assassinate ten people wearing Nike's latest trainer. Hack is understandably upset about this. He does what anyone would and goes to the police for help. They tell him that he is a fool and that his only option is to subcontract the murders out to them for a large fee. Reluctantly he agrees to do so and the police then sub-subcontract to the NRA who carry out the hit. These murders soon attract the attention of Jennifer Government, an advertising exec turned federal agent. It quickly transpires that the man who masterminded this murderous campaign, uber-capitalist marketer John Nike, has even bigger plans.
Last year Jim Monroe published Everyone In Silico, a science fiction novel that was also an attack on marketing and consumerism. More importantly, it was a very good novel. Jennifer Government is a much broader work than that, it is a black farce rather than cutting satire. Extremely black at times - such as in the scene where Jennifer persuades a man to sell his house to pay for the government investigation into his daughter's murder - but still drawn with overly-large brushstrokes. The characters are all ciphers, even Hack and Jennifer. Some, like Hack's girlfriend Violet, are even less than this. We never believe any of the character's relationships, their lives just click together like jigsaw pieces for the sake of economy of plot. The plot itself is an extreme contrivance where all the pieces fit together with the utmost convenience. It's all too glib to really bite. The consequences of peoples' actions are never dwelt on in any detail; the hero of the piece is after all complicit in mass murder. This moral blackhole rather weakens Barry's attempts at social commentary. He never really gets beyond saying the obvious; that unfettered capitalism is bad, that libertarianism would have horrific consequences.
None of which is to suggest that Jennifer Government is not a very enjoyable novel. It is a witty, fast paced thriller with its heart in the right place. It's also nice to see a book published by AOL Time Warner that gives a bruising to real world conglomerates (the book carries a lengthy and amusing disclaimer) and subverts the technical manual commodity fetishism of most near future thrillers. Besides I'm always going to have a soft spot for a book that underneath the usual back cover blurbs declares itself the "best novel in the world ever."
This review originally appeared in The Alien Online August 2003.