AMERICAN NEOLITHIC, by Terence Hawkins

To be released November 2019. Chilling, terrible, tragic, funny, Orwellian. In an America brought to near-dictatorship by a bogus nuclear scare, a strange-looking fellow named Blingbling is accused of murdering a rap star. Raleigh, a mid-grade Manhattan attorney who remembers the good old days pre-Patriot Amendments to the Constitution, is coerced into defending the oddball.
Little escapes the notice of the ever-vigilant Homeland Police, an enormous and dominating agency with seemingly unlimited power.  When it looks as if Raleigh will actually mount a defence for the accused, a series of events begins that will give chills to many readers.
The most startling aspect of the story is Blingbling's memoir. Narrated in turns by Blingbling and Raleigh, the fascinating, entertaining, horrid tale unfolds. Blingbling, while he cannot talk clearly, is self-educated, and a man of keen observation, dry wit and gently scathing observation. Impossible not to care for him. And for the self-indulgent but calculating Raleigh as well, although they are very different characters.
Many times, after each bizarre turn, I could only think, "This could easily happen."
It's a 5. It will sadden many, perhaps infuriate others. Do not skip to the last pages and read the ending. Part of the power of the book is its gradual slide from gray to black. Every page counts, there are few wasted words here. It ought to be a best-seller.