Dr Ian Froggatt PhD
Author of “Six Politically Incorrect Essays”
Book Review: “Kindness” by David Iles
Few books have gripped me to such an extent that I couldn’t put them down and I ended up reading them in two days. “Kindness” was one. Perhaps partly it’s because I live in New Zealand, the same country as the author, and can relate to the story he tells. Perhaps, but it’s also simply because the story grabs you from the start and before you know where you are, you’ll want to know how it ends.
Without giving too much away, the story centres around the desperate bid of a couple to escape a New Zealand which has taken a severe turn for the authoritarian worst. There will be those people saying, “Oh, this is simply fiction, that sort of thing could never happen in sleepy old New Zealand.” To those people, I say there may well have been many Venezuelans or Hong Kongers that once thought the same thing. I also say to them that since the New Zealand Prime Minister changed to someone who was once President of the International Union of Socialist Youth, the direction of political travel has only been one way. It has not been in a direction that leads to more freedom.
To finish, I say once again, this is a gripping story. I sincerely hope that the passage of time proves the author to be someone who has written a compelling work of fiction and not someone who has accurately predicted New Zealand’s future. The trouble is, I’m not at all sure which one it will be.
Set in New Zealand it is 2035. The country is now a full socialist state with ever-increasing ties to China.
Despite propaganda to the contrary, the economy is suffering from large scale unemployment and rampant inflation. Covid 19 has become a political tool.
The state is determined to nationalise industry including farming and farm values have collapsed. Follow the struggle of John Carey as he battles the state and learns that despite the rhetoric, kindness is the one thing that is never given.
“Kindness” can be ordered online at: www.kindnessbook.online
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