Rapture: The Innocent Disappear First

by Elliott Hall

New York Noir detective novel meets The Ten Commandments in an action-packed mystery story


***Perfect for fans of Black Mirror
and The Handmaid's Tale
***


With a demagogue in the White House, Jews being repatriated to the Holy Lands, and religious police out in full force, America stands on the brink of a new totalitarianism.

Private investigator Felix Strange is no stranger to America's slide toward fascism. But, when he discovers that an old acquaintance has disappeared, the extent of America's transformation is about be revealed.

Isaac Taylor isn't just missing; according to government records, he never existed. All over America, people are vanishing - literally without a trace. If Strange doesn't find out why, it won't be long before he himself becomes one of the disappeared...

The Rapture is the second instalment of Elliott Hall's cult hit Strange Trilogy, revealing an America losing its identity as it descends into a new totalitarian state.


Praise for Elliott Hall

'Strange's sardonic wit makes him the perfect guide to his troublingly familiar landscape' - Guardian

'Ingenious and witty' - Daily Telegraph

'Outstanding ' - Independent

'Wonderful' - The Times

'An ingenious twist . . . Hall's novel combines pacy storytelling with a disturbing dystopian vision' - Mail on Sunday

400 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2010

Reviews

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.5 stars *

This compelling novel, the second of a trilogy, propels us forward into the United States of the fairly near future. Houston and, in reprisal, Tehran, have been destroyed by nuclear bombs…America has turned to the far right and is ruled by religious extremists who have taken society back to the 19thcentury and imposed draconian laws. There is little that is recognisably Christian about these new moralists.

Felix Strange is a private investigator who has been given a dishonourable discharge from the army. He was in Tehran when the bomb went off – before any evidence of weapons of mass destruction had been found – and lives on a diet of pills which are supposed to keep him alive, but is nevertheless living under what is basically a suspended death sentence. In Tehran he was forcibly recruited by an officer named Glass into a death squad whose task was to find Iranian suspected terrorists and subject them to extreme torture followed by summary execution. Eventually he rebelled against this regime and received a dishonourable discharge which enabled him to return to his native New York.



Throughout the novel there are a number of flashbacks to events in Tehran, which, to someone who has not read the first book, are rather confusing. In the present, Strange has set himself up as a PI in New York. In this capacity he is contacted by the wife of a former associate in Tehran, Isaac, who tells him Isaac has disappeared and engages Strange to find him.

The investigations lead Strange into a nightmare world where it is impossible to differentiate friend from foe. He finds his former boss, Glass, is now in a powerful position in what passes for a government. He soon discovers that Isaac is one of many missing persons, whose identities have been expunged from the records. He renews contact with Iris, a former lover who is a member of a secret opposition organisation, all of whom are in danger of torture and death.

Strange gets to a point where he is past caring whether he lives or dies. Iris then disappears and the story ends without resolution, which presumably will happen in the third book.

A very bleak read which is sadly all too convincing. Although I enjoyed it, It’s probably better if you either tackle the complete trilogy or leave it alone.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book without reading the first in the series. I think if I had started at the beginning it would have been easier to get into the setting of the book and understand the relationship between Strange and the Elders. To imagine the US, coming under control by this kind of leadership was a very unsettling prospect. The investigation into the disappearance of Issac Taylor, was fun to follow, as was finding out who Cassandra was. However some of the flashbacks to operations undertaken by Strange in the army were not really my preferred sort of reading. I can appreciate the need for emphasis on the horrible realities of war, but I personally lose interest if every step of an operation or combat is spelt out.

[Alison Forde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elliott Hall extrapolates from the military industrial/business complex running the war on terror in Afghanistan and Iraq to possible future situations in Iran. In his near future vision the Christian right have taken power and in tandem with the business machine of war and various secret organisations they turn the mechanics of secret rendition and torture on their domestic enemies. Close enough to reality to be scary.

[Lorraine Devlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book on Goodreads which was great as it is not something I would necessarily have picked up (lack of bookshops where i live). I really enjoyed the book and I would now like to read the first and third in the trillogy. I would maybe have got into the book a bit quicker if i had read the first one. I would reccomend this book.