Some chilling possibilities lurking as hidden gems
I’m not a big lover of first-person narrative, but Megan Nagle may be changing my mind. ‘Aftermath’ is a gritty, realistic, but above all, likely sci-fi thriller, and quite topically, opens with an AI speaking. 2073 sounds like a long time from now (for those of us born in the 70s), but in reality, it’s thirty-odd years, and Nagle does a good job of extrapolating our world for her story.
First point to note: one of the central plot devices, the Human Hemorrhagic Virus (HHV) “reared its ugly head three decades ago”, not quite decimating Washington state’s population. Our hero is (Charlie) Jaxson Evandore, a suitably broken and somewhat vulnerable chemical engineer at the crossroads of personal responsibility, corporate legacy and scientific discovery.
Nagle has successfully built a captivating future Earth. Some items are just within our grasp (voice-command AIs with rich human personalities), alcohol inhibitors (not sure about that one), and hover cars (which might be a stretch for thirty years). But it all feels real and in place, which allows the other advances, such as cultural shifts and viral survivor prejudice, to be acceptable. For me, having never been to Seattle, it seems pretty real.
Jaxson is a superb character. A scientific prodigy and heir to a pharmaceutical empire, he’s as maddening as he is relatable. He embodies privilege, recklessness, emotional swings and a desire for the truth. Like all techno-heirs, he has an alter ego, but in ‘Aftermath’, it is as a nightlife rebel. This adds perfect tension to the story: conflict between public-facing corporations and their murky dealings behind closed doors. Jaxon grapples with accusations against his family’s business while unravelling a conspiracy—perfect thriller material. What I really liked was each time I thought I had it all worked out, Nagle hit me with something new (always unexpected). It took me a little time to get going with the story, but when I sat down with a bit of time, I basically didn’t put it down.
This is a timely book, but it is also timeless. It draws on comparable issues—pandemics, corporate accountability, and science almost as an entity—and examines what might happen if today’s trends continue. There are some chilling possibilities lurking as hidden gems within ‘Aftermath’. What Nagle imagined resonated strongly with me, and this was all before the Trump administration took hold. Yet there is still a human core to the storytelling, and for me, Jaxson absolutely nails it as a hero we’re not entirely supposed to like. Even if it is in the first person.