Pax Americana

by Kurt Baumeister

2034: Evangelical secret agents, fast food moguls, the voice of God in computer software, violence in the Bermuda Triangle! George W. Bush's foreign policy vindicated by a quick victory in Iraq, lucrative invasions of Egypt and Syria followed, bringing unparalleled prosperity to America and setting off thirty years of right-wing rule. But when a war in Iran goes bad--and the resulting cover-up goes worse--the democrats reclaim the presidency. This is the time of Pax Americana and its zealous anti-hero, government agent Tuck Squires.

Reading the ironic silences between the lines of the thriller, and roaring like a jet engine, Pax Americana is a sacrilegious, conspiratorial monster; like a literary dogfight between Ian Fleming and Robert Anton Wilson, loaded with prophecy, Baumeister's debut is an exorcism and an antidote for our era.

Praise for Pax Americana by Kurt Baumeister:

Selected as one of the Best Books of 2017 by PANK Magazine

A LitReactor "...Best Book of 2017...So Far"

One of Big Other's "Most Anticipated Small Press Books of 2017..."

An Electric Literature "Great 2017 Indie Press Preview" Book

"crackles with the energy of Vonnegut's best work"

- Andrew Shaffer, New York Times bestselling author of The Day of the Donald: Trump Trumps America

"Brilliantly plotted and linguistically nimble..."
- Rain Taxi

"Kurt Baumeister has more fun with language than any novelist since Money-era Martin Amis. I haven't read such marvelously obsessive prose in years."
- Darin Strauss, bestselling author of Half a Life, Winner National Book Critics Circle Award

"a mad romp"
- Electric Literature

"a true triumph"
- The Brooklyn Rail

"...bleak yet bubbly...Baumeister succeeds in delivering the deep chill he intends: that of a world in which 'evil and... good... were justas passé as faith.'"
- Volume 1 Brooklyn

"...Fantastic...One of the most unique books I've read in avery long time."
- Matthew Norman, author of Domestic Violets and We're All Damaged

"...the thriller's been reinvented, smartened up, and rendered blazingly funny in Kurt Baumeister's wild, raucous ride of a novel..."
- Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Cruel Beautiful World

"...Deceptive and complex. A dark strain of humor runs throughout, transported by a cast of morally obscure characters. A frenetic, funny, and haunting read."
- Samuel Sattin, author of League of Somebodies and The Silent End

"Ambitious, fearless, and frequently brilliant, Pax Americana is a speedball of religion and politics delivered in a steel syringe of adrenalin."
- Chuck Greaves, author of Hard Twisted and Tom& Lucky

"Filled with lush imagery, lyricism, and absurdity, Pax Americana brings into relief the subtext of political power...A daringly imaginative book."
- Thaisa Frank, author of Heidegger's Glasses and Enchantment

"a brilliantly imagined satire"
- Largehearted Boy

"If there is to be an American peace, it's certainly not going to come on the pages of this lit match of a novel..."
- Sean Beaudoin, author of Welcome Thieves

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Dystopia

380 pages, Paperback

Published March 15, 2017

About the author

Kurt Baumeister’s writing has appeared in Salon, Guernica, Electric Literature, Rain Taxi, The Brooklyn Rail, The Rumpus, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, The Nervous Breakdown, The Weeklings, and other outlets. An acquisitions editor with 7.13 Books, Baumeister holds an MFA in creative writing from Emerson College, and is a member of The National Book Critics Circle and The Authors Guild. Twilight of the Gods is his second novel.

Reviews

[Michael Ferro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kurt Baumeister has written an incredibly timely book filled with suspense and satire, with some lovely dashes of horrifying dystopia to boot! The author weaves his tale of paranoia and espionage with masterful skill and demonstrates a startling understand for what could be our future.

Biting wit in the style of Vonnegut, and all the thrill of a blockbuster genre novel, but with the brains you'd hope for, as well. A whirlwind of an important read!

[Richard Derus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: 5* of five

My full review is to come in 2018. Suffice it to say that if Stalking Horse Press hadn't sent me a review copy, I'd be entering the giveaway right now praying for the all-knowing algorithm to pick me, pick me!!

You should be, too. Or hellfire, kids, the Kindle edition is a lousy $6.29!

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kurt Baumeister's debut is set in an alternate, near-future version of the US, where certain heads of the world threaten war over a machine that can be used to brainwash the population under the guise of god. At the heart of this cheeky thriller is Diana Scorsi, a brilliant scientist who has created an AI software that can become whichever god you need it to be, thus demolishing religion as it's currently known. Seen as both a threat and a miracle, hard core traditionalists, religious cultists, double agents, and more engage in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse to ensure the only hands it falls into is theirs.

Chock full of presidential masked kidnappings and espionage, I couldn't help but get drawn in to the viciously humorous, rapid-fire plot. At a chunky 380 pages, Baumeister packs so much into these pages that if you blink, you risk getting lost in the melee.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is exactly the book I needed right now to feel a little more okay with the world. It's got just the right mix, absurd enough to be wild and entertaining at the same time that you could darkly see how one might unfortunately end up there from here. Imagination in spades, the book thrills, entertains, and warns. Great stuff all around.

[Seb · Rating 5 out of 5]

PAX AMERICANA is a terrific debut novel. It is a superb satire of the industrial-military-religious complex that makes America so... terrifying. Extremely funny, it reminds me of a young Pynchon crossed with a dark Tom Robbins. Very highly recommended. (less)

[Sequoia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A complex and often humorous thriller of a near future America that is very prescient. Readers just wanting a romp will get that in spades, but the more careful reader will be gifted cutting and intelligent satire, as well as some wonderfully wrought characters. Line by line, Baumeister knows how to write a wonderful sentence, but he also has a gift for getting you to turn the page.

[Samuel Sattin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baumeister's book is deceptive and complex. A dark strain of humor runs throughout, transported by a cast of morally obscure characters. A frenetic, funny, and haunting read.

[David Bridges · Rating 5 out of 5]

"There are no rules?" "There are rules, but the rules are chaos, Reality is chaos. Everything is chaos"

Kurt Baumeister's action packed farcical special agent novel will transport you back to the early 2000's despite it being set in 2034. Part of the premise of Pax Americana is during his presidency Bush cranked his foreign policy up to full blast, invading countries and exploiting them economically for America's benefit leading to a long wave of right wing prosperity. The other ominous aspects of the Bush/Cheney years have also prevailed, leading to a significant merger of the economy and Christianity, creating some very rich and powerful zealots. A scientist has created a God software that could make religion obsolete or in the wrong hands confirm every zealot's dangerous ideology. When this scientist is kidnapped a geopolitical clusterfuck of epic proportions is set into motion.

Pax Americana is rich with various detailed narratives and characters that are highly entertaining and can come across like PKD writing Mission Impossible. Baumeister does a great job developing these larger than life characters and putting them in over the top situations only a villainous fast food mogul and special agents for the shadow CIA would find themselves in. There is plenty of action and sardonic humor to keep you engaged for the whole ride. I highlighted the following line which I think encompasses satirical wit of the book: "Maybe the reality wasn't that we were atop the food chain, the apex predator with a soul seeking to understand the world. Maybe we were a virus. Or perhaps not only a virus but host, too. Or maybe the virus was something beyond? Maybe the virus was god, and we were only symptoms". Kurt Baumeister channels Vonnegut, and flexes his literary chops, forcing you to think philosophically about religion, geopolitics, and economics but not in a sententious manner. The use of violence and science fiction balance it all out.

There are a lot of characters who have multiple names (they are secret agents and villains) and the narrative is not in sequential order which in the wrong hands could be very confusing. Baumeister does such a perfect job of chopping it up in a way that the story flows perfectly and he was nice enough to put a character reference page at the front of the book which was helpful. This is no flimsy novel, clocking in at close to 375 pages there is a lot to dig into here. Another notable aspect of this book is how ever prescient it is reflecting today's absurd and terrifying geopolitical climate. I can't deny that following the news while reading this book it was sometimes difficult to tell which one was the fiction.

This is apparently Baumeister's first published novel and it is a doozie. I picked it up while at AWP in Washington D.C. Pax Americana was being released by Stalking Horse Press, who I am new to as well. They released D. Foy's new book, who I am a fan of, and after reading Pax American I would say Stalking Horse Press will hold a nice spot on my shelves. Honestly, all I did was read the back of the book and I was immediately intrigued. The idea of such a long stretch of Bush-era rule triggered an element of nostalgia in me that I had to check it out. That's the thing about nostalgia, even in the worst of times there is always some art to add comfort to it. I definitely look forward to reading Baumeister's future work

[John Madera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kurt Baumeister’s Pax Americana is a deftly-rendered, imaginative, satirical skewering of many of our infernal country’s sacred cows, Baumeister roasting them alive with incendiary wit, slicing and dicing them with razor-sharp prose, critically dispensing them, thereby circumventing herd mentalities. Dystopic, yes, set about twenty years into the future, yes, but the novel also reads as a devastating, zany take on current events, the current state of disunion, where the so-called lines between church and state and corporation have long been simply obliterated. Tom Robbins, William Gibson, Kurt Vonnegut, and John le Carré all came to mind as I read Pax Americana, but Baumeister is thoroughly his own, his chiseled, seriocomic sentences meticulously capturing America’s particular hypocrisies, its absurdities brought, paradoxically, to their logical conclusions. Hard to believe this exemplary artwork is a debut.

[Scott Waldyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part political thriller and part satire, 'Pax Americana' is a wild blend humor, science fiction, and caution with regard to those sitting on the other side of the political playground. It's like if John Grisham, Paddy Chayefsky, and Ian Fleming had a baby.

It's a monumental work that speaks to those struggling to live unfettered in these trying times, and for readers who wake up every morning in fear of the religious right, the wit in 'Pax Americana' can be soothing down to the very last sentence.

This book's final moments really struck a chord with me. The author, Kurt Baumeister, meditates on an interesting idea I won't spoil here. I will say though... it's darkly beautiful and poetic in its own way.

[M.E. Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pax Americana’s satirical look at the world of 2034 will leave you laughing while society circles the drain, but, as all good satire must, it rings true. Kurt Baumeister delivers this humorous thriller with literary precision and an insight into the ills of our current society that make the absurdity of the world he describes not outside the realm of possibility. But given the state of our headlines, looking back on Pax Americana when 2034 arrives, this fast-paced, head-shakingly-funny thriller, might very well prove a prescient road map for the wrong turns taken decades earlier.

[Thomas Baughman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four 1/2 stars.
A satirical dystopian spy novel that reads like the bastard child of Philip K. Dick and Kurt Vonnegut at the top of his game. Author Kurt Baumeister is doing good work that is well-worth the readers time.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the pleasure of reviewing this book for the website ELECTRONIC LITERATURE. Here is what I had to say:

The society we find ourselves in today — a culture comprising equal parts absurdity and corruption — begs to be satirized, if not so much for comic purposes than for greater moral ones. Here in 2017, we have at least as much to lampoon as the ancient Romans (we’re only a couple more excesses and a few more reality TV shows away from the return of vomitoriums and gladiatorial blood sports, it seems), yet fewer and fewer people seem to be writing satire — or, more pointedly, fewer and fewer people seem to be writing satire well. Thus Kurt Baumeister’s zestful, remorseless, clear-eyed debut novel Pax Americana bounds on to the scene at a time when its humor is not only welcome, but necessary.

The plot and premise of Pax Americana reads a bit like a the sly wink of James Bond novel as directed by Tarantino at his most manic. The story begins in the year 2034, a time when America’s large-scale conservatism and religious fundamentalism has a stranglehold on the national consciousness. In the novel’s first chapter we are introduced to Tuck Squires, an agent for the Interenal Defense Bureau, whose internal narrative sets the book’s tone as he is driving along in his Epiphany listening to Christian music:

“He cut the music and thought of America, of all it had meant and would mean to the world. He thought of another song, one that soared in a very different way than Jehovah’s Wishlist. He thought of ‘America the Beautiful,’ how it was a conundrum, so right and so wrong all at once.Or, not so much wrong exactly, more like inadequate, unable to see far enough forward to take in not just America’s yesterdays, but its todays and tomorrows.”

Tuck, as we can infer from this passage, is as earnest a Traditionalist as they come…. and it is usually the earnest and self-serious who most desperately need to be satirized. As we meet his Traditionaist cronies — a cast of characters ranging from the once-suave special agent Ken Clarion to the charismatic Rev. Dr. Ravelton Parlay, owner of the Righteous Burger restaurant chain and occupant of an estate modeled after the Whie House (the hilariously named Bayousalem) — we see Baumeister’s ability to produce characters of nearly Dickensian grotesquerie yet present them in such a congenial way that we can’t help almost liking them, or at least feeling sorry for them, even as we acknowledge how corrupt and wrongheaded they are. It takes a skillful satirist to elevate the buffoons to a level of humanity without losing his comic edge, and Pax Americana manages to strike this balance in an appealing way, with delightfully acrobatic shifts between the highbrow and the lowbrow, the quotidian and the fantastic, the modest and the grandiose.

At the book’s progressive moral center is Diana Scorsi, an intelligent, attractive, and idealistic woman who soon finds herself in “a black Wonderland… a dimension where things can go wrong in a great hurry.” Scorsi is the inventor and developer of groundbreaking computer software that could change the sociopolitical landscape, essentially returning us to a more autonomous, free-thinking, pacifistic ways of being: “Everyone could have their own god, and that god would be Symmetra, and if everyone had it there would never be need for war again.”

Naturally, the Traditionalists have other ideas for how this software should be used. The resulting conflict includes kidnapping by men in superhero masks, fiery deaths and near-deaths, scenic locales, double agents and double crossers, and a surprise ending that most readers should find oddly satisfying. Pax Americana itself is a mad romp, utterly pleasurable and fun on one level while trenchant and recognizable on another. The complacent idicoracy in Baumeister’s vision of 2034 is not so distant from the increasingly divided country we are seeing today, which adds relevance and gravitas to a novel that already stands on its own as being a hell of a lot of fun.

But the greatest pleasure in Baumeister’s writing lies not just his comic gifts and political prescience; it comes also from his nimble versatility and depth, exhibited in many passages throughout Pax Americana. Note this bit of omniscient reflection of Ken Clarion’s: “Whether it was love for the country, the job, or a woman, love lingered. Even when everyone around you believed it had become something else — jealousy, pain, friendship, hate — even then, you carried a memory of its time as love. Like faded tracks in fallen snow, footprints only you could see, love survived whether you wanted it to or not.” This is terrific writing with an unpretentiously literate sensibility, suggesting the work of an author with far more plays of light and shadow to show us.

[Ted Fauster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any fan of weird, parallel-world fiction and political intrigue needs to read this book right now. What a goddamn roller coaster ride.

Baumeister’s debut novel begins smack dab in the gooey center of a world dominated by US right-wing politics, which is itself stapled to the bleached-white bones of a good ol’ fashioned evangelical infrastructure. For those falling in lockstep, life is good in America. Some might say it’s even great. Regardless, special agents still have to be special agents, even when they’re required to rescue a bleeding-heart wetware engineer who may have just created the AI alternative to God.

PAX is rife with saccharinistic pseudo patriotism, delivered through the shiny, gritted teeth of one of America’s most dyed-in-the-wool secret agents, Tuck Squires. Tuck and his less-than-sinless associate Ken Clarion endeavor to track down the whereabouts of Dr. Diana Scorsi, the developer of the savioresque Symmetra, even as a looming war with Iran threatens to yank back the curtain on everything.

Baumeister is a master of the English language, comedic timing and wit. Fans of crispy sarcasm and snark will not be disappointed, as won’t connoisseurs of the weird. I don’t think the weird aspect of this novel is being talked about nearly enough. It’s truly transcendent. I’ll even go as far as to compare it to the likes of the great Kris Saknussemm. Yeah, I said that.

With impeccable pacing, bone-whittling wit, flash and glamour, intrigue, and just overall balls-out style, PAX AMERICANA ranks high on one of my favorite dystopian+alternate-universe+weird+political reads.

[R Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this as a giveaway win :)

In a world where salvation comes with a super-sized Righteous Burger, theology has taken over every country, and 'the Dubya' is hailed as one of America's greatest presidents, Pax Americana feels like an overblown satire, but then you realize that people do think this way, and our world is not actually that far off from theirs. If you're looking for a novel where most of the main characters are utter assholes, and you don't know who you want to come out on top at the end, this might be for you.

Diana was my favorite character, by far, and let me just say that I was totally spot on about The Angel (both the who and the general why). The 'mystery', however, is not the important part of the novel— what is, is the hypocrisy in religion, especially 'economized' Christianity, how concentrated and surreptitious efforts in political maneuvering supports these efforts, and how the world would look should 'Corporate Christianity' and conservatism take over the US (you know, more so than it has).

When global peace is your goal, greed will always try and stop you.

[Naomi Ulsted · Rating 5 out of 5]

PAX AMERICANA shows us a picture of a future both hysterical and terrifying. Part spy novel, part satire and part political critique, the novel follows Tuck Squires, a poster child for the Evangelical religious right that has come to dominate politics. Tuck is the perfect anti-hero, as he’s both aggravating in his self-righteousness and appealing in his glimpses of self-doubt. His character is juxtaposed with Dr. Diana Scorsi, a powerhouse of a scientist who can take a punch like no one’s business. Baumeister offers us a world full of lies and corruption, where politics and marketing is the same business, where science is repressed and each individual has to claw through layers of propaganda to find the truth. Sound familiar? Only it’s funny. Sharp, insightful and comical, PAX AMERICANA is the perfect book to read in 2017.

[Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kurt Baumeister world-builds with rare, sharp intelligence, creating spy intrigue between characters and agendas that seem seductively simple, if not parodic.... until he descends into hard truths and the characters gain heartbreaking dimension as pasts are unearthed, and the stakes escalate and turn deadly. The key question of this novel is one that has been answered with lies since time began, and Pax Americana dares to ponder it earnestly.  An exquisite achievement.

[Jacob Singer · Rating 4 out of 5]

For anyone who suffered through the early 2000s, this satire sticks its tongue out at the fools backstroking in the swamp that is Washington, DC during that time. The characters are reminders of the ideologues and their rose colored glasses. The voice pops. The plot drives like a an action movie directed by starched-collared-Ayn-Rand-loving sociopath. Laughing at the book, crying at your fading memories. Thanks a lot, Kurt.

[Ben Arzate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full Review Here

Pax Americana is a funny and entertaining read with a lot to say about the place of religion in society today. It can be enjoyed both for its plot and action as well as it themes. I highly recommend this and I look forward to reading what Baumeister puts out in the future.

[Meerkat Press · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smart, biting prose, perfectly paced, and frighteningly relevant! With the tone and feel of a fully developed Archer episode, I found myself laughing out loud at times but then jerked back to reality when I realized just how close to home this near future scenario played out. What a ride. Highly recommended! Looking forward to more by this author.

[Andrew Shaffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kurt Baumeister's debut crackles with the energy of Vonnegut's best work. A demented fever dream that transports the reader into a future America populated by evangelical government agents and technological zealots.

[Michael Polec · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Fantastic Summer Beach Read!!

A thriller that will leave you in constant suspense and intrigue!
The author has a sophisticated and brilliant manner with wordplay and illustration.
I highly recommend it!

[Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clever and honest. Kurt is a force with this one!

[susmithj+01 · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

[Paul W Cohen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pax Americana is a rare feat. It works as both satire and thriller. And the language is a lyrical romp in the vein of Martin Amis' MONEY. Bravo!

[William III · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kurt Baumeister’s PAX AMERICANA presents the reader with a United States saddled by the extended rule of George W. Bush and his puppet master Richard Cheney. Wars born from their sick fantasies, rather than being avoided, have shaped and distorted the world for three decades. The termination of this right-wing fever dream brings a changing of political guard, but, one surmises, no change in the level of deceit and barbarity. Lingering symptoms, such as Righteous Burger, a theologically driven fast food dynasty, and true believers like anti-hero Tuck Squires, remain active under a new Democratic regime. These vestiges of making America great again struggle with their patriotism; their allegiance to power is antagonized by their deep desire to get back to the way things were and make that reality permanent.

As someone who has lived in the shadow of Chik-fil-a and In ’n’ Out, I particularly appreciate the absurdity of religious fairytales driving real-life business decisions. Our current reality is absurd, but the unique placement of the chess pieces renders Baumeister’s tale speculative rather than non-fiction. The overarching religiosity of foreign policy in PAX AMERICANA, where a subset of nations is referred to as “The Theocracies,” comes to a violent boil when Diana Scorsi creates Symmetra—an artificial intelligence that world governments, and at times its creator, believe transcends humanity.

Baumeister can claim a level of prescience; his 2016 novel, similar to 2024, struggles with AI that has (or has it?) moved beyond the bounds of it’s creator and into a mythological state of appearing god-like to ungodly primates. Any sufficient level of technology will appear as magic—thus, the theologians, enamored with magic, must control it. And so, fanatic religious bigots and dyed-in-the-wool patriots are pitted against one another in a struggle to wrest control of Symmetra.

Internal Defense agents Ken Clarion and Virginia “Ginny” Hunter-Grace represent the fanaticism of duty and patriotism, convinced that their fight against hypocritical “Christian” men is the purest form of good. Under the same spell of certainty, their foes disobey their messiah’s teachings in the service of an eternal and total “good.” Both groups sin under the delusion that their fealty will exonerate them in the eyes of god and mankind.

In spite of a wildly diverse cast, Baumeister takes great care to present the reader with characters who have depth, whose behaviors are rooted, rather than caricatures existing solely to move the plot along. Even the henchmen have stories and conflicts, true deliberation when challenges present themselves, and the challenges are myriad. The thrill ride of PAX AMERICANA twists and turns with betrayal, double and triple agents, and an ending that hints at a continuation of the madness that brought them all together in the first place, disguised as a lasting victory. Just like real life, even when the “good guys” win, it will only be a matter of time before their power corrupts and the cycle begins again. "Maybe humanity had been a failure. Maybe that was all [Scorsi had] proven with Symmetra."

[Jennifer Spiegel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review originally appeared on THE LIVE OAK REVIEW.
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When I started the process of reviewing this book, my own small world was not exactly on my mind. More than anything, I eagerly opened my copy to see the workings of the indie press industry. How is Small Press America (there might be a pun buried in here) doing in 2017? There are, of course, a plethora of bookish offerings, but this particular one landed on my radar.

The funny thing is that my life inadvertently encroached. As I began reading this political satire, my husband and I finished another weirdly timed thing: a TV binge of “The West Wing” (a show that ended in 2006)—having ventured into it accidentally, without a thought about the current political climate. We just wanted to see it. Additionally, I was listening to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale on audio for a future review with Snotty Literati, another dystopian-political-kind-of-book. And, well, we can’t exactly ignore the world into which this book was born, for better or for worse: the, um, “Trump Era.” Lastly, I’m a practicing—albeit unorthodox, rakishly anti-Trump, mildly castigated by more than a few—Christian. (Poor Baumeister! Should I even touch his decidedly anti-Christian political prose?) These things worked on me as I read this novel.

I opened the book—all Jed Bartlett-infused, Trumped-out, quaking from Atwood, and Christianized at heart. And, lo and behold, I just went with it. I went with the crazy. Politics as they are, imagination shaken, faith under fire, I read this indie offering. What did I find?

It’s a rollicking good time of wild satire, enmeshed with keen observation of rightwing ideology, and full-bodied (as in full-bodied coffee) prose. Prose that is alive. Prose with bite. Prose like a smack in the face.

Baumeister envisions a 2034 post-Bush America. He didn’t even know about Trump’s presidency yet, but it’s impossible to read it apart from The Donald now. (I did wonder if the timing of publication helped or hurt the book.) Part James Bond (with one tiny nod to 007 within its pages), part Austin Powers, part Arthur C. Clarke’s “Hal” in 2001: A Space Odyssey, and part Jerry Falwell, the narrative takes a humorous tone, but it’s almost as if Baumeister has read democracy’s entrails—the lingering odor of prophesy trails after each sentence.

Just look at some of the features of this new America:

The big evangelist is married to his fourth wife, named Kelly Anne!

The dominant economic ideology is Christian Consumerism, which includes “Christian banks and Christian department stores, Christian gun manufacturers and, of course, Christian defense contractors.” Christian businesses get tax breaks. “Vanderbilt’s Pat Robertson Seminary for Christian Capitalists” is one place of study. There is a “Virtual Jerusalem.”

Comically apt name-dropping runs throughout the narrative. Some Cheney here. Some Putin there. “Slick Willie,” “his wife,” and “the Kenyan” are all referenced.

And, best of all, there is “Righteous Burger,” an echo of Chick-fil-A. Blood of the Lamb Shakes and Freedom Fries are available and a Christian consumer might sit in one of the “Never Walk Alone two-seaters” with a “life-sized hologram” that sermonizes. Its bathroom is marked “HETEROSEXUAL MEN.”

Apart from the barbs at religion, though, clever innocuous commentary abounds. Having run through the gamut of the ordinarily named hurricanes, hurricanes are now given such creative monikers as “Biffy, Poffy, Tippy, Albertine, Screwy, and Lu-Lu.”

But the crux of Pax Americana is Symmetra, which is the computer software that might be said to meet the human need for meaning. Baumeister writes, “The dream was of no more cookie cutter gods. Everyone could have their own god, and that god would be Symmetra, and if everyone had it there would never be need for war again. And that dream was enough on its own.” The problem of world peace, then, is the most critical problem (as opposed to the problem of evil or the problem of existence). Consider this long-ish passage:

“The answer lay in the middle ground of coexistence, in finding a way to get past religion. And that was where Symmetra came in. Symmetra would break the old paradigm; free the world from men whose ideas were static and ancient—stupid at best, wicked at worst. It would free humanity from consequence-based religions, from the rigid stupidity of belief in opposites, the fundamental inability to understand the flexible nature of truth. That was what could save humanity, maybe the only thing that could, because the realization that everyone was wrong also meant that everyone could be right. . . Symmetra would change the meaning of spirituality.”

Intriguing, yes? You can see what’s at stake in this book, right? So, despite a plot that takes up the screwball antics surrounding global political machinations, the White House, spies, and private islands, there’s a philosophical conundrum at its heart. Though Symmetra is presented vaguely like a Magic 8 Ball, it is also like the Ark à la Indiana Jones. Yeah, it might be construed as anti-evangelical. But let’s be honest: right now, in America, the evangelical church has rendered itself out-of-touch, a little mean-spirited, jingoistic, and in pursuit of a bottom dollar-defined line. And I say this as one associated with evangelicalism. Baumeister certainly offers up an implicit challenge.

Make no mistake about it. Baumeister writes well. There’s quite a bit of dialogue—energetic, fast-paced, and character-oriented. There are colorful characters throughout—equipped with silver spoons and secret pasts. International espionage and old flames flicker. At times, he crafts pretty sentences with vibrant imagery, planting himself firmly on literary terrain. So, while we’re satirizing a mildly familiar reality, we’re also steeped in good storytelling.

With such a promising debut showcasing a range of literary talents, my guess is that we’ll see more from this author.

Jennifer Spiegel is the author of two books, The Freak Chronicles (stories) and Love Slave (a novel). She’s also half of the book-reviewing gig, Snotty Literati. Her website is at jenniferspiegel.com.

[Ryan Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I know jack shit about satire! As I told Kurt, it’s like how I can tell you that It Takes a Nation of Millions is better than some dickhole on SoundCloud, I can’t necessarily tell you why with any sort of depth to the analysis. So, this satire of a slightly-in-the-future America still hanging on to the right wing dipshittery of George W. with it’s GOP rule is way, way out of my wheelhouse. (Where are my absurd, overly-clever, minimalist 1980’s short fiction people at?!)

Having said that, I can tell this is a good book. The writing is sharp and the dialogue makes smooth sense in a Bond sort of way—certainly people don’t talk like that, but it would be nice if they did! The plethora of characters each have their own identities and places. People have said Dickens as a point of reference for the multitude of players in this book, which bums me out because Dickens kind of sucks, but despite there being lots of damn people and lots damn pages, Pax Americana has a big enough scope and a big enough risk—oh, you know, just the fate of friggin’ humanity—to warrant it. It’s not just an old lady being mean to some kid with every chimney sweep and passerby in the town having to get their shit in.

The Pax Americana world is ultra serious, as you might have surmised from them having 30+ years of right wing political/social standards. There’s an eerily-prescient fast food chain called Righteous Burger, for fucksake! As is usually the case, people like the religious zealot Agent Tuck Squires are those most in need of being lampooned.

His straight man, Ken Clarion, is relatable and conflicted, just a guy trying to do his job and be the best version of himself. I like him the best because he’s an actual person instead of an extension of the giant world of satire that is Pax Americana, and if I had a criticism that extends beyond “Where are the Gordon Lish-edited sentences wah-wah-wah” it would be that there needed to be more of those straight-laced constants to bounce off the extreme over-characterization of the people we’re supposed to be laughing at.

As far as a moral center goes, I think this is a book about action vs. ideas, power vs. responsibility. In the battle of prayers and actions, we know who wins. However, at what point is action not the most important thing? Are we to assume that the small amount of action, no matter how important it is, is any match for the sheer volume and multitude of ideas that pack them together? If we speak of “protection,” do we think first of ourselves or others? How far does our idea of protection extend, and how much can we do to put our hand in that glove of responsibility?

[Constance Squires · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly plotted and linguistically nimble, Kurt Baumeister’s Pax America is a high-flying book as arch as it is deft. The spy thriller plot, particularly as we know it from James Bond films, serves as a surprisingly flexible skeleton for Baumeister to tell a dystopic tale of a not-too-distant American future after thirty plus years of right wing control. Part satire, part homage to the form, Pax Americana also resonates with other parodies like Archer and the Austin Powers movies—there’s an unabashed glee in playing with the loopier elements of the genre—hidden islands rigged out with nuclear devices, sharks, henchmen, allegorical names, and a suitably oh-no-whoever-controls-it-controls-the-world Maguffin in the form of a technology, called Symmetra, with vast, cryptic spiritual power. Pax Americana is aware of the inherent sexism and white privilege typical of the form and has fun with this in lots of ways. One POV character, the guileless-yet-ruthless, old-monied, Tuck Squires, is the unreliable narrator ad absurdum: “It wasn’t that Tuck was a bigot—if someone was an American citizen, Tuck accepted them regardless of flaws like poverty, atheism, or being a democrat—but he didn’t trust foreigners, especially foreigners with funny accents.” Our other POV character, the unbelievably-brilliant inventor of Symmetra, Diana Scorsi, provides a touch of reliability in her narration. Beneath all the fun, there’s a serious critique of tendencies in our culture that are scary, but in a way that makes considering them go down as easily as a Righteous Burger. James Bond for the #MeToo moment.

[Aatif Rashid · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hilarious satire of Bush-era America about a fundamentalist Christian spy who has to track down a tech entrepreneur/inventor after she's kidnapped by a super-wealthy religious fanatic. Kurt Baumeister does a great job imagining a future America in which the Christian imperialist culture of the Bush and Cheney years gets amped up to 500%. It's a terrifying world of "Christian Capitalism" and fundamentalist religious empires, but the plot itself is also a madcap Pynchonesque farce full of buffoonish operatives and crazy religious plots to take over the world that effectively satirizes today's self-serious political thrillers. Above all, I think it's fascinating in a post-Trump era to read about the cultural anxieties of a presidency that suddenly seems so distant; the 2000s weren't that long ago, but history moves faster than we think. Pax Americana thus effectively captures the insanity of a world that's thankfully now become something of a historical relic.