54th State

by Ian Thompson

A bankrupt nation. A failed space mission. The British Prime Minister, Barnaby Chamberlain, is enjoying life, until his chancellor inadvertently bankrupts the country. Angel Mendoza is captaining her last space mission before she retires; a quaint bar in New Orleans is her future, and she can’t wait to start it. Macy Turner stares up at the stars from her ranch in Skagit Valley, she’s not alone, the crews of a thousand ships listen to her radio show. Hop aboard for a humorous thrill ride, an impossible adventure, set in the not too distant future. Is it the end for Great Britain? Has the Chancellor of the Exchequer really bankrupted one of the world's largest economies? How will the Prime Minister, Barnaby Chamberlain, get himself out of this little muddle? Who will he turn to for help? A doomed space mission? Is Angel Mendoza's last space mission to end in disaster? What of her crew, are they party to some form of deception, have they got hidden agendas? Or will they just hurtle on through space until they run out of oxygen or freeze to death? Can Macy Turner save them? Staring up at the stars from her ranch in Skagit Valley, Macy Turner lives a lonely life. Yet she isn't on her own; the crews of a thousand ships tune in 24/7 to her blues and jazz station. They call her The Jewel of Skagit Valley. Her peace is shattered when she gets a distress call from Angel. Can she save her and her crew from certain death, or is it all predetermined - a conspiracy of America's Deep State? Scroll up and get on board this humorous thrill ride.

280 pages, Paperback

Published July 4, 2019

About the author

Ian Thompson is from South London, UK. To date he has three books published, EZICASH, a satirical look at Health and Safety mixed with greed, and 54th State, a mix of political intrigue, a space mission and a love story, are both available on Amazon and are in the Select program. Murder at the Jolly Jester is available on Amazon, but not in Select. It is, however, available on instafreebie - see website for details.

Murder At The Jolly Jester is a dozy mystery of truly un-epic proportions featuring an impossible murder, an idiot of a protagonist and a cast of suspects, all set in a Kent village.

Whilst currently writing humorous books, Ian has a love of fantasy and expects to complete a book or two in that genre as well, although humorous fantasy seems inevitable. If you fancy a taster of my writing, look up fantasyspoof.com for a satirical look at fantasy, or planettommo.com for more musings.

Reviews

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

54th State is another unusual, very well written satirical novel from author Ian Thompson which combines three storylines into an entertaining whole. The novel is humorous but thought provoking too. Set in the not too distant future with some very apt contemporary resonances the novel introduces a British Prime Minister, Barnaby Chamberlain, who isn't one bit fazed when asked by his assistant, "what's more important, your principles or your political future?" When he realises that the Chancellor of the Exchequer has bankrupted the country Barnaby comes up with a dramatic and life-changing solution. Meanwhile, a space mission is going dreadfully wrong and looks set for a big disaster not only for the astronauts on board. To write more would risk revealing too much of the fast moving plot. So, suffice to say I really enjoyed reading 54th State and look forward to reading more by this author.

[Pat Cummings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Start with a now-American rocker named Tristan Beaver, politically and scientifically clueless, with his celebrity space shot. While Mars and the Moon are old-hat destinations on a well-travelled route, Beaver will make a splash with a crew of non-astronaut groupies and a startling destination: Jupiter's Red Spot.

Add a paradigm-busting US president whose idea of a great deal is to purchase new states (most recently, Cuba), plus a hopelessly incompetant British government surviving only by the efforts of mid-level clerk-assistants, with a post-Brexit space program hoping to be revitalized by Beaver's probe—all the elements needed for a romp.

Okay, Beaver is not a former Canadian (despite the evocative title of the first paragraph: "Rock Stars, Eh?"), but is instead from rural-industrial England. He became an American, we learn, to avoid British taxes.

And the free-market-dealing US President is a Libertarian—and a one-time member of Beaver's entourage. (Thompson would appear to have been equally taken by surprise by the recent US election results; his clueless Brit politicos refer on more than one occasion to "that lady President" who preceeded the current fictional holder of the office.)

The resulting farce is rollicking, hilarious, and satisfyingly irreverent in the way all good political comedies are. The Brexit result is called upon to explain the dire finances of Britain, and the ham-handed financial finagle of their treasury chief takes care of the rest. The interplay between the Prime Minister, Sir Barnaby Chamberlain, and the actual chief mover of the government, his aide Forbes, parallels that government's supposed philosophical dissonance with the British electorate.

Wrapped inside this satirical goofiness is a serious thread: a terrorist threat, the struggle of the Beaver Probe's crew to survive their ridiculous mission in a sabotaged spcecraft, plus a truly unexpected twist that takes the reader by surprise. It keeps the story from disintegrating into sniggers and stereotypes.

In fact, my next act after finishing this book was to buy Thompson's previous novel, EZICASH (subtitled How to usurp a totalitarian behemoth with a monkey wrench.) At less than a dollar, the purchase was another steal, and I look forward to reading his "satirical look at Health and Safety mixed with greed."

I'll have to wait for my sides to stop aching from laughter before I undertake the next journey into his hilarious take on British politics!


Liner Notes:
I nominated 54th State in the Kindle Scout program, but since it was not selected, I purchased it for the princely sum of 99 cents. That's US pennies, by the way. Once again the program has introduced me to an author who has joined my "read everything by" list. If anyone wonders how I manage to read 200 to 300 books a year, the Kindle Scout program is a serious factor in feeding my To-Be-Read stack!

[L.F. Falconer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ian Thompson first earned my respect as a writer with his entertaining political satire, "Ezicash," yet "54th State" left me in awe.

This book has it all--tension, suspense, humor, action, mystery, and some terrific characters. Every scene was absolutely visible, and the characters came alive in my mind. I could see them. I could hear each individual voice. I could believe this as reality. The three separate fields of action flow seamlessly throughout and tie up into a nice neat knot at the end. There is much to admire here: A great story as well as some great storytelling.

Once I dived into the story, I couldn't wait to finish, and I'm looking forward to more by this author.

[Arlene Arredondo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laugh out loud funny!
Fast paced and hilarious, this story is set in a non-disclosed time in the future where countries can be bought and space travel is common place.
This is a satire about politics and the difference in culture and customs.
The characters are well developed and the whole conundrum will keep you at edge till the end.