Flashback by Dan Simmons

Flashback

Dan Simmons

Didn't think I'd like this one but I was hooked from page 1! A futuristic thriller in which Flashback is an addictive drug used to revisit scenes from the past. Set in 2036, it is a stunning portrayal of America, post economic downfall, taken over by the Japanese and in a state of violence and terrorism. Rivetting.

Extract
'So Mr Bottom, you are not addicted to flashback the way you were in the years following your wife's tragic death? And if you were hired by me to investigate my son's death, you would not be distracted from the investigation by the need to use the drug recreationally?'
'That's correct, Mr Nakamura.'
'Have you used the drug recently, Mr Bottom?'
Nick hesitated only a second. 'No. Absolutely not. I've had no urge or need to.'
Sato reached inside his inside suit pocket and removed a cell phone that was a featureless chip of polished ebony smaller than Nick's National identity and Credit card. Sato set the phone on the polished surface of the top step of the tansu. Instantly five of the dark wood surfaces in the austere room became display screens. In ultimate HD but not full 3D, the view was clearer than looking out of perfectly transparent windows. Nick and the two Japanese men were looking at multiple hidden-camera views of a furtive flashback addict sitting in his car... 'Oh God damn it' thought Nick. The multiple videos began to roll.
Parallels
  • Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell
  • Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury