Book Review: The Detainee by Peter Liney

Genre: Science Fiction

Series: Book 1 of The Detainee

Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books (UK: July 4, 2013/US: March 11, 2014)

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dystopian fiction seems to be all the rage these days, but if you’re hankering for a book that sets itself apart and that is not a Young Adult novel, then boy do I have a gem for you.

The Detainee is set the distant future, where society as we know it has essentially collapsed, the economy and infrastructure in tatters. The population is kept in line by security satellites in the sky, constantly watching. Do something against the rules and — ZAP! — you’re either disabled, dying or dead, depending on the severity of your crime. But if you’re a troublemaker, the authorities would sooner just throw you away than deal with you. Anyone who represents a burden is unwanted, dumped onto The Island like the rest of the Mainland’s garbage.

But what makes this book stand out is the main character Clancy, also known as “Big Guy” on account of his huge size as a youth, a trait that gave him such an edge as a former mafia goon. He is also sixty-three years old. Now, with people living longer and longer these days, I don’t know if I would really call that old … but the point is, Clancy certainly identifies himself as elderly. So, that’s a bit different. I don’t often come across stories told from the point of view of someone “aged” (for the entire duration of the book) and I thought Clancy’s position offers a very unique perspective, as someone who has watched the “good old days” turn gradually into the hell they live in now — piece by piece and slippery slope by slippery slope.

Because of his age, Clancy is also an involuntary resident of the Island, because those who are past their prime are seen as nothing more than takers and freeloaders. Elders in this society are not revered but instead treated like scapegoats for the system’s collapse — along with the sick, the poor, and even children. There are many young people at the Island too, many of whom ended up there because their parents chose abandoning them over being cast off themselves. These kids are rounded up and manipulated by the island’s Wastelords who use a regime of drugs and abuse to create a brutal child army, which they use to set against the old people who live in the village.

Like I said, this is not your teenager’s YA dystopian. In an ironic twist, the youth are the enemy, the face of death to Clancy and his friends. Their village becomes a bloody battlefield whenever the fog rolls in, because that’s when the kids come raiding, knowing full well their activities are obscured from the gazes of the uncompromising satellites.

Powerful and provocative, you can practically feel the weight in Peter Liney’s writing. The Detainee paints a hollow, painful existence for everyone living on the Island, for while the book is told in first person from Clancy’s point of view, we find out later on that things are just as bad (if not worse) for the young people at the Camps. Instead of focusing on a single age group, the author has taken things further to explore the unpleasant effects of a dystopian society across multiple generations. But the novel is also hopeful and inspiring; even in a world of misery, the protagonist Clancy forges several unlikely relationships that give him reason to carry on. In time he learns when it comes to love and suffering, age is just a number, and that everyone longs for freedom the same way.

What you’ll find here is a compelling story about adaptability, compassion and courage. Clancy is a very interesting narrator, with the experience of his years behind his character, and who ultimately discovers you are never too old to surprise yourself. I could be wrong, but I think The Detainee is a stand alone novel (EDIT: seems that I am wrong, I’m told there is a book 2 in the works YAY!) It reads perfectly fine as one, in any case. I would have liked to see more from the story about its world’s history and background, but I found the book thoroughly enjoyable. Perfect for fans of dystopian fiction who are looking for an exceptional novel to dive into.