24. Prayers For The Assassin

Prayers For The Assassin - Robert Ferrigno

It was an excellent story. I read it and didn't want to stop. This is a story set in 2040 in the Islamic Republic of America. It is an alternate history.
I liked it a lot and am surprised I had not heard of it before.
I will let the picture of the map say it all. (Click on it to see a larger version)
I came back to write a little more. Something I expected when I picked this book up was that the story would be about the conflict between Islamic America and the Bible Belt. I thought it would be a battle between Islam and Christianity type of book. Yes, there is conflict between the two countries, but during the story there is a state of semi-peace. No war. No attacking each other. No civil war. Nothing like that. The story is not about this at all. The Bible Belt is mentioned a number of times, but it is not a major part of the story. This book is about the people living in Seattle many years after the war that separated the former USA. The book is about the different groups trying to cease power within the Islamic country and the people in those groups. There are many groups which include modern Islamics, Moderate Islamics, Fundamentalist Islamics, Catholics, Atheists, and people who just don't care at all.
There are events that happen in places that we all know in today's world, but which are very different in the alternate history of this book. San Francisco is a solid fundamentalist area which has public stonings of homosexuals. Disneyland is a place where you go for drugs and prostitutes. Nevada is a free state, including Las Vegas, where all the groups can go and party, and they do. It is strange thinking of these places as something other than what they are in our world.
The story being something I did not expect was a pleasant surprise. It was not as predictable as I had thought.