“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 cluster eff 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
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Want to understand Trump's America? Start Here!
Baumeister is heir to Heller, Vonnegut and Hunter S. Thompson. Part satire, part dystopian guitar solo, PAX AMERICANA is insightful but never righteous. Recommended to anyone who ever dreamed of interviewing Roger Stone's Nixon back tattoo.
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