Erasures

By Omar Imady

The year is 2049.   

Following a brutal seven-year war, Earth teeters on the brink of destruction. The World Congress is convened to identify the enemy: unpredictability.    

Deep in the subterranean corridors of Zone 4 Literature Hub, Head Archivist Ray Blankenship is tasked with digitizing humanity’s remaining books. In this new world, meticulously organized, monitored, and managed, Ray is restless. In the absence of chance, of mystery and miracles, meaning is missing.    

Amid the order, Ray’s shocking discovery of disappearing digital texts quickly plunges his department, his superiors, and the entire principle of predictability into uncertainty. Soon, whole books begin to vanish. But not just any books. Only religious ones.    

As the race to preserve these writings quickens, the enigma grows.  

How far, how deep will these erasures go?

A dystopian mystery from award-winning author Omar Imady.  

Early Reviews

‘Author Omar Imady has deftly designed a world in the not-too-distant future which proves both frightening yet spellbinding. This is an exceptional novel on par with previous dystopian classics written by Orwell and Huxley.’

– City Book Reviews. 5 stars.

‘Imady presents a retro-futuristic dystopian tale about social progress and how traditional institutions must adapt to avoid irrelevancy.
Relative peace is upended in Imady’s speculative tale, which recalls and pays tribute to classic SF works such as Isaac Asimov’s Foundation novels, strikes a happy balance between worldbuilding and world-destroying. Throughout, readers are immersed in a rich, robust fictional atmosphere with characters who question aspects of both tradition and progress. Futuristic elements throughout the text effectively create an intriguing utopian backdrop for an engrossing mystery.
An immersive after-the-end story that tackles the challenges of modern society as it examines the role of the written word.’

– Kirkus Reviews

‘A compelling fusion of mystery and introspection… challenges conventional genre boundaries… echoing elements of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and George Lucas.

– Literary Titan – Gold Book Award 

Published March 7 2024