** spoiler alert ** 
 This was one of the darkest books I've ever read. It was on par with 1984. 
 It's hard for me to classify this book...is "political science fiction" a genre? Would this be under the speculative fiction umbrella? Dystopia based on current trends? 
 ****Spoilers start below**** 
 However you shelf it, this book is disturbing for a number of reasons. The hellish landscape, devoid of flora and fauna, from the ravishes of global warming is horrific. The bloodshed and hatred between North and South is plausible. The use of drones to rain down death on American soil...why not? Syria? Savannah? Same difference. The justification of torture to protect the common good? Been there done that. The only difference is that this is the American War rather than the War on Terror. 
 The thing that really messed with me, though, was Sarat. Pretty early on in the book, it was easy to guess that she was the terrorist that unleashed the biological weapon that brought an end to the United States, that killed 95% of the population. The book doesn't focus on the aftermath of that apocalyptic event though. Instead, it chronicled the abuses and indignities she suffered again and again that turned her into a terrorist. How that hurt was fostered into a burning hate by men with a political agenda. How in the end, death didn't seem so bad, that exacting revenge with her own life's blood seemed worthy. Her choice was SO HORRIFIC and yet plausible. We can hate what she did, but the men that made her into the monster were also to blame. What kinds of lessons can we draw from this tale in today's political climate? I'll let you decide that.