cover image The Interview

The Interview

Damian Bruce. Lulu, $13.20 trade paper (284p) ISBN 978-1-326-43370-3

Set in 2098, Bruce’s dystopian thriller is an interesting variant on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, though it would have packed more of a punch if the characters were more fleshed out. An everyman figure, Edgar Mason has received a much-sought-for invitation for an interview at Frontline, which, in a grim city of the future, is “everything—employer, provider, governor, ruler. Oppressor?” A job with Frontline offers Edgar the hope for a better life, but when he reaches the waiting room, he finds 11 other prospects, all with similar aspirations. After they wait impatiently for an hour, they are informed that the waiting time was itself part of the process, and that anyone leaving the room, as an impatient member of their group already has done, would be eliminated. The last of the remaining 10 in the room will get the position, setting up a desperate physical and mental struggle among the interviewees. Bruce tosses in surprises throughout, but the moral questions Edgar and the others confront aren’t explored with any depth. (BookLife)