Erasures

The year is 2049 and the world has been transformed. Wars, pandemics, and other plagues have left the global landscape reeling. Through an algorithm based on the "principle of predictability," citizens would be microchipped and monitored. 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 the 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 his directive, Ray's shocking discovery of disappearing digital texts him and the entire principle of predictability into uncertainty. Soon, entire books begin to vanish. But not just any books…only religious ones. As a race to preserve these writings quickens, the enigma grows. How far will these erasures go, and why?

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, 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 with these erasures go? A dystopian mystery from award-winning author Omar Imady.

Omar Imady is an uncommon collection of many things - poet, historian, novelist, Syrian, American, exile, Sufi, 'Alan Wattsian', cat lover, avid coffee drinker, insatiable gastronome - all of which find expression in his growing repertoire of eclectic fiction. He is the author of multiple books, including The Gospel of Damascus, a 2012 Book of the Year Award finalist, and When Her Hand Moves, a collection of three controversial, thought-provoking novellas and The Celeste Experiment and Catfishing Caitlyn, both 2023 Literary Titan Book Award winners. His forthcoming novels dig ever deeper into the human experience of alienation and the quest for meaning in a world increasingly hostile to answers.