The Voting Dead Project by Bill Smith is an entertaining fusion of dystopia, crime fiction, action thriller, and political satire. Caden and Ben had been best friends since school. In January 2019, Ben wrote to Caden that he was going dark to design user-testing protocols for an anonymous shadow company. Caden never heard from Ben again. In September 2020, Caden was shocked to read in a morning newspaper that the body found in Drayton Harbor in July 2019 was identified as Ben’s. A few days later, Caden received an anonymous letter in the code language Ben had developed for their private communications, telling Caden to “buy mystery box at antique mall.” Grieving for his best friend and wondering what had happened to Ben, Caden went to the antique mall as instructed by Ben in his letter. What will Caden discover?
The Voting Dead Project by Bill Smith captivated me with its unusual fusion of genres. “Death, disability, mediums, graves, and voting” drive the plot to its most unexpected ending. I liked the diary format in which the story unfolds and the array of topics Bill deftly covered in this concise novella. I also read with interest about the esoteric scientific research of horror films Caden was pursuing. But most of all, I liked this novella's hilarious political satire aspect, enriched with the well-researched topical discourse about racism and potential methods of suppression of voting in the presidential elections in the USA. This captivating story will thrill dystopia, mystery, crime fiction, political satire, thriller, and adventure fans. 5 Star review by Olga Markova for Readers' Favorite