Looking at my last name and the last name of the author of Seeing Red, you’ll understand why this isn’t a review. My brother is author T. M. Doran. As such, this posting is not a proper review of this novel, it won’t receive a rating, and it won’t be posted to popular reading sites. This is a post to introduce the characters and plot of Seeing Red and reflect on why it’s an important novel for our times.

The world of this novel is an alternate Earth that bears many resemblances to our own. Seeing Red starts with a screenplay writer and Oscar winner named Castro Hume who is in a slump. He seeks inspiration from the still-standing set of the movie—the movie that garnered him his cinematic trophy. The movie set borders a protected forest in the northern lower peninsula of Michigan. Castro is escorted around the facade by a caretaker who becomes less and less friendly the more the screenwriter pushes. When Castro’s car breaks down, he hikes back to the set to discover a secret that will change his life.

Later, Castro finds out about a suppressed segment of society named Red Cards. Whether for physical deformities, mental limitations, terminal illnesses, or resistance to authority, people who are issued red cards are served a doomsday sentence. Urged to euthanize, certain Red Cards instead elect to go on the run. Castro spends most of the novel interacting with a group of Red Cards.

Suspense, mystery, action/adventure, and a dash of science fiction are the novel’s primary inspirations. The underlying theme explains our species’ continued blindness to the value of human life. The chilling fates of the Red Cards and the vicious pursuit by the ironically named Social Services Bureau (the SSB) reflects our own times. We often fear to speak up when our government or popular opinion bullies others. The novel, though dark, has its uplifting moments as well. Hope may be found within a dystopian world.

Seeing Red is available from Ignatius Press and on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1621646394