Redemption

Set a few years in the future, Jackson's fiction debut zeroes in on a small Montana town squeezed by economic strife and sharply curtailed civil liberties. Ben Trinity, a former English professor, hitchhikes into the hamlet of Redemption hoping to start fresh. A prime suspect in a major terrorist act, Trinity was jailed and tortured by the Homeland Security agency but never tried, and is now part of a government test program involving the release and surveillance of terrorist suspects (there are many such suspects). His presence in this small town where residents have little tolerance for anything straying from the straight and narrow, causes almost instant chaos when his cover is blown. In the aftermath, Trinity must decide whether to continue to take orders from the government, or rouse himself and try to clear his name. The futuristic mood (serious fuel shortages, microchip implantations) is uneven, but Jackson does a fine job with the alarmism and base behavior of mob mentality, and Trinity's ups and downs come through convincingly. (Oct.)