Those Beyond the Wall

In a telling introductory note to this fierce, noir vision of a postapocalypse Earth, Compton-Crook Award winner Johnson (The Space Between Worlds) distinguishes between rage, which has a target, and anger, which has none. Conceived during the 2020 sit-in at Nashville’s People’s Plaza aimed at “institutionalized racialized violence,” this thought-provoking novel’s rage is fueled by “dreams of a different but possible future.” Scales, the most effective enforcer for the ruler of the Black community of Ashtown, witnesses her friend Helene X inexplicably torn to pieces by an unseen force. After more, similarly shattered bodies appear throughout Ashtown and the neighboring, walled-in white enclave of Wiley City, Scales is ordered to investigate. Her quest is textured by her anger issues, lingering trauma from childhood abuse, and unrequited love for a man she’ll never have. Also complicating things is the sinister influx of “dops,” alternate versions of existing people from parallel universes. Wrenching scenes of physical and psychological torture are tempered only slightly by a closing vision that things could be better, “by fire if necessary.” This searing and demanding novel is sure to stir readers. (Mar.)