The First Stone - Elliott Hall

In the first book of a proposed Strange Trilogy, Elliott Hall creates a dystopian vision of the USA under the watchful eye of a Christian fundamentalist authority, while at the same time presenting an intriguing and genuinely scary look into the mindset of contemporary America. It’s also a cracking neo-noir P.I. novel.

In this alternate/near-future vision of America, the nuclear destruction of the city of Houston and, in retaliation, an obliterated Tehran has pushed America over the edge into the abyss. The President has created a Council of Elders, a committee of 24 leaders from the religious right with the power and legislative weight to guide the morale and the morals of the American nation through these difficult times. America has become a terrifying place for anyone who doesn’t adhere to traditional Christian values, but things are about to get much worse.

Felix Strange has had first-hand experience of a newfound American spirit that has taken God’s message to a disastrous Crusade in the Middle East and the Holy Land, still suffering from ill-health on account of his experiences in the war there. Now a Private Investigator, Strange has been called in to investigate the death of a prominent religious figure, Brother Isaiah, the leader of the evangelical (read inquisitorial) Crusade of Love, a fanatical Christian group looking to protect for the morals of the nation. Strange has a few days to find out who is behind the killing before the news gets out and all hell breaks loose.

Not only does The First Stone create an intriguing premonitory vision of modern America, but it’s a complex world with many political, social and commercial resonances of Church and State working in close union that Elliott Hall’s writing captures fully, convincingly and with remarkable clarity. The P.I. noir aspect moreover blends perfectly into this post-war USA setting, drawing on historical examples of the likes of Prohibition, the Cold-War, Stonewall and post-9/11 hysteria in its depiction of a nation ruled by paranoia, fear and moral righteousness.

As clever as the setting is and as pointed and relevant the political resonances are, the real joy of the novel is in the writing itself, every page sparkling with cutting, witty hard-boiled noir dialogue that feels natural and unforced, the novel gathering pace and momentum with a tense explosive situation that seems to be rapidly, and somewhat ironically, going straight to hell.