Michael Anderson put a lot of thought into the plot of Provoke Not The Children. It has an exceptional story line that delves into a dystopian lifestyle called Maximization. It is a lifestyle where individuals are to 'maximize' themselves - make as much money and gain as much status as they can. Children are raised by Proxies and visit there parents one week out of every year.

Chase Stern, a PRO (proxy review officer) once had a very maximized life with a wife who told him from the start she wouldn't marry him if he didn't. He became dissatisfied with that life and became what he is today - a PRO who works hard in the Deep Suburbs and sees the problems in the Proxy System. His wife divorced him and married a man who was extremely wealthy and 'Maximized.'

He goes up against the most powerful industry in the country and the government to reform the system with only one or two people to help him.

Chase is, I think, throughout the book is a little naive in his fight for change and it leads him into some tight spots. He really does care about the kids in the Deep Suburbs - the abuse and neglect they suffer as well as the unequal dedication of the Inner City Proxies and the Deep Suburb Proxies. Money is key to quality.

His ex-wife wants him to stop. She loves Maximization and what and where it can get her. Chase is an embarrassment. She has not problem leaving their two teens to Proxies and never seeing them.

Both characters are well developed and polar opposites. I wanted to strangle his ex at times - such a selfish, money and status hungry shrew.

If you like dystopian novels then I highly recommend Provoke Not the Children. It is a total twist on the future that hasn't been looked at before.

I received this book free from the author in exchange for a review. For more information about Michael W. Anderson check here https://www.facebook.com/Author.Micha... ( )

The author, Michael W. Anderson, gave me copy of this novel in exchange for my review.

“Provoke Not the Children” is a shocking cautionary tale. Anderson’s future shows seeds of a start in our own world. People are increasingly self-absorbed and parenting less. Children are raising themselves and becoming more violent. The “gangs” described in this novel are brutal in a way that maybe children already are. Anderson describes ascending to the “Elite,” those people who have maximized themselves to potential as the goal of modern life. Nothing matters but who you are and where you live. In the “Deep Suburbs”– a landscape described as bleakly dangerous where children run wild – hope is lost Chase finds a abandoned group of children kept in cages and writes the encounter in such a matter of fact way that the scene tears into the readers soul.

Anderson’s writing style is fast paced and eloquent. The action he writes is economical and yet impactful. Anderson works at his plot points. You won’t find any lazy writing in “Provoke Not the Children.” Loose ends are wrapped whether you like the way they turn out or not. Anderson either did a lot of editing or instinctually knew which details to keep and cut in painting this future landscape.

Readers of this review may get the idea that I liked this novel. Oh yes. It was engaging and entrancing. Part horror and part human interest story. The way that Anderson ends his novel is electrifying in its brilliance. This is an author who takes a chance and I loved it. If you’re interested in stories set in the not too distant future and like a little Orwellian flavor in your fiction, “Provoke Not the Children” is a novel to pick up today. Don’t wait. Go buy this novel immediately and let me know what you think. ( )

Thanx!! :-) ( )