American Subversive by David Goodwillie


Jul 21, 2010

american-subversive.jpg American Subversive is the story  of  professional blogger Aidan Cole and the Page Roderick a home-grown terrorist.  From the beginning we know they are in hiding(but not together) and the remainder of the book is devoted to telling us why.  The story is told in the alternate voices of Page and Aidan and the prologue ends with the following statement: "Still we must try, while we have time and the truth on our side.  We are far from innocent.  But we are hardly guilty as charged."

As New York  City is recovering from yet another bombing, Aidan Cole is working on his New York based blog sifting through useless emails, when he opens an email with no subject or message.  What does appear is a photo of a remarkably beautiful women outside Barneys( sight of the most recent bombing) with the caption, "This is Paige Roderick." She's the one responsible."

This novel starts with such gusto, but loses it's momentum along the way.  Certainly there are surprises, but the outcome is  fairly predictable.   Maybe the plot was not intended as the primary focus, but rather the author's  observation and commentary on current social and politcal issues.   It might be worth a "reread" keeping this in mind.

Reviewed by Library Staff