Siobhan Adcock (The Barter) has written a haunting tale of a not-so-distant future United States ravaged by natural and environmental disasters. Its citizens engage in a battle over the country's remaining resources, especially supplies of engineered water called H2.0, which people exiled from the rehabbed cities of the Midwest attempt to sabotage.
Ex-marine Carter Quinn returns to his home in New Chicago after having served on the front to protect H2.0. He is mentally broken and dying from exposure to a chemical weapon. In addition, he must support the impending marriage and pregnancy of his oldest sister, Fred, while investigating the disappearance of another sister, Gardner--a nurse completionist (caregivers who see a pregnancy from start to finish) targeted for surveillance by the Department of Health (DOH). Infertility has resulted in a highly regulated society that places rigorous "Care Standards" on pregnant women and financially penalizes those who do not follow them, pushing families into bankruptcy. Carter's investigation uncovers an underground cult of nurse completionists seeking to subvert the DOH and reveals secrets that threaten to alienate and tear his family apart.
The Completionist explores how social and gender disparities affect women in their personal and professional lives, and how soldiers engage and die in government-induced battles over resources. It is a meticulously crafted, suspenseful and timely tale of a world that is at once familiar and strange. --Nancy Powell, freelance writer and technical consultant