The Mercy Journals by Claudia Casper (The Reconstruction) opens with a statement that the pages of this book are taken from two journals discovered in 2072 and reproduced here with only minor copyediting. The author of these journals, Allen Levy Quincy, writes to forget his past. He seeks oblivion in whatever form it comes, eager to escape the memories that keep his mind in near hysteria. At first, Allen writes little that is personal. He explains that nearly four billion people have died due to catastrophic climate change; following this mass die-out and global government collapse, an emergency government called OneWorld was formed. Both benevolent and autocratic, OneWorld enforces severe measures for humanity's survival, but can't dispel the tension between the old world's promise of prosperity and the new world's uncertainty.
After an encounter with a woman named Ruby, Allen's emotional defenses begin to fail. His journal pages become more intimate as he shares his own story. When his estranged brother, Leo, appears after many years and proposes the two of them go to Allen's cabin in the woods, he wants to turn Leo away. But the promise of connection draws Allen out of his carefully structured life and into a journey he hesitates to take. His struggle to heal after his traumatic time in the military, to find a purpose in life beyond survival, makes him a compelling character. Through the distressed voice of Allen, Casper creates a dystopian future that appears uncomfortably familiar as it echoes our own fears for the future. -–Justus Joseph, bookseller at Elliott Bay Book Company