Mike Pearl, Vice magazine columnist and author of The Day It Finally Happens: Alien Contact, Dinosaur Parks, Immortal Humans--and Other Possible Phenomena, is nervous. In fact, he suffers from "a paralyzing fear of things that are going to happen." The result is this carefully researched catalogue of hypothetical events ranging from the mildly disconcerting to downright terrifying. In chapters such as "The Day Humans Become Immortal" and "The Day the Entire Internet Goes Down," Pearl offers a compelling look at what may be in store for humanity.
Each chapter opens with a fictional narrative that imagines the "day it finally happens." In "The Day the UK Finally Abolishes Its Monarchy," readers learn how such a change could occur and what lasting impact it would have on Great Britain and Europe. According to the four-part metric that Pearl creates (Likely in this century? Plausibility Rating? Scary? Worth Changing Habits?), this one barely moves the needle. On the other hand, "The Day Nuclear Bombs Kill Us All," not surprisingly, ranks highest. He recalls the 2018 false ballistic missile threat in Hawaii, which leads to an explanation of what a real nuclear warhead would do. Readers may find their own anxiety increasing just reading about it.
"It's probably good that thinking about all this... makes us vow to never let it happen if we possibly can," Pearl says. Fascinating, disturbing and provocative, there's something here for everyone, since "if you're not both excited by and terrified of the future, you don't have a pulse." --Cindy Pauldine, bookseller, the river's end bookstore, Oswego, N.Y.