Curfew by Jayne Cowie @CowieJayne @BerkleyPub @NetGalley #dystopian #sciencefiction #mystery #fiction

A Highly Intelligent Character-Driven Dystopian Novel!

Imagine a time and place where violence is curtailed, and women dominate in all areas. Discrimination and racism no longer exist.  How has this been achieved? It’s called the Curfew. 

In Britain, after the government determines that most violent crime occurs because of men, they are electronically tagged with an ankle bracelet and restricted by a Curfew. Men cannot leave the house between the hours of 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. If they break curfew, they are sent to prison.  All of their whereabouts and their actions are tracked.  After years of this, violence has all but diminished.

Peace is restored and all is well.  Until one day a woman is violently murdered, in a park and her face unrecognizable. 

The question of course is who is the culprit.  

Sarah is a tagger.  She loves her job because it makes her feel safe.   Her ex-husband Greg has been in prison for several months for inappropriate behavior.  If she had it her way, he’d never get out, unfortunately for her, he’s about to be released. Sarah’s rebellious teenage daughter Cass misses her father very much and decides to stir up trouble in more ways than one.

Helen is Cass’s “Curfew” Teacher.  Helen has her hands full with Cass and with her new boyfriend Tom.

Pamela is a Detective assigned to the murder investigation.  She has several suspicions, though no one on the force is interested in hearing them.

This is a fabulously written, intelligent, character-driven Dystopian novel that kept me fully engaged.   Kudos to Jayne Cowie for thinking out of the box. 

Thank you to Elisha at Berkley Publishing Group for the arc.

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