Are you a fan of George Orwell? In My Fellow Americans, by Keir Graff, Big Brother is the Department of Homeland Security. The similarity to Orwell is in political commentary that speculates the future. The war on terror has escalated. The current president quickly encouraged an amendment to the constitution that has allowed him to serve a third term. The USA is under martial law.

We differ from Orwell as the world is not completely mind-controlling. For the most, Americans just go about their daily lives, but the Department of Homeland Security manages to observe quite a bit. The daily life of Jason Walker, the lead character, is very mundane. Jason is a freelance writer in Chicago whose hobby is taking pictures of buildings to admire their architecture. Jason moves through life, but he is not particularly motivated to improve himself.

Jason's hobby eventually gets him into trouble. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) interprets Jason's photos as a plan to scout buildings to figure out how to bomb them. Although nothing is further from the truth, Jason is abducted and tortured, without the due process of civil law. Fortunately for Jason, the DHS believes him that his photos are for personal use. They do, however coerce him to do some low-level spying at a Lebanese Cultural Center as Jason's mother was Lebanese. When he becomes involved with the group at the cultural center, Jason finds that they are peace-loving, but they understand that they are under scrutiny by DHS because they are of Arab descent. Jason hears their side of pacifism and that they are only organized for defensive purposes, and even though he loves and trusts the government, Jason does not understand their claims that his new friends are suspicious. Ultimately, one group turns out to be the good guys and the other is the bad guys, but you need to read the book to find that out.

Remember the TV show, "Who(m) do you Trust?" Jason progresses through huge character development as he tries to figure out the answer to that question. He starts out just plodding through life with no real direction. Then DHS forces him to take risks when they coerce him into spying for them, but Jason begins to develop his own will as he starts to question whether the DHS are the good guys or the bad guys.

The big political commentary inMy Fellow Americans is what I enjoyed. One of the sub plots involves the next presidential election because, under the current martial law, the president is in office indefinitely. A prominent businessman begins a political "campaign" with the only goal being to get the USA to schedule the next election. Under my liberal views of America, that is good. Nothing violent occurs, elections are something we take for granted under our current political structure and the debate between the citizens and the government forces both to review their actions and possibly make the country better. When Jason's girlfriend becomes involved with the campaign, the DHS uses Jason to spy on this group. It is another instance of the DHS being suspicious of a group that appears to have peaceful intent.

If I tell you any more about the book, I will spoil the plot, but the purpose of the novel is to make you think, "Is this where we are headed?" Is the patriot act a precursor to a lack to due process? Is the act of questioning the government a reason for suspicion?

I recommend the book to lovers of political, spy and mystery novels. It is fun to read and very enjoyable.