Live in Infamy

Author Caroline Tung Richmond returns to the same dystopia she created in The Only Thing to Fear with this companion novel which takes place in what was once the United States. This latest work features Ren Tsai, a teenage boy living on the west coast whose Chinese mother has been executed by Imperial Japan which has ruled over the western half of the United States since the axis powers won WWII. Ren’s mother was murdered for secretly producing and distributing a subversive newspaper. Ren decides to continue his mother’s legacy by printing and distributing essays under the pen name of The Viper but becomes involved in a mission for the Resistance when he discovers his mother may still be alive and superhuman Zara St. James, the protagonist of the first novel, is being held captive by the Japanese. Excellent pacing and well-crafted action scenes help propel the novel’s plot in this historic reimagining.