Review: I could not put it down.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 11, 2013
Fadeout is a striking portrayal of the inherent cruelty of the human caste structure illustrating one class's belief in their superiority over others, as well as the net worth in society of those considered lower in the hierarchy.  There has been a great upheaval or apocalyptic event that has left the world divided into races or castes; the lowest on the rung being the Cartiam.  The Cartiam are bred on farms and at age eight are taken from their family to live at a new "farm" that is more like a prison where they are chipped and monitored.  When they reach an age of emotional maturity, usually prior to age eighteen, they are either sent back to the breeding farm to continue to breed or are given to the machine where all of their emotions are extracted and used to fuel the other castes energy needs.  In this book we follow Silas's journey, which is heartbreaking.  Silas for the most part is emotionally shut down with the only joy in his life his older sister Malina.  Concern for her and her safety is the only thing driving him and he is single-minded in his quest to save her. This is not a pretty or fun read, but for me was so compelling that I found I could not put it down.  It is well written and clean with wonderfully believable characters and situations.  I found I had to know if there was hope in this hopeless societal construction or if the injustices would continue to just be accepted.  The ending was well done and is a quasi cliffhanger that leaves an opening for the next installment, which frankly I cannot wait to read.  I requested this book from the author and received it with a request for my honest review without any compensation whatsoever, other than the joy of reading a new book.