In 10 years, the Saint-Michel district of Montreal will be the victim of anti-capitalist attacks due to its gentrification.

Citizens will be able to have a chip implanted which will allow them to do without passwords, keys, wallets or transport tickets. And cyber surveillance – like data hacking – will peak as the mercury rises to 24°C in the middle of November, in a country mired in recession where inflation shows no sign of letting up.

This is how, at least, the future is taking shape in this third novel by Montrealer Jean-Pierre Gorkynian. His antihero, Adel Salem, is a brilliant computer engineering student whose family, of Kurdish origin, is the perfect example of “a well-assimilated family”; However, he will be accused of terrorist activity.

As in any good dystopia, we are treated to a lackluster portrait of the excesses that await us, with the added bonus of this hyperlocal dimension which makes it all the more interesting. But what especially attracts attention is this question that the plot touches on through a few digressions: how is a terrorist created who was never destined to commit the irreparable?

An all-in-all gripping novel that will please fans of the genre.