Review: Friendship City by Carl H. Mitchell

A terrifying fling fifty years in the future, Friendship City: Hanging by a Thread by Carl H. Mitchell is a twisting, breakneck thriller that feels uncomfortably realistic. Following on directly from the events of Mitchell’s first novel, Sundown, this high-stakes story is riveting, conspiratorial, and seemingly ripped from the current state of the world.

While the sinister World Council schemes to wipe out half the human race (at least) with a deadly virus, Nick Garvey is fighting to keep the new President safe from all sides, watching his daughter fight to find her memories after coming out of a coma, and potentially saving the world from not one, but two merciless plagues. Juggling this ultimate work-life balance is both entertaining and exhausting, while further deepening this former NYPD detective’s character complexity.

The combination of political intrigue, apocalyptic threats, and murderous villains makes this prophetic vision of a book more than realistic enough to hook readers quickly. Our modern world has become stranger than fiction, and Mitchell’s writing reflects that turn, showing just how slippery a slope corruption and political division can be. The World Council’s strategy of sowing division within Friendship City will send a shiver down the spine of today’s activists and CoIntelPro historians.

The relentless pace of the book makes it hard to not read “just one more chapter,” but there is also a great deal of emotional nuance that is lost when scenes and events flash by so fast. The first attempt on Nick’s life, which sets a tone of constant danger in the novel, happens in only half a page, followed by little reflection on the protagonist’s part. When his family believes that he has been killed in a plane crash assassination, the depiction of their emotional response is flat and unbelievable.

For readers who have suffered a loss or struggled with the effects of the current global pandemic, some elements of the novel may be triggering, including descriptions of overwhelmed hospitals, sudden deaths, and graphic depictions of people being struck down by the seizure-inducing toxins of the World Council. That said, this same element also makes the novel appealing and timely for contemporary readers. The story is not bleak from start to finish either; the general concept of Friendship City – bridging borders, cultures, and traditional geopolitics – offers some hopeful ideas for the future, even though many are determined to make such unity impossible.

Mitchell demonstrates an economy of language with straightforward narration, rarely providing unnecessary descriptions or relying on literary devices. Some of the dialogue comes off as overly procedural, sterile, or stilted, but also drives the plot forward and keeps the pace high. However, there are expositional passages that are clumsily clumped together, like a Bond villain explaining the evil plan to rapidly progress the plot and hurry back to the action sequences. These inconsistencies in the storytelling give the impression that the author was cutting corners or rushing the plot, and make it easier to be pulled out of the read.

A final editing sweep could help spice up chapter endings, reduce language repetition, and connect some looser plot points, but as a whole, Mitchell has delivered a solid second installment of his dark dystopian vision.