Killing Time

 Killing Time is a science fiction/dystopian look at the year 2023. The author, Caleb Carr, writes about the problem of disinformation. In 2023 there is so much disinformation out there that society is threatened. We meet Gideon Wolfe. He lives in New York City. He is a psychiatrist and an expert in criminal profiling. He is investigating the murder of a friend when he meets a group of techno-terrorists. This group includes a genius named Malcolm (pictured on the cover in his wheelchair), his beautiful sister who is also a genius, a document forger, a retired colonel, an archeologist, an anthropologist, and a molecular biologist. In order to stop the world from believing everything they read on the internet, the group makes up stories that are not plausible. They are trying to spark critical thinking. The story is told from Gideon's point of view. I was surprised to learn that the story was first told in installments in Time magazine until it was published in 2000. I thought it had been published more recently because it describes some problems in our society so accurately. I could compare it to 1984 in which case 1984 was a better written book. It's not that I disliked this book but it was just not up to the caliber of George Orwell.