The Betrayal - Book Review

Award-winning author, Doug Dorsey, has another suspenseful thriller in The Betrayal, book one in his new series Blue Lotus Project. The world as we know it has imploded. Earthquakes, fires, floods, and cataclysmic events have reduced the world’s habitable land mass to North and South America. As a result, millions of refugees fleeing from devastation have made their way to the United States. Taking advantage of the earth’s chaos, President Alexander Wraith has declared himself Sovereign of what remains of the world. In order to maintain his rule, end extremism, and establish conformity, he unites the remaining world’s military forces to eradicate any defiant remnants.

Wraith blatantly declares a Christian group to be religious extremists and domestic terrorists. He begins persecution by rounding up and imprisoning or killing them. Mordecai Helms, a Christian leader, pays the price of non-conformity with his life. He leaves behind others dedicated to preserving religious freedom. Liam Adler is a young computer genius with misgivings about the ultimate programming of a machine, the Blue Lotus, that he is instrumental in developing. Wraith promotes his Blue Lotus plan to the public as a 3D simulation for military training. But in reality, he plans a sinister metaverse that will reprogram non-conformist minds into believing that his world is the only world. Then, through mind-altering technology, he will brainwash his adversaries. He targets the non-conforming religious group as his test subjects. His goal is psychological lobotomy through technology so that he has control of all citizens.

Jessica Cyprus, a young woman with a mysterious, secretive past, connects with Liam Adler. Along with other believers, they try to figure out Wraith’s goal and try to prevent his takeover of the citizens’ freedom.

The author leads the reader through many futuristic scenarios with chilling modern-day applications. His conceptualization of a wicked leader’s personality and psychological makeup is frightening. In Wraith’s world, humans serve only one purpose, his purpose, and then they are quickly discarded. He craves success regardless of cost. 

Dorsey’s book begs the question: Are we living in a dystopian society? I’ll let the facts speak for themselves. It’s close, to be sure, and not a coincidence that the popular dystopian movies and books appear to be allegories for our societal struggle. And the Orwellian world looks a lot more like what we live in. With our biased media outlets and an overreaching government dictating society’s norms and dividing its citizens, the idea of being a dystopian society seems alarmingly real. With the proliferation of surveillance cameras and hacked social media, Big Brother appears everywhere. The fictional setting in Dorsey’s book and the characters he portrays will cause the reader to question their beliefs about current affairs.

In conclusion, Dorsey has set up a cliffhanger that will entice the reader to anticipate his following two books in the Blue Lotus series.