BOOK REVIEW: Detroit 2020

- By Dave Dubrow

It’s rare that a book will live up to its own hype, but Detroit 2020 by Jeffrey Conolly and BL Daniels does that, and more. Calling itself “The best action movie you’ll ever read,” it’s an exciting gore-fest of a novella that takes the reader to the Golden Age of post-apocalyptic action movies, bringing you only the good stuff: over-the-top violence, manly men, womanly women, and a nonsensical plot that never stops.

Set in a near-future that must have been conceived decades in the past, the story follows weapons expert Dagger Estevez as he fights through a dystopian Detroit (is there any other kind?) to smuggle doomed, beautiful Julia to Canada so she can mass-produce a cure for the horrible mutations plaguing the population. Along the way they meet Gay Herc; gangs of skinheads; and Robokwame, the cyborg mayor of the city (among other colorful figures).

Bullets fly, blades hack, and explosions blow yellow ichor and guts out of the horrible mutants in this post-apocalyptic Odyssey, with the occasional wisecrack thrown in to remind us that none of this is to be taken seriously. Lines such as, “Flattery is like a dog’s tongue on peanut butter’d balls,” and “You Willy Wonka’d me, motherf—-!” keep you turning the pages to see what comes next, even though you know in your heart that the entire tale is completely ludicrous.

Conolly and Daniels have struck gold, pure yellow gold with Detroit 2020, and even if you’re not old enough to remember just how enjoyable those 80’s action films were, you owe it to yourself to pick up this extraordinary piece of nostalgia, made fresh in 2016.

Dave Dubrow