Mandate Thirteen is promoted as being a gritty dystopian thriller for fans of Children of Men, A Handmaid’s Tale, and The Running Man, and so it is, particularly the former. In fact, I could be coaxed into claiming that it's a superior novel to the P. D. James classic in many ways. Joseph Dowling shows us a near-future dystopian Britain (well, England, more specifically, as you'll discover) in which birth rates are dwindling and fertile girls are in demand. It's not a new theme in dystopian fiction, but the author spins his own yarn and does so admirably well, spoiling the reader with prose that is both eloquent and punchy, believable characters with strengths and flaws, settings both familiar yet disconcerting as we travel from London to Scotland, and along the way, plenty of edge-of-your-seat tension and raw-knuckle action. This is a novel about societal breakdown, but the key to the story is family, love, and survival. Above all, it's about a father's fight to take care of his daughter. Mandate Thirteen is a tale of dystopian action and adventure that's worthy of inclusion on the bookshelf of any fan of the genre. I'd certainly consider it an honour to hear that my post-apocalyptic novel, Flicker, has Mandate Thirteen as a neighbour on your bookshelf, Dear Reader.
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