Book Review: Apocalypse 1952 by Darryle Purcell
Karl Stanley wasn’t a very curious person; if something didn’t affect him personally and it wasn’t pointed out to him, he didn’t pay attention. So when President Lindbergh announced that he’d signed peace treaties with the Axis powers so their overseas wars wouldn’t affect America, Karl just accepted it. When the official Congressional News Network advised that some “subversives” were being sent to reeducation camps for the good of the nation, Karl wasn’t a subversive, so he didn’t speak out. When The Cleanse starting rounding up Jews, Karl didn’t know any Jews so he didn’t even notice.
Besides, life was good. Without spending money on weapons and the military, peaceful inventions got funding and technology advanced. Karl had a decent job as a drone operator at the Gardenia Dairy Creamisphere in West Strawhaven, New York. His biggest hassle was his annoying coworker Brad Sullivan, who kept getting promotions he hadn’t visibly earned, and kept being a negative nelly about rising unemployment. Little did Karl know that the outside world was about to crash in, and Brad would not be a problem at all anymore.
This “new pulp” novel is set in an alternate history which had certain technological innovations invented early, but took a drastic turn in 1940 when the Peace Party, which had split off from the Democrats, ran Charles Lindbergh as their candidate. President Roosevelt’s fragile health and physical handicap was revealed to the public in a massive propaganda campaign, and isolationist sentiment won the day.
While this alternate Lindbergh might have started as well-meaning, he was quickly convinced to take ever more drastic measures to stifle dissent and dispose of enemies of “the people.” His administration became ever more aligned with the increasingly successful National Socialists of Germany, especially after Adolph Hitler had an “accident” and was replaced as Chancellor by Werner von Braun, who shared an interest in technological progress with President for Life Lindbergh.
Grown soft after twelve years of peace and disarmament, the people of America were completely off guard when Nazi long range bombers, V-9 missiles, and robot paratroopers attacked and destroyed four American cities, including West Strawhaven.
Karl wakes up in the rubble of the dairy, Brad being very visibly dead, and a severed arm Karl can’t identify lying in the wreckage. Dodging killer robots, Karl eventually hooks up with other survivors: Tyrone the speechwriter, Pete the postman, Darryl the caddy, Mike and his son Danny who’d been camping in the woods and completely missed the invasion, and Luna Green(berg), tough as nails auto mechanic.
It turns out that Luna’s father Hank had seen something like this coming and built a secret hideout in a cave system in the nearby mountains. Too bad he’d been taken in the Cleanse when the government’s enforcers learned his birthname.
They’re joined by two old-time Western movie stars, Guinn “Big Boy” Williams and Roy Hatton, out of work since the government banned violent films, and form the nucleus of a resistance to fight against the Nazi invaders and their collaborators. They have a secret weapon, the “insectogun”, and surprising allies, Owera the legendary mountain lion and the Native American spirits inhabiting the forest.
Karl undergoes massive character growth during the course of the story, shedding his self-centeredness and naivete to become an effective warrior and leader, and earning Luna’s respect and eventually love.
The author is a former editorial cartoonist with a fascination with old-fashioned Western movies, so he’s written an entire series of books starring real life Western actors as detectives dealing with gangsters, political conspiracies, SFnal gadgets and the occult. This is apparently his first venture into outright science fantasy.
This is exciting pulp action, with hissable villains (who doesn’t like stories where Nazis get theirs?) The banter between the two cowboy stars is amusing. Luna’s an okay heroine. Our heroes’ actions are vital to saving America.
That said, there are bits that feel uncomfortable. The resistance group is awfully “white” in feel, and it’s pretty noticeable how blonde and blue-eyed Karl is. (This does help him infiltrate a Nazi base at one point.) The one resistance member with a “Latin” name turns out to be treacherous. Native Americans are relegated to being a magical plot device.
The politics also comes across as skewed. It’s the sort where the difference between “National Socialism” and mainstream socialism is elided. So the new government is depicted as being against capitalists and private property, when “state corporatism” was notorious for being very cozy with Big Capital, and somehow Lindbergh’s good buddy and notorious antisemite Henry Ford isn’t mentioned at all. The government’s supporters are called “socialists” rather than the more apropos “fascists.”
Also, discussion of the old Democratic Party is confined to only being the party of slavery and the Klu Klux Klan. Admittedly the massive realignment of the 1960s never occurred in this timeline, but anti-segregation Democrats existed even in the 1930s.
Content note: Lethal combat, that if depicted in a movie would earn it a hard “R”, including people being eaten by animals and insects. There’s a particular moment that will freak out arachnophobes. Torture. The bad guys hate the Jews and other “inferiors.” Karl and Luna engage in offscreen extramarital sex. Frequent alcohol consumption.
If you’re looking for a pulpish adventure with mostly uncomplicated morality and some alternate history, this might suit your tastes. Particularly recommended to fans of Hollywood westerns.
