UNWIND by Neal Shusterman

Narrated by Luke Daniels

Put Humphrey Dumphy Back Together Again

Entering into the political arena of the abortion debate, author Neal Shusterman offers a new twist: The opening sequence gives us the background information on this future political landscape where a compromise has been struck between the Pro-lifer and Pro-Choice factions. This compromise defines human life as beginning at conception and makes pre-birth abortion illegal, but provides for a chance to eliminate a child between the ages of 13 and 18 years. This may seem like a preposterous idea divorced from reality, but it does provide for a set of natural enemies between society and those slated for “harvest,” and gives justification for the characters to rebel and fight for their lives.

This artificial tension reminds me of movies like The Hunger Games, Logan’s Run and even The Running Man. I am also reminded of another significant fictional entry into the abortion debate: Philip K. Dick wrote a short story called “The Pre-persons” where an abortion could be performed up until the age of 12 years old. This novel UNWIND represents a serious attempt to use speculative fiction to make a social statement. It is a novel with a strong plot line and a moral conscience.

Luke Daniels presents the text with a solemn voice for the third person narration. He does offer good individual intonations making it easy to distinguish the different characters.