A review of "Black Helicopters" by Blythe Woolston

As anyone who knows their conspiracy theory lingo or has watched an episode of The X Files knows, "black helicopters" are vehicles that some people believe malevolent agents of the government fly around in to look menacing. While I personally don't subscribe to that theory, or most other conspiracies, really; some people are deathly afraid of these things, and hide out in the wilderness with gun and food stashes to avoid them. This book is from the perspective of one of these people, and details her life, and subsequent downfall. The writing in this was terse and fast moving, and the plot was, like  Maggot Moon, mainly based on implication and inference. The protagonist doesn't explicitly mention militias or suicide bombings, but you can definitely guess that's what she's talking about.

The use of in media res and non-linear storytelling was definitely original, and made for a more interesting reading experience. The author does a good job of making you sympathize with a person who is obviously amoral and possibly insane, and doesn't belittle or disparage conspiracy theorists no matter how easy it would be to do so. Quite thought provoking.

Grade: B