The Utopia

Book excerpt: In the Utopia, where all major decisions are made by the Computer, life is far from idyllic for many. Three ordinary people find their lives intertwined in a society that demands conformity and obedience. Deron Boyd, a man struggling with loss and addiction, has been convicted of a crime he doesn’t remember committing. Even though there’s surveillance footage of him breaking into a Store and stealing drugs, he feels that something isn’t quite right. Everything in the Utopia is free—there is no money—so why didn’t he just wait until the Store opened? Matthew Tucker is a guard who transports criminals to the Utopia’s labour camp, a place where Utopians work for twelve hours a day. He lives in constant fear of failing his duties and being sent back to the Camp himself. So when the leaders of the Utopia ask him, a lowly guard, for a meeting, he doesn’t know what to think. Sakura Saito’s story mirrors that of Deron’s, with loss and addiction affecting every part of her life. When she arrives at the Camp, she becomes a beacon of hope and love in Deron’s darkest days, though soon their relationship is strained with the inevitable hanging over them—Sakura’s release and their unavoidable separation. But a friend thinks he has a plan to keep them together, though it requires them to risk it all.