Dr. Paul Socken

I just finished reading Alicia’s novel, Type, and was impressed. It’s a kind of Brave New World for our time. It reminded me somewhat of Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America. In both novels, what seems unimaginable (“It couldn’t happen here”), does happen and is made to appear believable. 

The characters in Alicia’s novel are well-drawn and the plot gripping. I liked the fact that the rebel psychologist who stood against what was essentially fascism was Jewish and related everything that had happened to the Nazi-era and the Holocaust. 

Alicia resisted the temptation to create an ending that was facile and resolved the crisis. Leaving the novel open-ended with only the beginning of a possible solution allowed the reader to digest the magnitude of the problem. The reason the novel is compelling is because I think we all know that we have the makings in today’s society of chaos that would make people accept a “strong leader” to take control. 

For all its grim foreboding, the novel doesn’t lack a sense of humour. Alicia, as a psychologist herself, must have had a lot of fun and worked out a lot of her own issues by having psychologists take over the world and make a royal botch of things. 

Please convey my heartiest congratulations on a remarkable novel.

Type is available at Words Worth Books in Waterloo, Ontario, directly from Five Rivers, as well as online in both print and eBook from booksellers worldwide.