Kingdom Come - Softcover

Ballard, J. G.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007232470 ISBN 13: 9780007232475

Publisher: Fourth Estate, 2014

Synopsis

With a new introduction by Deborah Levy and a striking new cover design by the artist Stanley Donwood, Ballard's final novel sees consumerism evolve into something even more sinister. A gunman opens fire in a shopping mall. Not a terrorist, apparently, but a madman with a rifle., Or not, as he is mysteriously (and quickly) set free without charge. One of the victims is the father of Richard Pearson, unemployed advertising executive and life-long rebel. Now he is driving out to Brooklands, the apparently peaceful town on the M25 which has at its heart the very shiny shoppers' paradise where the shooting happened - the Metro-Centre., Then the main suspect is released - thanks to the testimony of self-styled pillars of the community like the doctor who treated Richard's father on his deathbed. Richard, determined to unravel the mystery, starts to believe that something deeply sinister lurks behind the pristine facades of the labyrinthine mall, its 24-hour cable TV and sports club...

About this title

Review:

‘“Kingdom Come” is important, germaine, timely and creepy, a tidal wrack of ideas washed up on the artificial beach of our resort culture.’ Will Self

‘As outré as ever, and still as keen to understand the national psyche ... Ballard retains a clear-sighted, almost vatic quality’ Spectator

‘As fertile as ever ... “Kingdom Come” is impressively packed with brilliant apercus’ Observer

‘Ballard’s vision is scary and utterly real ... compelling’ Financial Times

Synopsis:

A masterpiece of fiction from J. G. Ballard, which asks could Consumerism turn into Facism? Richard Pearson, unemployed advertising executive and life-long rebel, is driving out to Brooklands, a motorway town on the M25. A few weeks earlier his father was fatally wounded at the Metro-Centre, a vast shopping mall in the centre of this apparently peaceful town, when a deranged mental patient opened fire on a crowd of shoppers. When the main suspect is released without charge thanks to the dubious testimony of self-styled pillars of the community -- including Julia Goodwin, the doctor who treated his father on his deathbed -- Richard suspects that there is more to his father's death than meets the eye, a more sinister element lurking behind the pristine facades of the labyrinthine mall. Determined to unravel the mystery, Richard soon realises that the Metro-Centre, with its round-the-clock cable channel and sports clubs, lies at the very heart of his father's death. Consumerism rules the lives of everyone in the motorway towns and feeds the cravings of this bored community with its desperate need for something new, whatever the cost.

Riots frequently terrorise the streets, immigrant communities are set upon by roving bands of hooligans and sports events mushroom into jingoistic political rallies. Gradually, Richard finds himself drawn into this world, caught up in the workings of the mall, exposed to the insides of the consumer dream, and starts upon dismantling this wayward vision his advertising career helped to found! In this gripping, dystopian tour de force, J.G. Ballard holds up a mirror to middle England, reflecting an unsettling image of suburbia and revealing the darker forces at work beneath the gloss of consumerism and flag-waving patriotism.

About this edition

• Publisher: Fourth Estate
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0007232470
• ISBN 13: 9780007232475
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320