When Pete wakes up after an appendectomy things are not as he remembered them. Britain is at war with the EoD (Enemies of Democracy), food is rationed and London is frequently bombed, but none of this is how he remembers it. Worse still, the war appears to make no sense. In his dazed and confused state he starts to try and find out what is really happening, but his questions bring him to the attention of the authorities...

Bloody War is a new dystopian novel by Terry Grimwood which postulates a very different Britain, a Britain where the war isn’t just on the television but in the very streets.

Pete’s amnesia is very selective; he remembers his family and his job writing software but cannot remember a thing about the war. Although he initially questions his own sanity, it is the certainty of everyone around him that convinces him that he appears to have lost eighteen months of memory. In this way the author puts the audience right inside Pete’s predicament. Everything which is new to him is new to us as well. It’s a neat trick which works well.

Stylistically the book is written in a very conversational manner, which makes the narrative very accessible. Through the novel we follow Pete’s journey across his country and society ending in the discovery of the surprising truth. Along the way our everyman goes from timid voyeur on events to active participant as those around him die.

Although well written I wasn’t surprised about the twist which reveals who the enemy actually are, nor do I necessarily think that the premise which the book is based would or could actually happen. There will be the inevitable comparisons to Orwell’s 1984, as the author owes a great debt to the original. In many ways Bloody Wars feels like little more than a modernised version of Orwell’s book, but not as scary.

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Charles Packer