Jitterbug

Jitterbug, Mike McQuay, Bantam Books, 1984

        This science fiction story takes place in 2155, on an earth run by an Arab dictator with the power of life and death over everyone. He rules by terror, with the help of a very contagious and fatal disease called Jitterbug, which has been used before and has rendered 90 percent of the earth uninhabitable. New Orleans, one of the few pockets of survivors left, is where this novel takes place.

        It's the story of Olson, a drifter from the Southwest, who enters the city assuming the identity of a Junex (junior Executive) transferring from Dallas. Earth has become a place where amoral executives battle for what power is left, while everyone else battles to survive. Olson is accompanied by Gret, a sort of genetically engineered human sex machine who knows her way around the corridors of power.

        Together they battle for control of the local branch of the Light of the World (LOW) Corporation, the instrument through which the world is controlled, when their protector, the current head of LOW New Orleans, dies under mysterious circumstances.

        This one is surprisingly good. Given the year it was published, it is very plausible. The social speculation is right on target, the characters are real people, and it's an all around interesting read.<p>