BOOK REVIEW: TRIBUNAL BY DAVE JEFFERY

12/7/2022

The ‘A Quiet Apocalypse’ quartet bows out with a
reflective and satisfying endgame played out in a courtroom

Dave Jeffery’s A Quiet Apocalypse quartet of novellas, which began back in 2019, concludes in some style with the riveting Tribunal. The final instalment is a clever change of direction and pace from its predecessors, which brings the series to a reflective and satisfying end. I would recommend reading all the other books before tackling Tribunal as it references many previous events, ties up loose ends, fleshes out previous plotlines and reintroduces notable characters, particularly from Cathedral (2021) and The Samaritan (2021). Bringing back major characters in this final instalment in support roles enhanced that feeling of closure and hope beyond the misery and hopelessness of what went before.

I previously reviewed all three books for the Ginger Nuts of Horror, by way of a brief recap:

A Quiet Apocalypse
https://gingernutsofhorror.com/fiction-reviews/book-review-a-quiet-apocalypse-by-dave-jeffery

Set in a grim post-apocalyptic world where a mutant strain of meningitis (MNG-U) wipes out most of mankind, the few who survived the pandemic were left deaf, an even smaller percentage retained their hearing. The focus of the book concerns the horrible relationship which develops between those with hearing and those deprived of it, who vastly outnumber the former. Not to mention the biggest scapegoats: those who were always deaf.

Cathedral

https://www.gingernutsofhorror.com/fiction-reviews/book-review-cathedral-by-dave-jeffery

Book two is set entirely in the town of ‘Cathedral’ (an area of Birmingham) which is mentioned briefly in its predecessor and there is some brief character overlap. The story concerns the brutal system of law and order which the inhabitants of the town follow in order to exist and live whilst hunting for other survivors to either join their cult, enslave or ritually murder.

The Samaritan

https://gingernutsofhorror.com/fiction-reviews/the-samaritan-by-dave-jeffery-book-review

The third entry focusses upon a Samaritan, the equivalent of Cathedral’s police or enforcers, who go beyond the town scouting and hunting for food or other survivors. Whilst in the wilderness the Samaritan becomes detached from his group and meets a family with unexpected consequences.

Tribunal opens with an academic from a Birmingham university presenting the foreword of a book (written in 2095) which discusses the period in history from over fifty years previously which is now referred to as The Quiet Apocalypse, reflecting upon humanity’s brush with extinction, noting that this period was amongst the darkest in humanity’s history. The professor hopes that by documenting these events in the book it acts as a warning that such barbaric acts can never be repeated and need to be remembered in the same way that we reflect upon The Holocaust from the Second World War.

Tribunal is entirely and convincingly presented as a court trial in which there are both victims and perpetrators from The Quiet Apocalypse era, many of which appeared in the previous three books. Much of this revolves around the goings on in Cathedral (book two) and Samaritan (book three) with those charged effectively being tried for crimes against humanity for which the death penalty exists, similar to what happened to the Nazi’s in the Nuremberg Trials after the war. The events of those books took place around 2025 and the trial around 2039, with the Cathedral and Samaritan way of life collapsing in the years between.

I was surprised how quickly and easily I was sucked into reading court transcripts, documents and interviews, with the reader forgetting they are emersed in a historical document. Everything felt very current and realistic, from the statements of the survivors to the six hearings of those on trial for their crimes. The different perspectives were fascinating, particularly those who were in the dock and their reliance on ‘Maslow’s Law’ to justify how they acted. I was interested by the fact that there was little remorse or blame throwing, as has been the way with former members of the Islamic State in recent contemporary trials.

It would have been easy for Tribunal to come across as preachy or worthy but it does not fall into that trap, instead it drops clever nuggets regarding the bigger picture of this apocalypse and refuses to portray everything in black and white. When reading the first three books the action is entirely set in the Birmingham area and the trial concentrates upon these events and so the reader can draw their own conclusions as to whether the rest of the country blamed the deaf for the near mass-extinction event which led to the horrific events previously documented. Also, as we are now hopefully entering the ‘post’ COVID period and in reflection did many of us blame the Chinese all too easily? In reality this blame game was only a few short steps away from what went on in A Quiet Apocalypse.

Tribunal is a fitting and reflective conclusion to this great series and in the accompanying endnotes Dave Jeffery notes that it was equally important for himself to have the cycle of brutality end. New readers are in for a treat, as the A Quiet Apocalypse sequence can undoubtedly be read back-to-back, providing a rich reading experience with the different perspectives in which a world with perpetual deafness is perceived and the resulting extremism which arises as a terrifying biproduct.

Tony Jones

TRIBUNAL: A Quiet Apocalypse Book 4
by Dave Jeffery

HEaR TODaY …

It is one of the most devastating events in human history, a deadly virus that killed most of the world and deafened the few who survived. In the chaos of the aftermath, the city of Cathedral emerged, and with it, a brutal regime of oppression and violence.

Now, years later, the city is in ruins, and the scene is set for a reckoning. A tribunal seeks to make sense of what happened behind Cathedral’s walls, so it can exact justice on those who fostered atrocity. Imprisonment or a noose await those found guilty.

But things are not as they were before this quiet apocalypse. Testimony and statement will make clear that the lines between good and evil are no longer clear. Against a backdrop of ambiguity, a verdict must be reached, and justice served.

Yet this decision will affect more than the lives of those on trial. It is to be the defining moment in humanity’s willingness to learn lessons from its own near extinction. With all the evidence in place, there is no avoiding what must be done.

It’s time to choose …

(cover by Adrian Baldwin; central artwork by Roberto Segate)