Review of “2030: Nothing is What It Seems” by J.P. Ozuna

Score: 94+/100 (9.4+ out of 10)

2030 is an inspired and thought-provoking action-romance/speculative-fiction novel by J.P. Ozuna, a previous category winner from our 2023 Spring Contest!

This book centers around Onyx Pion, a phenomenally gifted recruit, prodigy, agent, and eventual whistleblower of Orion, the top security contractor in the world. Orion enforces and serves as the iron-fist of the powers that be including Pharma Corp and what we'd term the “New World Order”--powers that came into prominence and power (according to the story of this book) in the wake of 2020. Orion is basically a special black ops group combining elements of the CIA, MI6, and Blackwater—a privatized version of the CIA that doesn't work for a specific government or nation, functioning more like a powerful private military company or PMC.

Orion is led by a surprisingly level-headed individual named Simon, who isn't the evil, maniacal schemer you might picture someone in his position being. However, Simon answers to some despicable individuals who pay his organization to perform all sorts of dark duties including espionage and cover ups of white collar crimes. Simon also has some truly evil and despicable people working in his organization including Kyle, a power-hungry, kill-crazy sociopath who hates Onyx out of spite and jealousy and schemes to supplant Simon as leader.

Kyle is one of the most interesting characters in the book, if not the most interesting. He kinda reminded us of Starscream from Transformers or Sharlto Copley's character in Elysium. At the same time, it is pretty obvious early on that he's an evil, scheming scumbag, so much so that it kinda seems a bit contrived. There's not really much build to him being the villain at all, he just is.

We learn later that a lot of his bad feelings stem from being both rejected and persistently topped by Onyx in training. He has either some kind of superiority or inferiority complex that may be causing him to act out.

Onyx is a pretty interesting protagonist in her own right. She's talented, confident, self-assured, and maybe a bit of a nymphomaniac (sex-fiend). However, the author and the narrative slowly pull back the curtains and reveal to us why Onyx is the way that she is. We get to know of her relationships with boys like Blake, Sam, and Maurice. We get to know about her therapy under Dr. Seeland, therapy sessions which reveal some of Onyx's vulnerabilities, fears, and insecurities—things you normally wouldn't associate with her on the surface. Onyx has made herself “hard.” She has become someone who comes across as fearless, authentic, and “unapologetically” herself, at least as she appears to others like Mateo, who thinks the world of her.

Speaking of Mateo...

Mateo serves as the book's deuteragonist and Onyx's best friend and primary love interest despite them being separated and even at odds for much of this book. Mateo seems like a great (or at least good) guy who cares about Onyx and looks after her. However, he gets friend-zoned almost immediately. Ok, well, it's more like friends-with-benefits-zoned, but you get the point. Onyx might be intensely physically intimate, but she is emotionally detached.

You can tell that, though she likes Mateo, she sees him as a bit of a side-piece, not quite expendable but not quite someone she wants around for the rest of her life. The two have several misunderstandings and put each other—either intentionally or unintentionally—in harm's way.

Now, before we go on with all this personal/character stuff, we have to bring your attention back to the plot.

2030 exists in an alternate history, a history in which the 2020 pandemic, lock downs, race riots, and culture wars had unscrupulous or even nefarious origins, spearheaded by powerful people like those at Pharma Corp and the clients of Orion.

Conservative states like Florida & Texas have even become independent or sovereign.

It's a bit chilling how close to reality and even plausible this fictitious retelling of history can be.

And that's the breaking off point of Onyx, when she goes from being the hunted to the hunter—a whistleblower who attempts to reveal to the public that they've all been fooled for the last ten years, fooled by a captive media spinning a convenient narrative.

This is also a version of history in which gas costs $100 a gallon, electric vehicles are still unreliable, fact-checkers manipulate the narrative and control information, and shots contain nanomachines that interact with condensation streams from planes. So, if you're far-left, liberal, or a Democrat, this book might bother or upset you. It comes just short of claiming that any elections were rigged or stolen, or at least we missed that part.

Fortunately (or unfortunately), the book then becomes far more about Onyx and Mateo—both separate and together—as they explore their romantic options. Onyx begins an intense sexual relationship with General Jones, an older individual who has the authority, military might, and influence to further her vendetta against Orion and their clients. Meanwhile, Mateo pursues romantic relationships with Cynthia and Karina.

All the while, we're supposed to be comparing these relationships to each other and seeing why either Onyx & Mateo are meant to be together or if they're bad for each other. We were a little perturbed by the fact that this book kinda lost focus on the broader conflict and decided to follow the sexual exploits of these characters.

For example, we don't rejoin Kyle and his scheming until far later in the book because the author decided to keep talking about Onyx's and Mateo's relationships and Onyx's psychological issues. Those parts of the book really seemed fluffy, slow, and even unnecessary, really dampening the pacing.

It is also kinda weird that there are red-flags all over Kyle. Meanwhile, Simon and Steve (another agent) just seem either oblivious to it or know he's a problem and just don't do anything about it.

Anyway, the writing in this book is generally quite good with a few mistakes here or there. For example, there's a line that reads “I can't believe it was ten ago.” It should probably be “I can't believe it was ten years ago.” There's also a passage that humorously refers to the “tablecloth on the table.”

However, this book is saved by some beautiful or powerful passages:

“Hatred is like poison, and the person who feels it expects the person they hate to be the one who dies.”

“So often, it is the expectations that break a heart and not the individual.”

“...the prescribed narrative.”

“...opening people’s eyes was futile, for no one can force another to see what they are not prepared to perceive. We can only open our eyes, observe what resonates true in our souls, change our reality, and leave everyone to figure it out for themselves.”

“Don't take life too seriously. No one gets out alive.”

This book is intense, edgy, action-packed, and--at times--even a bit sexy!

Check it out on Amazon!