. . . AMERICA'S CHRISTIANS ARE DECIMATED, PERSECUTED-most of them huddled together on a federal reservation, the rest forced to worship in secret underground communi-ties. The State knows all and controls all: what you eat, what you watch, how you think and pray. Tolerance is the highest virtue. Deviance is the norm; speaking out against it is a crime. Any lifestyle choice is fine... as long as it doesn't lower your federal Healthcare Score. Too low and the Health Continuity Councils-or "Death Panels"-will hold your life in their hands. For powerful, ambitious Senator Axyl Houston, this isn't enough. He wants the Death Panels to have the power to euthanize the genetically weak and imperfect; he wants America to lead the global Unified Order in purging future generations of disease and imperfection. Against him stands David Rudder, an escapee from the Christian reservation-called the Cloistered Dominion or "Dome"-who in the simple, merciful act of rescuing a baby with Down syndrome from termination becomes entangled in a chain of events that could lead to a revolution for the Culture of Life. Or to its final destruction. Death Panels is an exciting-and disturbing-story of a not-too-distant future in which our current politi-cal battles over life and freedom have reached an explosive crossroads, and a clarion call to all Christians and lovers of liberty. "Michelle Buckman has written a futuristic novel of dystopia worthy of Walter Miller of 'A Canticle for Lebowitz' or Robert Hugh Benson's 'The Lord of the World.' You may say 'it can't happen here ' but in a country that created modern total war-fare, dropped the atomic bomb, and has the most liberal abortion laws in the world, Life is becoming increasingly cheap and bodies simply seem a collection of parts that can be used to help the rich to reach their goal of somatic immortality. However, Buckman shows how love, prayer, and political power for the good can overcome the culture of Death." - Fr. C. J. McCloskey is a research fellow of the Faith and Reason Institute in Washington, D.C."
