ABSTRACT
This chapter uses Linwood Barclay’s Promise Falls series (2015–2017) to explore the nuances of Canada/United States relations, reviewing key cultural studies approaches to this crucial relationship and arguing that contemporary crime fiction can productively highlight tensions between the two countries. Barclay’s fast-paced, sometimes outlandish, series addresses serious issues that raise anxiety in both countries: gun control, declining faith in traditional institutions, and the largely unregulated use of social media as a source of news and information. Investigating revenge in a number of different iterations, Barclay describes a dark cityscape that nonetheless contains the seeds of hope typical to dystopian writing.
