Dark Windows

"Dark Windows" by Bryce Walton is a science fiction story that takes place in a controlled world during the 1900s, where people are expected to think the same and being smart is seen as dangerous. The book tells the story of Fredricks, who has a boring job at the Department of Internal Security. His life flips upside down when his neighbor dies in a strange way, and Fredricks starts to see the wrongdoings of the world he lives in. As Fredricks is pulled into the Special Police Agency and deals with the scary agent Mesner, he has to face the cruel actions of the government he works for. He finds himself wrestling with his own unsettling feelings and sudden surfacing intellect, finding himself on rough field missions that involve harsh questioning. He finds out that he is part of a secret plot connected to a past with hidden memories and a surprising high IQ, planned to bring down the very system he was taught to defend. The frightening ending shows how deep the control and oppression go, leaving Fredricks fighting for who he is and what he believes in, inside a government that crushes anything outside the norm.