THE PUNISHMENTS is a controversial Orwellian thriller set in the near future. It is a story of a heart-pounding struggle of one family after voters unwittingly elect a demagogue and fundamentalist government. Enormous shifts threaten our way of life - artificial intelligence, robotics, surveillance, human relations, terrorism, Islamic fundamentalism, and the rise of American religious extremism. The novel's characters battle to hold on to friendship, love, and faith as they are thrust into the center of the largely unreported debate raging beneath the surface of Christianity and identity politics. One vote against the Citizens Justice & Security Act thrusts Senator William Thatcher, his wife, Carol, a blacklisted Planned Parenthood attorney, and their eleven-year-old son, Billy, onto the dreaded 'enemies list' at the new Department of Virtue.