The time is somewhere in the foreseeable future. The setting is the former United States of America. O’Shea envisions the future USA divided into five regions with insurgents rising up against the autocratic regime governing each district. The Order of Prometheus are the rebels fighting to overthrow the established rulers and bring fair and democratic governance back to the people.

Luciana Piccolo is the heiress to her father’s region when he steps down as President. It is during her father’s annual masquerade ball that Lucy is kidnapped by one of the Order’s assassins. She is then forced to be with Taylor, her kidnapper, as she works at finishing her assignment of assassinating all the regional heads of power and their families.

O’Shea is proving once again that she is a writer of exceptional and entertaining novels. She is surprisingly comfortable in this dystopian futuristic genre which is a big step away from her pure romance novels. The Order offers us a frightening insightful look at what could truly be possible in these unprecedented times. And while she is scaring the pants off us, O’Shea melds into the mix a heart bracing love story between an insulated heiress to power and a fortune with an orphan raised to be a killing machine.

I hold O’Shea in the highest regard and in the esteemed company of Gerri Hill, E.J. Noyes, Michelle Larkin, Lee Winter and Ann McMan. The Order is a definite must read novel of 2023.

I received an advance review copy  from Bella Books through NetGalley.  I am leaving this review voluntarily.

5 big stars
Wow, what a ride! In this powerful and well executed long (more than 150,000 words) novel the author imagined a dark dystopian future for America. It's so well paced that makes you want to just keep reading. There is a lot of action, energy and tension packed in it, but also a lot of emotions. Both the plot and the character development are excellent, and O'Shea has managed to give a strong message to all of us. Her next book can't come soon enough. Highly recommended!