In the future world of Scorch, America is run by a “corporacracy.” Three conglomerates have taken control not by force but by manipulating common beliefs and values through the media, and particularly by playing on Americans’ fears of Big Brother. Consumerism and privatization have run amok in this landscape of flashing screens and subtle brainwashing, a world where even city streets and public schools are run by big business. This is a darkly comic first novel of a dystopian future, with echoes of 1984 and Brave New World.