Lion’s Den is a work of dystopian political fiction with a strong coming-of-age thread, and it follows Johnny and Benny Salter after a brutal attack on their family dojo leaves their father dead and their lives split open. Set in a fractured Southern California shaped by earthquakes, tsunamis, secession politics, and street-level ideological conflict, the novel tracks grief, loyalty, revenge, and the question of what it means to inherit a legacy before you are ready for it. At its core, this is a story about two brothers trying to stay upright while the ground under them keeps shifting, both literally and emotionally.

Author Neil Citrin writes with real conviction about family, discipline, and belief, and that conviction gives the novel its engine. The dialogue can be direct, sometimes almost purposefully plain, but in a book like this that straightforwardness often works because the characters are living in survival mode. They do not have the luxury of being vague. I also liked how the novel keeps returning to Johnny’s interior balance, his breathing, his restraint, the way he tries to think while Benny burns hotter beside him. That contrast gives the story a human center. You feel the ache of grief in the pauses, in the small practical decisions, in the way these boys have to talk about trusts, schools, and housing while still reeling from loss.

I was also struck by the author’s choice to build the novel as both a personal drama and a broader political thought experiment. The alternate California, with its damaged infrastructure, breakaway pressures, and ideological camps, gives the book a tense backdrop that is more than decoration. It shapes how people talk, where they can travel, whom they trust, and what danger looks like day to day. I wanted the political material to breathe a little more and let the characters step out from under it, but I also understood why Citrin kept it so close. For him, it clearly is the weather of the book. Everything happens inside it. The martial arts thread helps too. It gives the novel a code, not just action. Discipline matters. Legacy matters. Control matters. Even revenge is treated less like a thrill and more like a test of character, which I appreciated.

Lion’s Den will speak most strongly to readers who enjoy character-driven speculative fiction, especially stories that blend family loyalty, civic conflict, and martial arts into one narrative line. It’s earnest, steady, and deeply invested in the moral choices its characters face. I would recommend it most to readers who like dystopian fiction that stays close to the heart, as well as to anyone interested in stories about brothers, inheritance, and the hard work of deciding what kind of person to be after loss.

Pages: 239 | ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0GKHF8NFK