Sometimes it takes years to realize that a society has long been drifting in a direction you never wanted to live in. In the second sentence, you're hit by exactly this feeling when you open Perestroika · An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth by João Cerqueira: You are immediately in Eslavia, and you suspect that "after the dictatorship" does not automatically mean "peace."
Why this novel resonates so strongly today
The contemporary relevance begins with an uncomfortable realization: dictatorships rarely simply disappear; they only change their form. In Cerqueira's fictional Eastern European state of Eslavia, a real socialist regime collapses, but what truly controls people initially remains: networks, fear, dependencies, money. The surveillance state becomes a power apparatus that presents itself as more modern. Ideological dogma becomes the cold logic of corruption and blackmail. And the hope for democracy becomes a test that an exhausted society often only partially passes.
Populism, fear, and the need for “order”
The novel shows how quickly people yearn for order after a turning point, even if they trade freedom for it. Those who are afraid cling to what seems strong. Those who feel powerless are more easily convinced that the guilty should be "eliminated." This is precisely where Perestroika strikes a nerve of the present: populists operate everywhere according to similar rules. They promise simple solutions, exploit the anger of the disappointed, and create enemy images that sell well. Cerqueira tells this not as theory, but as suspense, as a pull, as a moral trap in which characters make decisions that are both understandable and terrifying.
When truth becomes a weapon
Another contemporary theme is the question: Who determines what is "true"? In Eslavia, propaganda, half-truths, and personal memories clash. Some want to open files, others want to destroy them. Some want to clarify, others want to "conclude." This is the point at which a political thriller about system change becomes a reflection of our present: even today, societies fight over narratives. Not only with newspaper headlines, but with pressure, threats, defamation. In the novel, it is often less open violence that decides everything, but rather what may be said and what not, who may speak and who is silenced.
Justice or revenge: the dangerous confusion
The subtitle "An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth" makes it clear that this is about more than politics. It's about a primal need: justice. And about the temptation to confuse justice with revenge. Cerqueira repeatedly brings his characters to this brink. Those who lost everything after the dictatorship want to see a price paid. Those who were victims want recognition. Those who were perpetrators want oblivion. In this mixture, revenge suddenly becomes plausible, almost "logical." And precisely this is the warning for the present: if institutions fail, if coming to terms with the past stalls, if abuse of power remains without consequence, the readiness for vigilantism grows. The novel makes you feel how quickly a country that wants to be "free" can again descend into violence.
What the author says about it
In the author's interview with the publisher, a sentence stands out that serves as a leitmotif throughout the entire book: "As far as I know, there is no film, no series, and no novel – except mine – that addresses one of the most important changes of the 20th century." This claim explains why Eslavia doesn't feel like a backdrop, but like a living organism. Perestroika here is not folklore, but a system test: What remains of humanity when ideology, fear, and opportunism have shaped its environment for years?
A mirror for our time: democracy is not a final destination
Perestroika · An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth is therefore more than a historical novel. It is a literary thriller that shows how totalitarianism finds new hosts if we leave the door ajar for it. In the end, the question is not whether Eslavia is "real," but whether we recognize the patterns before they write history again. Precisely this power makes the novel so current – and so gripping. And it clearly bears the hallmark of João Cerqueira.
The book is available in German language as a printed, i.e., paperback edition (ISBN 978-3-910347-79-3) and as an EPUB (ISBN 978-3-910347-80-9) in bookstores or here in the publisher's shop.
