The Innocence Device

By William Kowalski

The year is 2147. Chago, twenty-four, is a prisoner in a world made up only of prisoners and those who guard them. The only bright spot in Chago s life is his son, Jim-Jim, whose mother is a guard. In an effort to resolve overcrowding in the prison, the warden introduces the Innocence Device, a high-tech machine he claims can determine innocence or guilt. Prisoners are encouraged to walk through the Innocence Device and experience its rewards: immediate freedom or death. When they discover the machine is rigged, the prisoners riot and take over the prison. After witnessing the execution-style death of the mother of his son, and surviving a brief stint outside the prison walls, Chago ends up in a position of power. But he soon finds the new regime little different from the old, and he sets out to save the only thing he values: his son.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raven Books
• Release date: Sep 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781459807495

William Kowalski

William Kowalski is the author of Eddie's Bastard, Somewhere South of Here, and The Adventures of Flash Jackson. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1970 and raised in Erie, Pennsylvania. He lives in Nova Scotia with his wife and daughter.

Reviews for The Innocence Device

[aeisen_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a quick novella you can easily read in one sitting. With the popularity of dystopian novels right now, I feel like this is a book that would be popular with younger teens who are not quite at the reading level for books like Divergent or Hunger Games, but are interested in similar stories. I enjoyed the book, however, I found that it ended quite abruptly. It also seemed to end just a little bit too perfectly.

[catherinemarie_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Its a well written, very short novella. I did feel as if it could have been fleshed out a little more, in terms of the world-building. And the ending felt a little abrupt. It is certainly suitable for teens and readers for whom English is a second language. I would have liked more detail and depth to the world, to how the hero made his way in the world with his son, etc. it just felt a little unfinished to me.

[ljbryant_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I think this story would be better classified as a novella or long short-story than a novel of it's own. It's quite short. I quite enjoyed the story, and I believe that it served it's purpose and made you think about guilt versus innocence, and, to a great degree, our own society today. When everything is a crime, everyone is guilty. That being said, as other readers have mentioned, I believe that the purpose of the story would have been better served by omitting the epilogue. Without the epilogue, the guilt or innocence of the hero would have been left as an exercise for the reader, as would the entire "is everyone guilty" question. Instead, we're given a pat ending. This is one case where neatly wrapped up ending is a let-down. It's like telling us at the end of The Lady or the Tiger which door the princess indicated -- it short-circuits the moral dilemma set forth by the story. Something that was great turns into something mediocre.

[jgoto_4 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This novella is tiny enough to easily read in one sitting. It is a young adult novel, appropriate for middle school students. The dystopian theme, with the world divided into prisoners and their keepers, might be very appealing to young teens. For adults or older teens, however, the story is much too simplistic to hold much interest.

[sambelini · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Innocence Device is a short read, but packs a punch. With a quickly progressing storyline, Kowalski introduces Chago, a prisoner who's simple life is about to change. Chago is not a complicated man, he mainly wants to stay out of everybody's way and make sure his young son Jim-Jim never ends up in prison like himself - and almost every other male in America. In this futuristic society, greed appears to be the highest virtue. But Chago calls the prison slums home. His lack of ambition may first strike the reader as passive cowardice, but Chago soon reveals a bravery he was unaware he was hiding.Because of the book's short length, I found it refreshingly "no-nonsense'. It was fairly straightforward, but not lacking a certain sophistication. The dramatically cruel setting Chago found himself in serves as an ugly mirror of our own capitalistic cultures. However, I personally found the story unfulfilling. Altogether, it was not a bad read. It was fast but thought-provoking, and certainly well worth the short time it took to breeze through! I think I mainly wished it was longer, and I found it at times to be stylistically dry.

[phdinhorribleness · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book fell short of my expectations. It has a great premise, but is not as well-developed as it could be. The writing style is very basic - although the subject matter is clearly not for children, the writing style is more that of children's literature. Also, the cover blurb takes you almost to the end of the book, leaving little to be discovered in the reading. It's a great story with an excellent message that has great potential, but left me wanting more (and not in the good way).

[sean191 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Super-short, but of course, it's part of the Rapid Reads collection of books so that makes sense. Still, even though it's more of a long short story than a short book (probably about an hour's read), I really enjoyed it. It was overly simplistic, in part, again going back to the "rapid reads" but worth it. I think if the book would have ended one chapter earlier, it would have been amazing though.If you like to ponder philosophical quandaries, I think this book offers a lot to readers looking beyond the pages in front of them. What is freedom? Are we free? Is anyone free in this world today? Does Kowalski's world more than a century from that really offer a significantly different reality than today's world?Thought-provoking and interesting book to read and for anyone that doesn't like it - at least it's quick!

[lavermeer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Williams Kowalski's THE INNOCENCE DEVICE is a powerful little book. The story of Chago, a prisoner in a world where it seems everyone is either a prisoner or a guard, THE INNOCENCE DEVICE scathingly critiques a society — not dissimilar to our own — that has criminalized poverty and locked up the poor. What Chago does when he has the opportunity to escape underscores the power of hope and reminds us what real freedom means. I enjoyed this short novel and hope it will inspire everyone who reads it.

[catscritch · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Innocence Device by William KowalskiThis small book packs a wallop! I usually feel cheated if a story comes in under 300+ pages, but Kowalski jam packs an intense and compelling drama in this quick read. Set in the future, it echoes all manner of problems our current “throw-away” society faces today. It also manages to focus on Chago’s personal fight to survive and retain his sanity when there is no one you can trust. It haunts me with all its evil possibilities. Is there any way we can avoid this slowly marching progress into hell? Perhaps Kowalski will gift us with this knowledge soon.