Jihad vs. The Jingle

di Chintan Bhagat (Autore)

Chintan Bhagat, 2025

"Jihad vs. The Jingle" is a satirical novella set in a surreal world where the media's relentless coverage becomes a literal weapon against terrorism. During the Festival of Lights in The Coastal Town's Bay Park, two radicalized attackers—the 50-year-old Mechanic and his 24-year-old son, the Apprentice—launch a deadly assault with a high-velocity rifle and semi-automatic shotguns. Having recently returned from a trip to the Philippines where they connected with insurgents, they fire 103 rounds, killing 15 innocents (including children and a Holocaust survivor) and injuring 25 others, while concealing IEDs in their vehicle under the guise of a fishing trip. The story transforms the tragedy into a chaotic spectacle, exploring how the boundaries between journalism, performance, and warfare blur in a hyper-connected society. Rather than a traditional police response, a barrage of celebrity news anchors descends upon the scene, clad in ill-fitting bulletproof vests and armed with microphones, whiteboards, and unyielding rhetorical firepower. Each chapter spotlights a different anchor's unique style of confrontation: from the Chief Editor's thunderous demands for answers and the Analyst's data-driven dissections to the Sarcastic Siren's cutting mockery and the Firebrand's explosive rage. Through sarcasm, logic, moral scoldings, and relentless interrogations, the anchors psychologically dismantle the terrorists, disrupting their focus and exposing their hypocrisies—such as their betrayal of the country that welcomed them and their cowardly targeting of unarmed civilians. This "wall of sound" of indignation turns the airwaves into a tangible force, pushing back against the gunfire and reducing the attackers' ideology to absurdity. In a climactic twist, the Mechanic succumbs to suicide to escape the verbal onslaught, while the Apprentice falls into a coma, only to be revived through a bizarre "media therapy" involving an autotuned loop of a famous news rant, forcing his confession. The novella concludes with a reflection on the "echo chamber of justice," where truth is weaponized and broadcast at maximum volume, satirizing the modern news cycle's transformation into an active participant in chaos. Ultimately, it posits that in an age of ratings-driven spectacle, the loudest voices may overpower even the deadliest threats, but at the cost of turning tragedy into entertainment.

• Autore: Chintan Bhagat
• Anno edizione: 2025
• Editore: Chintan Bhagat
• Formato: EPUB2 con DRMFREE
• Lingua: Inglese
• Compatibilità: Tutti i dispositivi (eccetto Kindle)
• Layout: Reflowable
• EAN: 9798233748875