Manila: A Reality-Fiction Novel

Manila, 2023. A tropical Gotham where famished gig workers hustle for crypto scraps, and online human traffickers fleece desperate parents promising domestic jobs abroad. This is the Manila of Joe Maristela's reality fiction anthology, Manila. In these linked stories, ordinary Filipinos are ensnared in webs of scams spun by cyber-savvy syndicates. An overseas domestic worker returns home from Dubai, her dreams of providing a better life for her family shattered after falling prey to an employment scam. A rural farmer loses everything to a forex trading platform, promising easy profits from the comfort of his hut.

The reality fiction story pulls back the curtain on the Philippines' monetized misery, from crypto cons and fake employment agencies to rigged casinos and coerced webcam sex work. But he also celebrates the resilience of Manila's people, like the formerly trafficked caregiver rallying her neighbors to expose the traffickers, or the young call center worker defying his syndicate overlords to leak their latest data scam. Blending action and heartache, Manila renders the high-tech exploitation of Filipino blood, sweat, and tears in stark relief. Maristela's commanding prose mirrors Manila - hot, hurried, and humming with humanity. This confrontational fiction reflects reality's broken dreams, so we can someday build them anew. Manila bites, but it's medicine the Philippines needs.