Will there be murder in the age of Aquarius?
Zodiac
astrology and know what it says you should be, otherwise it’s no better than chance.”
With the help of profiler Lindi Childs (a Leo), Burton discovers — certainly in his own case — that the sign system is flawed, but reason cannot beat belief.
“I made a world in which it doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. If enough people believe, then it becomes an unavoidable part of life,” says Wilson.
The victims are born under various signs and are killed in different ways — a chief of police (Taurus) is disembowelled then buried in the ground (the Taurus element), the host of a popular TV show (Leo) is shot and burnt (Leo is one of the fire signs).
Wilson says “beliefs and society shape who we are”, but says he had fun turning Burton into someone who firsts doubts the status quo and then has personal reasons for rejecting it.
The “signism” in Zodiac can be seen as a form of racism or antiSemitism. However, Wilson says he had no overt political agenda.
“I thought that the zodiac world would be interesting and fun to write, and I came up with a story that wouldn’t work anywhere else.”
In this world a school called the True Signs Academy teaches problem children to embrace their true element; people live in designated areas according to their star sign; and a police “ram squad” (get it?) is tasked with dealing with the notoriously criminal group born in Aries.
Wilson makes it clear that signism is a bad thing. But despite the parallels a reader might be tempted to draw between the zodiac world and other oppressive regimes, the Cape Town author does not consider himself a political writer.
In fact, his influences are readable, accessible and popular.
“I was inspired by Lauren Beukes and Sarah Lotz for their high-concept thrillers, although I can’t compare my work to theirs,” he says.
“And I loved . . . some of the great writing on TV shows like Black Mirror and The Wire.”
Wilson is researching another thriller set in the same universe, but with a different situation and characters.
However, his message to those who loved Zodiac is that Burton and Childs may get a cameo. Fingers crossed! —