Sunday 31 May 2009

Beautiful Red

Official Blurb

The future is boring. Technology has solved the world's most pressing problems, leaving people with tedious work and mundane play. Jack is a Security Officer Class 5, which sounds important, but isn't. However, her banal life as a cubicle worker by day and tinkerer by night is interrupted when she discovers that her employer's computer system has been invaded.

Jack enlists the help of her only friends – her co-worker, Gilles and Adrian, an online friend she's never met – to help her track down the source of the invasion. Her investigation leads her to a shadowy group called the Red, where Jack learns that not everyone lives a life of quiet servitude.

Even though she believes that the Red are responsible for a series of gruesome attacks, Jack begins to become attracted to their worldview. In her search for the people responsible for the attacks, she confronts the leaders of the group as well as her own burgeoning sense of self-awareness.

My Review

I really can't tell you any more about the story than the blurb has given away but I can tell you that this is a near future that appeals to my geeky side.

The internet has been replaced with the everywhere-nets. People dont use computers to access the nets but rather use implants in their heads. A person walking past you on the street with glazed eyes is likely to be accessing the nets and either checking their bank details or on "the boards" chatting with friends.

People are also getting body mods, physical changes to their bodies for arts sake, fancy a pair of horns!?

The reader is good. Took me a little while to tune in to her style, but once there it is was worth the effort. She has a lilt and a way of applying tone that is both subtle and engaging.

All in all I really liked the story, the ending caught me off guard and it was a fun trip. Dont expect high action or laser guns but you will find you self in a very high tech future.

Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 2/3

Total Score 6/9

Download it from Podiobooks

Listen to the first chapter