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Mark J Maxwell

Autor(a) de The London Project

3 Works 48 Membros 33 Críticas

Obras por Mark J Maxwell

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This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaways.
When a data breech occurs for London residents, Louisa must get to the bottom of it before she becomes the latest victim in a massive cover up. She could have never guessed that an investigation into the death of a young girl could bust a conspiracy wide open that involves corporate corruption and the government. The investigation is more than just a case for Louisa, she must uncover the truth before it costs her and her family their lives to keep the secret hidden.
 
Assinalado
jlynnp79 | 31 outras críticas | Feb 18, 2018 |
Mark Maxwell has skillfully blended the best of science fiction and hard boiled detective stories about a futuristic dystopian London in which your every move is watched and corruption exists at the highest level of corporate and government administration. This book is well written. The characters and dialogue are believable and Maxwell portrays forensic procedures in as accurate a manner as possible. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys science fiction or a good old fashioned detective story.… (mais)
 
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arelenriel | Jun 7, 2017 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaways.
The old Max Headroom tv show used to say it was set five minutes into the future.

This story feels like it’s set two-and-a-half minutes into a future London.

It’s the sort of surveillance state we are building for ourselves. In exchange for information and convenience and lots of free high tech including flat, rollup computers that even provide tactile virtual reality, Londoners let themselves be surveilled for the benefit of private marketers and government security agencies – all subject to bureaucratic oversight of course. It’s all courtesy of the Portal Corporation

So how did a dead girl end up on a subway track in a city where almost every square meter is under observation?

That’s the central mystery heroine Detective Sergeant Louisa Bennett must solve.

The twists and turns the book’s plot will take often are predictable.

Does Louisa’s divorce cause problems? Will her children be endangered by her investigations? Will her partner survive to the end of the story? Is her old boss, now in Portal security, a friend or foe? Will the two cases Louisa is investigating end up being linked? Who is the mysterious entity behind the breaches in Portal’s data security.

I was hoping for some local color, a nostalgic return to a city I haven’t visited in years. But there was little of that outside of the opening in Soho and deserted London zone one of the founders of Portal hangs out in. Little more than names of streets and neighborhoods is given.

The villain’s motives are kind of confused and, frankly, unbelievable.

But there’s stuff to like too.

Maxwell is very good with describing plausible technology. I’m not sure if he has any original technological speculations, but his combination seems novel – particularly the idea that many of the citizens of London, thanks to retinal implants that can record visuals, act like bloggers and videographers desperate for an online audience in order to gain access to more Portal goodies.

Maxwell seriously considers not just the usual privacy concerns but some of the social consequences of his technology – even if some of the conversations Louisa has about Portal’s effect on society, for good and ill, are too blocky and come off as more debating society discussions than extemporaneous conversation.

I particularly like the mocking of the techno-utopian dreams of one of Portal’s founders.

Maxwell is also good about capturing the mindset of government agencies, especially using performance metrics supposedly there to better service to evade hard work.

And not all the plot twists are predictable.

It’s a decent first novel. I’m not sure I would read any more possible stories set in this world, but I may consider future Maxwell efforts.
… (mais)
2 vote
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RandyStafford | 31 outras críticas | Jul 14, 2015 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaways.
3.5 stars. I received this book free for review as it sounded like it would be right up my alley. Overall, I found it easy to read, with action that flowed and very good editing. In fact, when I first started, it was like reading scenes from a movie. That feeling never completely went away, and I think it is the main detriment to the story. While the heroine is sympathetic and a complete person with job, failed marriage, and kids, there wasn't much development of her as a person. Yes, she finally starts to come to terms with the end of her marriage, but it wasn't a deep change and it never felt like the bizarre and frightening events she faced made a significant dent in who she was as a person.

The story follows a dedicated police officer in a not too distant London where an agreement has been made with a company that has a platform that wraps all of the social media craziness into one. Privacy is given away freely, except by a few, as your image and your life becomes property of the corporation. Our heroine, chasing a difficult to find criminal, sees him do something that is supposed to be impossible. She isn't believed by the hierarchy, but is faced with an unexplained death before she be too concerned. The death haunts her with unanswered questions, and her focus is only tightened by a strange event during her news feed.

Things only get more strange and tense from there, as she chases down clues, regardless of support for her superiors. Eventually things develop to the point that those who had dismissed her statements at the beginning of the book are supportive of her stance. However, there is more going on than meets the eye.

When everything goes wild, it became even more like a movie. The conspiracy angle didn't provide many surprises, although the depravity of the main villain was pretty bad. The culminating face-off scene was not as strong as I would have liked, but was rather inventive. And her situation at the end of the book was believable. However, the ex-husband being reasonable and the potential love interest (with an emphasis on potential) were relatively weak and didn't add enough to the story or her character development.

Overall the book isn't quite big corporation gets too much power and does horrible things, but it's close.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
laracat | 31 outras críticas | Jun 7, 2015 |

Estatísticas

Obras
3
Membros
48
Popularidade
#325,720
Avaliação
4.2
Críticas
33