Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Six technothrillers featuring digital surveillance and voyeurism

Rabeea Saleem is a Pakistan-based book critic presently writing for a bunch of international publications including Book Riot and Chicago Review of Book. At Tor.com she tagged six technothrillers featuring digital surveillance and voyeurism, including:
Recursion by Blake Crouch

Most people recognize Blake Crouch as the writer of the critically acclaimed Wayward Pines trilogy, which went on to become a hit TV show. As an avid reader of literary fiction, I love Crouch’s books for the simple reason that he makes sci-fi accessible for people new to the genre. Recursion is set in a world where a mysterious disease is afflicting people, driving them mad with memories of a past life they never lived. The protagonists are a brilliant neuroscientist named Helena whose groundbreaking research on Alzheimers will change the way we think about time and memory, and Barry, a NYPD detective who discovers that several people are suffering from False Memory Syndrome. Helena’s research eventually gets into the hands of influential people who want to use it to shift people’s reality. This evolves into a labyrinthine time-travel story replete with alternate timelines (which Crouch is a pro at!) and white-knuckle action. I enjoy reading Blake Crouch for his twisty, entertaining sci-fi narratives. Recursion reads like Minority Report meets Black Mirror.
Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue