Hello everyone!
Because tonight's book of choice hasn't been released yet - it's coming this June.
And I don't want to give anything away too soon!
But equally I want you to WANT to read it, so here's my attempt at putting together some cohesive enough writing that will hopefully entice enough for you to pick the actual book once it officially drops.
I mean, what could possibly go wrong?!?
HAH.
Anyway, enough of the chit-chat. You know I like me some political shenanigans in a book no matter when or where - I've read plenty of this stuff, and I probably still will.
So you shouldn't be surprised that tonight's book of choice is one of that genre.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage: The Architects of Control!
This is actually the author Harold Greene's debut novel, and it should come to the surprise of absolutely no one that he's Scandinavian.
If anyone, then these guys KNOW how to write a political thriller, a thriller, or just a genuine head-scratching-what-the-hell-even on the planet.
Our story starts with Robert, deputy on patrol, who gets alerted to a hit-and-run, which leads him deep into the woods of New Denmark, and a cabin full of people who aren't American ... and who get yanked out of his custody by FBI and ICE by next morning, regardless that he partners up with rookie Anders to keep going forward with the job.
By the time Anders ends up dead a short while later because he ate a bullet, well, you can probably see that no policeman worth their salt would let THAT one go.
So Robert starts asking questions, and then someone does this modern thing called slander online, but make it deepfake, which gets his badge and gun removed.
Because, of course it does.
Meanwhile, Tormund, a Norwegian who arrives to the US for the election and to be a neutral observer, finds discrepancies in numbers, particularly in New Denmark. When he brings this up to his friend Willa, they go visit Rober's daughter Lucy, who has ties to the community, and a vested interest because it looks like all roads might be pointing to one single spot: a company that built on New Denmark soil, promising power output, yet not showing much for their promises yet.
Particularly since there's a lot of humming going round the neighbourhood the closer you get to a certain point, and nothing really makes sense there.
To be fair, however, when you switch to the point of view of an independent radiohost, Theo, who's daughter ends up in hospital because of her placenta previa, and the doctors won't risk treatment because of current laws (as if that specific condition isn't ACTUALLY a signed death warrant IF the doctors DO NOT HELP), you're probably thinking:
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
Or, in this case, just the States.
Theo's daughter is one of the cogs in the wheel of this novel, because things are starting to pick up the pace by the time she's at the hospital, Robert's on temporary leave, and Tormund, Lucy and Willa are getting their ducks in a row.
Please remember the term Project Sunstone. It's VERY important for this novel.
Suffice to say it's probably the heart around which everything else revolves.
Because once the going gets tough, the tough have to get going, as our unlikely heroes realize just how far up this whole thing they're uncovering goes, flee into the night, and rendez-vous with an injured Robert, who's been doing a little investigating on his own.
Oh, and you learn what his wife was up to while she was alive to do it, something her daughter picked up after her as well. Because someone had to.
Someone HAD to.
Just like someone has to now figure out how to solve the mess they're in.
Because New Denmark was just a test drive. The real show will be the upcoming elections, which at this point are only two days away, and our crew has to figure out a way to stop Project Sunstone from REALLY going live.
It helps little to know someone Willa's quite familiar with is at the heart of it all, because she's going to blow it all up if she can.
As with any good book, there are ups and downs and the heroes face a pretty vast array of obstacles and setbacks, but the resolution doesn't mean the end of the book, oh no.
It's the aftermath that really gets you, because Mr. Greene doesn't leave you with just THE END. No, he goes into the consequences, and reading the parts where they all wait to see which news outlet will finally fight for the right thing is some outstanding writing.
And then you have to ask yourselves: how do you go on knowing you've been manipulated? And to what measure that happened?
It's a question all our POV characters have to ask themselves, as well, after their battle, their personal losses, and after what happens next.
The ending though ... the ending is worth it.
This was a WILD ride, especially thinking ... it could totally happen!
Greene sets the stage beautifully by starting with a seemingly open-and-shut case that gets taken from local authorities and handed to ICE and the FBI, but then the partner dies, and once a deputy and his daughter are loped in, and two election observers that really, truly didn't even realize they were stumbling into this mess, you've got yourself a book.
The writing style is gripping and engaging, and Greene has a talent for using short sentences right where they need to be, to underline what action's happening and point out how dangerous it is. The story itself is actually ridiculously chilly: how would YOU react if you learned you'd basically been trained, by AI, to vote a certain way?
It's not rigging, and yet it's totally rigging. It's just rigging in this new era where AI is steadily gaining ground.
A page turner from start to finish, I highly recommend this book to anyone who finds themselves even remotely intrigued by the blurb. I promise, you get a whole lot more than just that, and it's written in a tight, concise manner that won't have your attention straying for even a minute.
Thank you again to Mr. Greene for kindly sending me a copy of this book. I absolutely loved reading it! 100/10 recommend when it releases this June.
Greene sets the stage beautifully by starting with a seemingly open-and-shut case that gets taken from local authorities and handed to ICE and the FBI, but then the partner dies, and once a deputy and his daughter are loped in, and two election observers that really, truly didn't even realize they were stumbling into this mess, you've got yourself a book.
The writing style is gripping and engaging, and Greene has a talent for using short sentences right where they need to be, to underline what action's happening and point out how dangerous it is. The story itself is actually ridiculously chilly: how would YOU react if you learned you'd basically been trained, by AI, to vote a certain way?
It's not rigging, and yet it's totally rigging. It's just rigging in this new era where AI is steadily gaining ground.
A page turner from start to finish, I highly recommend this book to anyone who finds themselves even remotely intrigued by the blurb. I promise, you get a whole lot more than just that, and it's written in a tight, concise manner that won't have your attention straying for even a minute.
Thank you again to Mr. Greene for kindly sending me a copy of this book. I absolutely loved reading it! 100/10 recommend when it releases this June.
xx
*image not mine
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