Synopsis
WHEN THE COST OF DOING BUSINESS IS BLOOD, ONE MAN MUST SAVE WHAT’S LEFT OF HIS FAMILY FROM PAYING THE PRICE…
In a future wrought by traumatic events, the people of the UK come to rely on retailer Yellowstone for their every need. The futuristic company is a newcomer to the country but it’s technologically-advanced ways pamper a weary populace with convenience – at a price – and the convenience soon becomes a necessity.
Danny Price is one of a lost generation who seems to be going nowhere in this harsh future – after losing most of his family, he moves in with his last remaining relative, his grandmother, who has her own secrets to keep.
Others are wary that Yellowstone’s ambition can’t be controlled by the bounds of laws and morals. Their companies scrabble to secure their stake.
When Danny interviews at Yellowstone, he realises the sacrifice he needs to make is too great – but he doesn’t realise that Yellowstone know all about him and the danger to their hegemony he poses without even knowing it.
When the battle in the boardroom spills over to a hostile takeover of every town and city in the country, Danny is the one man who stands to fight the Price War against all the odds…
Review
I originally received this as an eARC, but I was so backed up that I actually ended up buying a copy by the time I got to reading it. (Sorry about that.)
This is a near-future dystopian techno-thriller. It poses the question of what the world would look like if companies like Amazon were allowed to grow and buy and take completely unchecked. At some point, things would be so cutthroat that it would turn to blood, right?
While the concept is huge, the author gives a very personalized story within. As he warned me, “the book is very British” and yep, it is unapologetically so. But within that, the characters are presenting you with their world, as opposed to the grander world beyond. The characters deal with issues with family and friends, losing jobs, home damage from storms, and some damage from other’s fists…the stakes get higher and higher as the story progresses, and I was incredibly happy with the fact that it didn’t extend to the unbelievable.
The characters are believable, as are the relationships that intertwine between them all. Some dialogue was beyond me and my American brain, but that somehow read as especially authentic to me.
The only thing the story was missing for me was a little more. More backstory, more world building, more lore. More of the precipice that was crossed to bring the world to where it was. Also, the author further pushes his pineapple on pizza agenda…nah.
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