Near future technothriller, climate change, AI, and advanced virtual reality. Engaging story about a murder, and a global vote that will set out the direction humanity will take; well written, main couple of characters well formed. No complaints.

I have to be honest this was a first in this genre for me. I don't usually do a lot of SciFi or dystopian reads. However, I have never read a technothriller especially one focused on politics and AI. The climate dynamic of this one was intriguing in addition to all of the other various elements of politics, conspiracies, secrets, journalism, and even AI. I honestly can say that this was one I struggled a bit to put down because it was so engrossing. The scary part honestly was how much of this book related to current day issues. It really wasn't that hard to believe that these things could be happening.

I enjoyed that the politics was mostly just a side story... though all the important drama revolved around it. We have a man on a mission to understand what happened to his wife and why. He doesn't realize at the time how deeply involved the answer is and the things he learns along the way are not what he expected. Each new answer leads to more questions and fears. I loved that we had the "us" "them" mentality for the election taking place between a human and an AI. I loved that we had so many levels of conspiracy and distrust.

The SciFi technology element of this one was really cool. I liked the way these people used neuroreality so much. It was really cool and made sense as a way to escape the terrible climate situation they were dealing with. I think that while this one was a work of fiction it really shows some real world issues that we should consider before it's too late to do anything about them. I loved watching the journalistic element be the focus of the story because it got to some interesting points.

The big plot twists in this one are all saved for the end and they are not what I anticipated. I loved it though. I loved how nothing could be trusted. Just when you thought it was solved, a new and shocking element came into play. I loved that at the center of this was this search for the truth... a truth which it seems keeps changing and adapting. A truth which maybe just can't ever be found... or once it is... isn't what you thought it would be. Honestly this book really caught me off guard with the end because it added so many layers and questions to the story. I still have questions. ( )