Inspired Quill presents an exciting new edition of CITIZEN ZERO, a science fiction thriller in the dystopian tradition...
“Those people are no-hopers.”
“And what does that make me?”
In a bitterly divided nation where security trumps civil liberty, unemployed David is on the verge of sinking into the ‘Zeros’ – a destitute underclass numbering millions. But then JobNet's advanced virtual reality world offers him a gateway to a worthwhile future, and a chance to rejoin society.
But David is an unwitting pawn in a deadly conspiracy to topple the Government: he's the ideal carrier for an intelligent virus designed to shatter the system and set the Zeros free.
When the virus activates, chaos ensues and the Zeros rise. David is left trapped inside a corrupted reality. If it doesn't shatter his sanity, the secret he finds there will change everything...
Sometimes even a pawn can hold the balance of power.
Mark Cantrell is one of those curious creatures that likes to live by the word. Well, it's better than living by the sword because everyone knows how that ends. Born and bred in Bradford, West Yorkshire, he now lives in Stoke-on-Trent, making him something of a Tyke in exile. Mark is the author of two novels -- Citizen Zero (2017) and Silas Morlock (2013) -- both published by indie press Inspired Quill.
We think of the surveillance state very much in terms of Orwell's 1984, with the state scrutinising everything we do.
This is the core of the hi-tech panopticon taking shape around us, but we forget that the State is a public-private partnership; there is a degree of overlap between the functioning of the State and the activities of the large-scale private sector.
So it follows that the surveillance state will itself be conducted by both, each assembling the montage of our public and personal lives for their mutual and exclusive ends.
So we are watched for a multitude of overlapping purposes: state and corporate security, yes, but also for intelligence, to harvest marketing data, to identify behaviour traits, to keep track of individuals and groups, to create a general aura of watchfulness that suppresses any natural exuberance or dissent within our behaviour.
Much of this evidence will lie fallow, but it is there, ready and waiting to be used -- or construed -- against you. Should you ever find yourself noticed and noted by the agencies, both private and public, with a vested interest in nullifying your influence on those around you.
Book Excerpt
Citizen Zero
A flash of irritation flared in
the old man's eyes. "Come on, man! You know what it's like. You
can't trust anyone. You never know who is taking notes. Cameras
everywhere, all our movements are watched. Fear, Mills, fear.
There's no fear in here. But this is where we should be most
afraid!"
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