Cumulus

De: Eliot Peper

Narrado por: Jennifer O'Donnell

In the not-so-distant future, economic inequality and persistent surveillance push Oakland to the brink of civil war.

Lilly Miyamoto is a passionate analog photographer striving to pursue an ever more distant dream. Huian Li is preeminent among the Silicon Valley elite as the founder and CEO of the pervasive tech giant Cumulus. Graham Chandler is a frustrated intelligence agent forging a new path through the halls of techno-utopian royalty. But when Huian rescues Lilly from a run-in with private security forces, it sets off a chain of events that will change their lives and the world.

The adventure accelerates into a mad dash of political intrigue, relentless ambition, and questionable salvation. Will they survive to find themselves and mend a broken system?

©2016 Eliot Peper (P)2016 Eliot Peper

Another perfectly written technothriller

Cumulus is a company on the brink of signing another much-needed acquisition to continue building up their massive brand. While this is happening, Lily, a wedding photographer with a dream of being a photojournalist finds out that one of her only friends has been murdered in cold blood. What follows is a story of the near-future where some people are safe and others are considered to be expendable. Well, expendable people don't always go down without a fight.

The narration for Cumulus was done by Jennifer O'Donnell, who narrated the other three books that I've read/listened to by Eliot Peper. She does a wonderful job again. Peper makes it easy by writing dynamic and powerful female characters that allow O'Donnell to narrate from the heart. The production quality was great (as I've come to expect from Brickshop Audio).

I definitely have a new go-to for business-centered technothrillers. Eliot Peper does it again. He sucked me in from the first paragraph and didn't spit me out until the last sentence. Cumulus was a perfectly written book with action, thrills, and a whole lot of cool technology.

This is one of those books that you read and feel something. The thing that I felt was fear. I fear that we are headed towards exactly what Peper wrote about. His world building skills were excellent and he was able to create a world that was pretty scary. It takes place in the near future and it really feels like everything that he wrote could happen.

Every character that Peper wrote and included in Cumulus was needed. They were all hashed out really well too, to the point where as a reader I felt like I personally knew these people or had read about them in the paper.

I just finished the book, normally I take a few minutes to digest everything and formulate what I feel, but with Cumulus it was obvious. The book made me feel so that automatically catapults it to a higher rating. Combine that with the excellent world and character building and you have a hit.

Keep your eyes out for Peper in the future. I see big things coming from him!

I was given a copy of this by the author.

Awesome haunting thriller

This haunting thriller stays with you long after you've read it. I received an advanced copy and really enjoyed it. Books like this help you think through concerns towards the moral problems that self-driving cars and technology present to our society today. Eliot does a really great job of not just telling a great story, but painting a haunting picture with words. Definitely read this book as soon as you get a chance, you won't regret it.

Performance ok, story is a bit weak

I would have liked to like this book more - I had higher expectations of it. it's not that often that I breathe a sigh of relief when I get to the end of a book, but this was one such case. As I was getting closer to the end I was just looking forward for it to be over so I could move on.

while the book starts ok, it wants to be smarter than it is, leaving both characters and story a little thin compared to what has been built-up.

a masterclass of speculative fiction

Eliot Pepper has consistently impressed with his near future worlds that are rich in the promise and danger that technology stands to offer. What sets him apart from most in the genre of speculative fiction is how fully developed his characters are and how beautifully he sets the scenes. His novels are never lacking in intrigue or for strong female characters. He nails a fundamental truth: humans are complicated and technology simply magnifies human capacity for both good and evil. This is easily one of my favorite books in what is quickly becoming a favorite genre. Can't wait for the next one, Eliot!
Also, the narrator did a fantastic job for this audio book. I think she has narrated a few of Eliot's books and I've liked them all. well done