THE WAREHOUSE
by Rob Hart
Crown Publishing
August 20, 2019
From Goodreads:
Paxton never thought he’d be working for Cloud, the giant tech company that’s eaten much of the American economy. Much less that he’d be moving into one of the company’s sprawling live-work facilities.
But compared to what’s left outside, Cloud’s bland chainstore life of gleaming entertainment halls, open-plan offices, and vast warehouses…well, it doesn’t seem so bad. It’s more than anyone else is offering.
Zinnia never thought she’d be infiltrating Cloud. But now she’s undercover, inside the walls, risking it all to ferret out the company’s darkest secrets. And Paxton, with his ordinary little hopes and fears? He just might make the perfect pawn. If she can bear to sacrifice him.
As the truth about Cloud unfolds, Zinnia must gamble everything on a desperate scheme—one that risks both their lives, even as it forces Paxton to question everything about the world he’s so carefully assembled here.
Together, they’ll learn just how far the company will go…to make the world a better place.
The good people at Crown Publishing and NetGalley provided me with a digital ARC of The Warehouse in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Originally, I received an email for this book a few months ago. Someone had put me on a list based on other books I liked and was telling me I’d like The Warehouse. I always give emails like this the benefit of the doubt and look into whatever book they’re talking about, but there’s always a part of me that says “Oh yeah? You think I’m going to like your book, huh? Well, we’ll see about that!!”
Well, they had me figured out, because I’m such a fan of this book!
In a word: Fantastic. Believable. Frightening. Terrifying. Disgusting. Fantastic. (Yes, twice)
It’s a story about our world just a little ways down the road. We’re not there yet, but the way we’re all going, it’s a very possible endgame.
This particular future focuses on a company similar to Amazon called Cloud. We love our convenience, even if other people or the planet have to suffer for it. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to be self-righteous. I’m guilty. I have a Prime membership. I want my stuff approximately… NOW. While it’s not really ever preached about or harped on, this societal mentality is present throughout the entire narrative.
This book is much more than an interesting premise, though. There’s also a story about a man struggling over working for the very company that put him out of business, a woman who’s actually there as a corporate spy, and their subsequent meeting which turns into a relationship of convenience? Lies? Genuine feelings? Trick is, you don’t really know which ones are real and which are just BS. Even the characters we’re riding around with don’t seem to know completely.
Then there’s Gibson, the CEO of Cloud. We’re treated to a running series of blog entries from the entrepreneur as he gives us some history on himself and this massive mega-company he’s built. That probably sounds dry, but I have to be honest, they might be my favourite parts. Maybe it was satisfying the part of me that enjoys biographies, or maybe it felt like a beginners course in business and economics, but each time I turned the page to find a “blog post”, I got pretty excited.
In a First Impression Friday post, I predicted 4.5 stars and I’m happy to report I was wrong. This is a 5-star read all the way. I can’t think of a single thing to complain about. Not even a nitpick. I enjoyed this from the first page to the last.
Ha ha, I don’t like the cover either. But have you seen the UK cover? It’s much better. Glad you loved this!
This book sounds so good, and I’m definitely reading it. So glad you wrote about it! I can’t figure out how I feel about the cover.