Description
‘A vision of the future that both chills and entertains.’ Jake Kerridge (Sunday Express Magazine)5* Review
`you can barely pause for breath…It’s explosive’ Gill Chedgey (NB Magazine);5* Review
`I must admit that I finished the book with a prayer that I will never see something like iMe in my lifetime – the idea is just too terrifying’ Breakaway Reviewers;
`On some aspects, I was reminded of 1984. This is one of the best compliments I could give a book, as Orwell’s work is one of my favourites…Proximity delivers on every level’ Meggy (Choconwaffles);
You can’t get away with anything. Least of all murder.
DI Clive Lussac has forgotten how to do his job. Ten years of embedded technology – `iMe’ – has led to complete control and the eradication of crime. Then the impossible happens.
A body is found, and the killer is untraceable. With new partner Zoe Jordan, Clive must re-sharpen his detective skills and find the killer without technology, before time runs out for the next victim… Leading the trend in speculative crime thrillers, Jem Tugwell’s thrilling and thought-provoking debut sits alongside Black Mirror and The City and the City in a compelling exploration of our near future.
Proximity draws on Jem’s 20 years of professional experience as a software developer in the city to give an unnerving insight into how our world might be transformed by the rapid advance in embedded technology and fitness trackers. What if the cash-strapped NHS can be given a second life by using tech to regulate our health and behaviour? What if we can eradicate knife and other proximity crimes by tracking everyone’s activity? What if civil liberty is seen as an acceptable sacrifice for the greater good? What if the convenience of technology is used for control?
“Proximity is inspired by the fascinating possibilities of technology, AI and the law of unintended consequences. From my own experience, technologists are often amazed or horrified about the other uses that people imagine for their products. Clive and Zoe’s world might be closer than we think, but is it heaven or hell? How do we decide the perfect balance of free will and greater good?” – Jem Tugwell Proximity is Book 1 in the iMe Series.
Heidi –
How great does that concept sound? At the heart of it, this is a classic crime story (a woman goes missing, a body is found). But here there’s an added difficulty. Technology in the near future means that everything you do is tracked an monitored. It’s compulsory in the UK. So why can’t the killer be found? This is a fantastically executed concept, looking not only at crime but also the consequences of becoming to reliant on technology.