Genre: Technothriller
Description:
“When ad exec Diana Lane scores a hot new sales lead, it seems like
her string of bad luck has come to an end. But the new ad campaign exhibits odd
behavior, prompting Lane to suspect it's linked to a recent assassination
attempt by political extremists. As she investigates whether the client's ads
are being used to distribute surveillance software, Diana is torn between
looking the other way for an easy payout and risking her own life by trying to
uncover the truth.
In this debut novel by a real advertising technology exec, the
mechanics of the surveillance economy are laid bare. Inspired in part by real
life events and actual technology vulnerabilities, Target Pool examines
how advertising exists in a grey area between necessary — and necessary evil.”
Author:
“S. A. Black is a veteran leader in the advertising industry. Target
Pool is their first novel.”
Appraisal:
This book gets you thinking in lots of ways, from advertising in
general and how it works, to how it feels like we’re being targeted for ads on
social media (okay, are being, it isn’t just a feeling). Then we throw in the
current thing that is giving people concerns, for good reason, artificial
intelligence and how that might figure into this. The result is something that
should get you thinking, put you on guard, and just might make you feel a
little bit paranoid, but justifiably so.
But woven in with this scary stuff is a lot of fun stuff. I’ve never
been surfing nor will I ever be doing that, but the protagonist is an avid
surfer and you’ll feel like you’re on the waves with her at times which is
quite an adventure. If you love the city of San Francisco and surrounding area
as much as I do then the descriptions of it as the protagonist enjoys her city
and describes different parts of it will pull you in. If you aren’t already a
SF lover, this might help you realize that you’ve been missing out and want to
visit someday. This all helped offset as well as contrast with the more intense
parts of the book and helped make the story even better.
Buy now
from: Amazon US Amazon UK
FYI:
Some adult language
Format/Typo
Issues:
A small number of proofreading misses.
Rating: *****
Five Stars
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Approximate word count: 50-55,000 words
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