Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Description:
“For ten years, the Utopia Tower experiment has been a resounding
success. Conceived by a tech billionaire, the state-of-the-art apartment
complex offers a life-changing opportunity: rent-free living for residents who
adhere to the ‘Five Pillars of Harmony’ and maintain the building's pristine
reputation. It is a tight-knit community where neighbors look out for one
another, ensuring that nothing endangers their sanctuary and their right to
continue living there.
Antonio, a young lawyer, moves into the tower to care for his
grandmother, eager to join this idyllic social experiment. But the veneer of
perfection cracks when two young men—both considered bad apples and threats to
the community's serenity—die in unusual circumstances within a single month.
Despite warnings to leave well enough alone, Antonio suspects a connection and
digs deeper. He discovers that, in a building designed for total harmony,
asking the wrong questions can make you the next problem to be handled. Is
there a killer hiding among the residents? Is the billionaire founder
protecting his investment? Or is the truth far more terrifying?
In an environment where preservation of the collective is the prime
directive, how far will the community go to protect itself?
Author:
A lawyer specializing in labor and
employment law by day, Kevin Chapman describes his real passions as playing
tournament poker, rooting for the New York Mets, and writing fiction. For more,
visit Mr Chapman’s website.
Appraisal:
I’ve read and enjoyed many of Kevin Chapman’s thrillers featuring
detective Mike Stoneman, so I was eager to give this one a try in spite of it
being different. Literally after reading the first sentence, I made a note that
the person it was talking about, the tech billionaire Jameson Z. Conrad,
sounded evil. Yet when I saw what he was behind, The Building at the center of
this book, it seemed like its name, Utopia Tower, was an excellent description.
Mr Conrad was obviously doing what few billionaires are good enough to do,
helping others, in this case by providing affordable housing for people who
otherwise would at best be living in a slum and in many cases homeless and
living on the streets. In addition, the rules of the community are designed to
help lift everyone up and to encourage mutual support of others in the
community.
But like many things that seem great on the surface, with the
cosmetics on the outside hiding the rot on the inside, we find out that all is
not as good as it seems. Antonio, a new resident who is helping his grandmother
as he’s just starting his career in the law starts to question the things he’s
seeing. Maybe utopia is more of a dystopia. But is stirring things up going to
backfire in the worst way possible for Antonio? Or maybe he’s seeing things
wrong. Possibly any issues will get fixed. That’s the mystery that kept me
turning pages to the very end, enjoying every word.
Buy now from: Amazon US Amazon UK
FYI:
A small amount of adult language
Format/Typo
Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating: *****
Five Stars
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Approximate word count: 75-80,000 words
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