The Warehouse is a fast-paced, terrifying dystopian novel that could be viewed as a warning about the route we're on as society. This one will definitely make readers think. It's an intriguing novel with well-developed characters and a strong setting. Highly recommended to readers who enjoy a good, near-future dystopian novel.

The Warehouse by Rob Hart is a frightening, all-too-close-for-comfort, dystopian thriller about corporate greed, smart cities and unbelievable technology that already surrounds (controls?) us.

The story moved quickly (which is fitting for one of the themes – everything you could possibly desire is available at the click of a button and delivered via drones) and while many themes were covered, it was an uncomplicated read. It’s a thought-provoking novel on social issues that we face today, that will destroy this world if we continue to satisfy our own desires and ignore the discomfort of others.

The story is told from three points of view: Zinnia - the corporate spy heroine out to fix the world; Paxton – the security guard seeking revenge; and Gibson – a dying man who believes the legacy he created has saved the world. Each viewpoint is told fairly, with sad and sometimes shocking truths.

The three main characters were relatively well developed through the telling of alternative viewpoints, but I felt they could have been fleshed out a little more intimately. Supporting characters were well crafted too. For me though, there was another almost over-riding character and that was The Cloud itself. The descriptions of the monotonous, sterile, almost lifeless existence within The Cloud created a strong presence that invaded everything, like a weed with pretty flowers.

I enjoyed this novel immensely. I found it disturbing. I found it prodded at my psyche and my humanity and it caused me to pause and wonder and question. This is what every great novel should do.

#netgalley #thewarehouse #robhart #randomhouse #transworldpublishers

I found the concept of this book interesting...is this a glimpse of what might easily come to pass, or is it pure sci fi? I felt the characters could have been expanded upon and, in my opinion, it would have made for a more engaging read.

A very thinly veiled reference to Amazon and the power of this company, this novel focuses on Cloud. Where workers live where they work in the only real employer any more. It is focused on Paxton, a guy who lost his own company because of Cloud, and Zinnia, a corporate spy, who begin working at cloud together. Paxton works security and can't understand why he wants to get his rating to four stars so badly and Zinnia is a picker in the warehouse. These two begin a relationship - honestly from Pacton's side and for personal gain from Zinnia. The scary part as it seems so possible and that the author doesn't spoil the book like Vox (where women are restricted to 100 words a day) with an ending everyone may want and things sorted. It is ambiguous. Interesting and scary.

Just imagine Amazon, Google and Big Brother have merged and offer jobs where you can live and work in peace and safety in a world where climate charge has taken its toll and little businesses have all gone under. This is Cloud, where our two heroes sign up for work on the same day. One of them works hard and gets to the core of the security department, and the other is a corporate spy looking for cracks and how to assassinate the man at the top. Now just imagine these two falling in love, and you've got a great story, well told, great pace, and you don't know which one you want to succeed right up until the end

The Warehouse is a glimpse into a near future where a single corporate entity, Cloud, dominates the retail world. In a climate-ravaged world of automation, high unemployment, low wages, and scarce affordable housing, Cloud offers not just a place to work but also a safe community in which to live. Cloud is saving the USA, all thanks to one man – Gibson Wells, the self-made billionaire owner.

The new intake at Cloud includes an ex-teacher and an ex-prison guard - according to their applications, at least. Each of them has their own reason for being there, neither of which would sit well with Gibson Wells. Is Cloud really the safe and comfortable place to live and work that it claims to be? Zinnia and Paxton are about to find out.

I find it hard to put my finger on what it is that this book wants to be. Is it dystopian sci-fi, or corporate espionage thriller, or a warning of what is to come should companies like Amazon and Google continue to grow? The premise works but is repeatedly let down by the perfunctory writing and shallow characterisation. I enjoyed the novel, and there were many points raised which made me feel uncomfortable about the way in which we seem to be heading as a civilisation, but it just left me with a feeling that it could have been so much more.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"We're hardwired for approval."
The author, Rob Hart, describes this as 'an issues book wrapped in the language of a thriller'. Like Brave New World, or 1984, the trends of today are extrapolated into a not resistant future to show us the society no one wants but which will be with us all too soon. And this background world provides the setting for the book.
In an overpopulated world where climate change has made continuing life increasingly untenable, where food and housing are in short supply and jobs are hard to get, one man, Gibson, has a stated mission - to improve life and turn back the onslaught of decline. And Cloud was born, an ever expanding business monopoly able to over-ride objections and provide what people want: jobs, affordable living quarters, good tasting food, cheap and fast product delivery, safety. Whatever it costs. And in growing his corporation, Gibson becomes a virtual god, worth over an hundred billion dollars.

The Warehouse follows two new employees, Zinnia and Paxton, who grow close in the vast work and living area that is the Mothercloud, as well as the thoughts and ideals of the now dying Gibson. As a thriller, building tension, it works well and the reader gets to know the characters involved, but it is the fourth, overarching character that has to take prime position in the story: the Mothercloud itself. Vividly portrayed with the minimum of description, the echoing expanses will stay in this reader's memory for some time to come.

A new S.F.classic is born. But like the others which have gone before it, it's message, too, is likely to be ignored. As the book says, 'people don't listen. It is not because it was kept from them. It's because they don't want to know...We've collectively decided that our own comfort is more important than someone else's discomfort.'

My thanks to Transworld Publishers, via Netgalley who freely gifted me with a complimentary e-copy at my request. The formatting was somewhat bizarre, which made for a less than smooth read, but the content was excellent. Highly recommended to all who enjoy corporate conspiracy thrillers, dystopian futures and every science fiction fan. It is compulsive and frightening reading, not least because it feels so close to being real

I seem to be the exception and not the rule, but I didn’t enjoy this book. I think the concept is clever, but I didn’t connect with either of the characters, and felt there was little development throughout. Indeed, they often did things that felt out-of-character, seemingly just to push the story on. Similarly, the plot sometimes overcame issues/barriers with bewilderingly and frustratingly simple fixes. The setting was painstakingly built up, and a narrative almost established, but then it meandered a lot, and the ending felt a little rushed and extremely anti-climatic - almost making reading the book a waste of time. In my opinion, Dave Eggers wrote this idea much better in his book ‘The Circle’.

Rating: 4 stars

The Warehouse is about two strangers who apply for a job at Cloud, a conglomerate company that owns just about everything. You work for Cloud, or you starve. Paxton is coming to terms with working for the company that ruined his life, and hoping for a future with Zinnia, the woman he met when he started his new security job. Zinnia is hiding things and she wants Paxton's all-access pass, and maybe something she never expected to want.

Several times, I wanted to stop reading this book. Not remotely because it was bad, but because it was scary. The Warehouse is set in the future. The very, very, very near future. I'd go as far as to say that it's uncomfortably close. Every thing that the workers at Cloud do is tracked by a Cloudband on their wrist, and I found myself looking several times at the smartwatch that I use to track everything from my steps to my schedule to how much water I drink a day. Cloud owns everything, they own the materials and the production and the transportation used to deliver items to customers by drones. Brick-and-mortar stores are dead (this was particularly frightening to read as a retail worker in quiet, rarely visited store). The Warehouse felt like a reflection of something realistic, something that is sitting right on the horizon and waiting to happen. I wanted to put this book down at times because I didn't want to think about the next forty-five years of my working life and what the world might be like by then. And that's probably what makes this such an interesting book to read. I'd even say important, because people need to be thinking about the future and what we want to see. After all, the market dictates.

All in all, though, I'm glad that I read this. I enjoyed it a lot, when I got past the deep horror of how real it was, and the characters were whole and interesting. Paxton and Zinnia felt real and I wanted to know how things worked out for them, and the issues/thriller balance was handled really well, with enough intrigue to keep me turning pages.

I really enjoyed this book. It is a thought provoking read. This story takes shopping and how employees are treated to a new level. It is definitely worth reading.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Rob Hart provides a shockingly powerful and harrowing glimpse into the all too real possible realities in our future, of a ravaged world and US, this is a contemporary dystopian version of Orwell's 1984. In this near future, there is a government, but it is of little consequence, there is a desperate scramble for jobs, any job, and towering over it all is the Cloud, a monopoly with unfettered power, a thinly disguised Amazon, a monstrous behemoth with its tentacles in every pie, such as media outlets, technology, etc.. The Cloud proclaims itself as a force for all that is good, delivering goods by drone, a presence in every city, and the perfect employer shaping the nature of work and life where employees live on site, where their every need is met by the caring Cloud. It all sounds too good to be true, and as Hart's prescient novel proves, it is in fact a horror of a nightmare that we could all too easily be sleepwalking into, the seeds of it are all here in today's world.

This is a well structured storytelling which excels in its world building, where the drudgery and monotony of working for the company is laid bare in all its excruciating details, the all encompassing surveillance, observation and tight monitoring of its employees, the lack of employee rights, the terrifying and sinister goings on behind the scenes at Cloud and the conspiracies. A disillusioned Paxton, a prison guard, who had his company destroyed by Cloud is now taken on by Cloud, working security for the company. Zinnia, another employee, she is a woman with her own hidden agenda, gravitates towards Paxton with an ulterior motive, his position gives him access to areas that she needs. The narrative gives their perspectives and that of the now dying CEO of Cloud, the man responsible for the Cloud from its very beginnings, Gibson Wells. He sees himself as man who has done nothing but good in the world, a self justifying hypocrite, claiming he is at the top of the corporate pile, thanks to market forces. Wells is a sickeningly deluded man, manipulative, ignoring and refusing to acknowledge just how the dice were loaded against anyone and everyone that challenged Cloud. Is it possible to challenge the Cloud now?

Hart lays out his compelling premise with skill, with great characterisation and character development, giving us a painstaking portrayal of a world bereft of humanity, morality and ethics. The Cloud is a product of the unquestioning consumer wanting the lowest prices, ease of delivery, the entire convenience of the process that aided the Cloud into its unassailable position. That it decimated local stores and independent outlets are the inevitable consequences of such a corporation. This is scary and pertinently relevant reading material, so thought provoking, and with some surprising twists. I admit to not always finding it an easy read, but the subject matter kept me glued to the book right up to the end. Many thanks to Random House Transworld for an ARC.

This book is thought provoking and very scary, in fact that this seems to be the way the world is heading.
I enjoyed the characters and all their points of view. I found that Gibson had tunnel vision in his pursuit of building his company, so much so he was blind to the damage he had helped do.
Paxton was a likeable guy and I could relate to the way that some one would just except their fate and find positives in the environment he was pushed into.
Overall an interesting story. Great read!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for the ARC of this book.

The Warehouse is a believable not-too-far-into-the-future dystopian mystery. Though there is some future tech in there, it's not a hardcore sci-fi but more general.

I liked the characters, the world building, the plot, and the premise. The story hooked me early and kept my attention and interest throughout. If not for the many errors in the text, I would have rated it a top five stars. The only wobble on that is the ending, which did close off the threads nicely but felt a little flat to me. It was a long way from awful though.

Some of the errors that drove me nuts, ignoring the massive formatting issues on this ARC which hopefully will be addressed before publication, were to do with hyphenating words. The author seems to have a phobia on using too many hyphens. For example, we get 'canaryyellow' instead of 'canary-yellow', and blood-pressurelowering' instead of simply 'blood-pressure-lowering', and `zeroemission' instead of 'zero-emission'. Not to mention sentences such as: 'And then have get a full-grown elephant tied to a tree with ...'

All of that said, one or two lines stood out as awesome. See the following: 'A presence remained, and after a few moments Zinnia realized it was that shadow of Death. It had followed him in, but it hadn't left.' Brilliant (if you can ignore the missing comma after 'moments'.

All in all, even though it does need further work, I would highly recommend this book.
***

NOTE ON RATINGS: I consider a 3-star rating a positive review. Picky about which books I give 5 stars to, I reserve this highest rating for the stories I find stunning and which moved me.

5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — Highly Recommended.
4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — Go read this book.
3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — An okay read. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it.
2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —Lacking in some areas: writing, characterisation, and/or problematic plot lines.
1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —Lots of issues with this book.

In a not-so-distant-future America, where most of society has collapsed, Paxton and Zinnia get hired in the same Cloud facility, each for their own reasons. As they start seeing each other more and more, and confirm (more than realise, to be honest) that their jobs aren’t as shiny as the recruitment ads would let people think, their own deadlines loom over them: for Paxton, the visit of Cloud’s CEO; for Zinnia, her actual job, that is, finding out what really powers Cloud’s warehouses.

Not so much a thriller per se, although there is definitely an element of mystery when it comes to “what powers the Cloud facilities”, as well as a couple of other things. More than that, “The Warehouse” is part social commentary about corporate practices pushed to an extreme we may, in fact, not be so far of: living at your workplace, eating at your workplace, with your days governed by your employee rating, until the line between both tends to blur and losing your job doesn’t only mean “losing your financial means” but pretty much “losing your whole life” as well—there’s very little hope for any other kind of employment out there. Cloud is most obviously a future Amazon, but also Uber and all other workplaces where one is just but a cog in the machine—and just as replaceable—all the while being lured in by shiny promises of being a “valued employee”.

In terms of story, I enjoyed it general, but I admit I didn’t feel that much invested in the characters, perhaps because a lot of their interactions was coloured by the daily grind of their respective jobs, which made the pace slower than I would’ve liked it. I liked the couple of twists towards the end (I had already guessed who was Zinnia’s employer, though it’s always good to see one’s theory vindicated)—I was expecting maybe something a tad bit more gruesome, but what actually happened was still good. I was, however, left unsatisfied by the very end itself, I guess due to the way it dwindled down rather than stopping on a “high” (it was back to the grind, sort of, which was like going out with a whimper rather than with a bang). Fitting, in a way, considering the prospects of one's life at Cloud; less fitting for me in terms of storytelling.

Conclusion: 3.5 stars. Enjoyable, but I think I was expecting more from it.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this thought-provoking book. Not a thriller as such - though it is kind of touted in that way - but it certainly highlighted the way we live today in a world of convenience of our own choosing. Makes me hesitate to ever again order goods online as there really is a human cost at the back end . Certainly given me pause for thought and a book with a conscience and emotional punch. Definitely on my recommend list.

This is a very cautionary tale for the “Want it, Get in” Amazon prime generation.

The retail world is dominated by The Cloud, an enormous network of warehouses, power supplies, communications, drones, built from very small beginnings by Gibson Wells.
The book is part narrated by Well, and it is chilling as he describes the growth of his organisation, always with the best interests of the public (so he says) at its heart.
Paxton is coming to work for Cloud, having lost his business due to their ruthless attitude, and needing a job.
Zinnia is also joining Cloud, but she has other motives, and wishes to see the end of Cloud.
What initially appears to be an all-embracing, staff-friendly, inclusive organisation, soon proves itself to be controlling, where staff are monitored the whole time, and penalised if the don’t work efficiently, they are paid in credits, that can only be spent inside the company.

The world outside the Cloud family is painted as a bleak place, with the collapse of whole communities, destruction of farm land, people afraid to venture outside.

As Paxton and Zinnia join forces, and Gibson becomes ill, the reader is drawn into an all-too feasible fable of the not-too-distant future, which should be compulsory reading for everyone tempted to order everything from the internet.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for the opportunity to read this book.

I really wanted to like this book, the premise is a take on how giant companies such as Amazon ingratiate themselves into our everyday lives and take them over until we become reliant on them. Set in the near future a lot of the ideas are established versions of tech that is now still in it's infancy such as drone deliveries.

The characters were all very different and I thought they were reasonably well written with just enough backstory to be relevant to the story. The story was pretty interesting, I liked the great descriptions of the complex, it really gave of picture of what it would be like. I wasn't too keen on the ending, I felt it to be a bit weak and a bit of an anti climax. Altogether a decent read.

I really enjoyed reading this book even though it was completely different to the usual book I would go for. At the weekend we drove past loads of distribution centres on the outskirts of a town. With our High Streets becoming emptier it’s not hard to see that The Warehouse way of living will happen one day. Much as I dislike commuting I would hate to live and work in the same place! Although at first it seemed idealistic, as you read The Warehouse you see how even this idealistic system can be corrupted by the people who live inside. Great read!

This is a book that looks into the future.
The future is near and we need to look closely at it.
Paxton is a man with a goal, he came up with an idea that would make him money but the Cloud took it from him and he was left with out a home,or money, he wanted revenge on Gibson Wells to owner of Cloud.
Zinnia has a job to do and that involves getting into the Cloud database, her problem is she has know way to do this.
Zinnia and Paxton meet and there worlds will never be the same again.

Dystopia or utopia? Rob Park's The Warehouse is part thriller and part parable for our modern age. The Warehouse is set in a self-contained, self-sufficient base called the MotherCloud run by the Cloud organisation headed by megalomaniac Gibson Wells. He has created a series of fulfilment warehouses employing over 30 million US citizens in a variety of roles, denoted by the colour of their polo shirts, whose every need seem to be catered for from living space, healthcare and entertainment. Every warehouse order is delivered by drone and every employee is monitored and governed by a wristband from GPS tracking, health status, scheduled loo breaks and monetary transactions. This is a far cry from an outside world that is largely uninhabitable due to global warming, over population and almost a complete lack of other employment opportunities. Two new employees: former prison officer Paxton and the mysterious Zinnia start an unlikely relationship but is this all it seems? Each has a hidden agenda for being there but whose will be fulfilled? There is a real sense of fear amongst the workforce with sexual bullying and unrealistic targets but no management support just a rating system that determines your Cloud future. This is a frighteningly plausible book, unputdownable and with some twists I didn't see coming. But above all it's a diatribe against the ever growing corporations that put profits before employees' rights and, let's face it, have bosses with no vestige of humanity.