Jem Tugwell

This review first appeared on scifiandscary.com - copy provided by the publisher for review consideration

‘Proximity’ is that kind of high concept book that takes an interesting idea and then turns it into a murder mystery. I reviewed a great example of this sub-genre (speculative whodunnit?) earlier in the year, ‘Golden State’ by Ben H Winters. ‘Proximity’ isn’t as good as that book, but it’s still a fun thriller with some decent notions.
It’s set in a near future Britain, where society’s reliance on personal technology and willingness to let the state control individual freedoms in the name of the greater good has reached epidemic (or perhaps, logical) proportions. Everyone has a device implanted in them called an ‘iMe’. The implant tracks its user’s location at all times, and also monitors health and food intake, preventing them from eating or drinking that will harm them. The upshot of the location tracking element is that the police have come to rely on it when investigating crimes. And then a young woman is kidnapped and her iMe signal vanishes.
The concept feels a little far-fetched at times (and the iMe name, which features A LOT, grated on me quite quickly), but Jem Tugwell weaves a pretty compelling story around it. It’s not brilliant, but it is very readable, with enjoyable characters and a fast-moving plot. The pairing of a grizzled old copper who remembers the old ways of working and bemoans the lack of bacon in his diet, with a bright young thing who wants to impress, is maybe a bit obvious, but it works.
What I liked a bit less was the use of multiple narrators, which seems to me to be a massively overused technique in crime fiction at the moment. I’m of the view that occasionally it works brilliantly, but most off the time it adds nothing to the story. I’m afraid the latter is true here. The story is told in the first person by each of the two cops and by the criminal and I didn’t feel that the chapters from the villain added much. I’d have preferred a tighter edit in a more traditional third person style.
That’s a matter of personal preference though, and it didn’t massively spoil my enjoyment of the book. It’s a fun read with some good ideas, a bit of humour and a lot of twists. The final third is really gripping, and the story gets wrapped up nicely at the end. Not ground-breaking by any means, but a solidly entertaining thriller.

… (altro)

Proximity trod a balanced line between a futuristic, stylised dystopia and a starkly realist, only just, future in the UK. A society functioning on its embedded technology the novel focused on the implications of that technology on the police force as well as everyday lives. The main characters, Clive Lussac and Zoe Jordan presented as one of crime fiction’s unique and original duos, opposites in almost all respects apart from their desire for justice and truth.

No Signal is the much anticipated follow up to Proximity and we are reacquainted with Clive and Zoe. Both a little older with some career progression for Zoe which means Clive has a new partner, Ava Miller, who he appears to mentor and nurture. But have no fear, Zoe is very much here! She’s just working for a different department.

Proximity had me open mouthed at times as it was both a crime story and an exploration of how technology could potentially, not just dominate our lives, for it seems to do that now anyway, but control them with the opened ended consideration for the reader of whether that was a good or bad thing. With those protocols already set in place No Signal began with a now familiar landscape.

I am treading carefully because I don’t want to give anything away for readers. No Signal takes another aspect of our digital lives, our leisure digital lives perhaps it would be clearer to say, and exploits that to an explosive and ultimate conclusion beyond what we could probably imagine! Let's just say it's a gamechanger. And it's about besting the system. But it's also within the context of the Proximity landscape and, as might be natural in the midst of a pandemic, lockdown situation my thoughts turned to tracking and tracing!

It’s mesmerising as you follow the strands of this audacious venture that takes you the length and breadth of the United Kingdom. Of course it is a criminal venture and once more the balance between old and new policing methods is brought to the forefront as we accompany Clive, Ava and Zoe in a thrilling, white knuckle ride of a tale that will have you hanging on for dear life, and disbelief. If Proximity was a runaway train No Signal is the ultimate theme park white knuckle ride you'd queue hours for.

The characterisations are sustained. Zoe, transferred to the Cyber Crime section, ever restless for action, again impresses as the perfect foil for Clive. She seems to know just how to cope with him. Clive is still grappling with his demons and with those younger than himself in positions of seniority. He is still squirming beneath the controlling system he is forced to conform to. There was a sense of ‘us ‘ and ‘them’ within the police and with the additional personnel who play the major roles in the events that thwart the intentions and determinations of Clive and his gang. Faintly topical? The story is mainly told from his perspective. The villains are subtly villainous and some are hidden among the cast of characters. Will you spot who they are, I wonder?

Whilst Proximity encourages us to consider the implications of our digital world and the pros and cons of a society under continual surveillance and control, No Signal leans more towards a gripping narrative and plot driven tale. No less enjoyable because all of those considerations from Proximity are in place as you read, punctuated, and embedded as it were, within the narrative of No Signal. It's a worthy sequel. I'm hoping that in true dystopian fiction fashion (now there's a tongue twister for you) there'll be a third story? Please?

iMe. iLike. 😉… (altro)