Ooooph! This book hit me in the feels and made me think more carefully about what I buy from Amazon.


The Warehouse was an interesting look into what could happen in the future if we let big box retailers sell everything and take full control. I liked the plot and found the characters well rounded and realised. The romance made sense, but didn't add to the story really.

I wanted more of a look into the world outside the warehouse and it's living quarters though. Also, when the story ended I was left with too many questions because it was so open ended. I still enjoyed the book and would recommend it though.

3.5 stars!

The Warehouse
Book Review | 📚📚📚📚1/2 4.5/5
Rob Hart | Crown Publishing

Our world is catching up with cyber-fiction. That’s not good, or is it? Revenge, opportunity, drugs, Big Brother to the 10th power; this is Utopia? This is the thriller that needs to be read.

Why I was interested in this book:
Lately, I’ve been fascinated and fearful of how technology has just creeped into our lives where we are glued to our devices, glued to our screens at work, glued to our screens at home to watch shows, and take for granted how easy it is to shop, research, socialize, explore or be entertained through these same outlets. Utopian societies have always been what we strive to create. But efforts to create a world of perfection, ease and comfort always seem to turn dystopian. The Warehouse, by Rob Hart, explores these ideals and outcomes. Oh, and it’s a love story, too. Sort of.

My assessment:
I was relieved to read this book. It allowed my growing paranoia that our technology is using and controlling us for its gain to be confirmed. Perhaps being relieved is not the right feeling. I’m relieved that others are having the same thoughts as me. And Hart’s book addresses these issues. What I really valued from the book is how he intermixed within the action story, a biography from the Bill Gates- or Steve Jobs-type innovator who has changed the parameters of our society for the benefit of ease and comfort, but for the sake of individual choice. That character’s testimonies make sense and I tended to understand his justifications.

The book was a very fast read. There were several characters that had their own stories being told and at some point most of these characters come together (which makes sense!). I wasn’t sure how the story would conclude and Hart did a decent job with the ending.

Stories of the human condition:
As I mentioned above, this book can really be looked at as a social commentary of where we are headed if Amazon, Google, Apple and other technology giants decided to really ramp up their “services”. The impresario of the Cloud makes solid arguments for the decisions he’s made and the sacrifices everyday people, or consumers, will make. The individual characters in the story all represent how this transition of power and choice affect us as individuals, a community and a race. There are stories of power imbalance, hopelessness, isolation, loss of control and friendship – all in relation to the dystopian shift in consumer/human culture.

Sound scary? Read this book and be entertained and horrified. Especially if you read it on an electronic device. You’ve been warned!

Full disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book through NetGalley(dot)com in exchange for an honest review. I would not have selected this book had I not been interested in it based on the description.

Read more of my reviews at https://tugglegrassblues.wordpress.com/.

TAGS:
#TheWarehouse #review-book #book review #Utopia #Dystopia #UtopiaDystopia #Crown Publishing #RobHart #TuggleGrassBlues #Tuggle Grass Reviews #TuggleGrassReviews #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-book ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book was already published, but I am glad that I was able to read the e-book.

This book isn't in my normal reading wheelhouse, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. As a solid 3.5, this dystopian novel, similar to George Orwell's 1984, tells of a future where technology controls all aspects of life. This idea is not far off as our society is experiencing that to some degree today. It is a very interesting read since it warns of what could happen if technology falls into the wrong hands and is exploited and used for the wrong reasons. Hart uses things that we already use on a daily basis such as phones, watches etc. to tell his narrative and caution us against what could potentially await us if we let technology control our lives.

This book was great! A near-future dystopian romp that examines consumerism, and how big corporations might play a part in our declining future.

There’s a lot that really worked about the book, and at the top of that list is the future Hart created. It’s frightening how believable it is. Perfect enough for me to give my amazon prime membership a solid side-eye.

The characters are also great, I found both Paxton and Zinnia compelling and relatable, and I especially enjoyed how their relationship unfolded. The format of the book was also great, I especially loved the way the repetition of the days was shared, and the idea of big corporations building cities to house their workers—and how the separation between work and home could impact the mental health of works.

Overall, I thought this book was fantastic, and have subjected more than a few people to excited rants about the questions it brings up. It’s fast-paced and thrilling to the last page, and I loved the way it ended.

I’d recommend it to anyone who loves near-future science fiction and thrillers, and wants to experience just a little bit of a insecurity over whether or not they can trust online shopping.

This was a great book, disturbing but great nonetheless. And if the Big Brother mega-company didn't put you in mind of Amazon, the go-to company for, well, practically everyone these days, then you just weren't paying attention. This could be us in a few years. We're halfway there. Scary stuff. Definitely recommend.

*ARC via netgalley*

Predictable and trying too hard. I’ve read books like this. Not a new concept. Try again and think of an original idea.

Our world is constantly changing. Not long ago, we did our shopping at small, family-run stores. That gave way to the convenience of big, impersonal retail chains. But with the growth of the Internet, brick-and-mortar stores gave way to online shopping. And author Rob Hart takes a look at what could be next in The Warehouse.

Full review published on NightsAndWeekends.com and aired on Shelf Discovery.

The Warehouse is a veer from my typical path of reading, but I'm glad I took the journey. This is a dystopian novel similar to 1984, of a not so far off future where technology essentially controls all aspects of life. It's a scary thought, but it was a very interesting look at where the world could end up should technology end up in the wrong hands and be used for the wrong reasons. I liked that this book includes elements of technology that we're already using: online shopping, smart watches/phones, and uses those to push the narrative.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

I received an e-arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, but the next day the book came out and my library got a copy so I'll be reviewing the published book here.

I'm still a little in shock so I'm just going to compile the notes I took while reading for this review. I may come back and edit later.

Compelling from the first page. There are so few books that after reading a page or two you know you have to read the whole thing - this is one of them.

Rob Hart is an amazing writer. Each character had a distinctly unique voice. The world building is also fantastic and the creepiness just sort of comes in unspoken and ever present.

Eerie and quotable.

Not relevant to where I'm at in the book, but pretty sure I'm going to need to own this one...

When I read reviews that said you'd see it everywhere and not be able to stop thinking about it, I thought that wouldn't happen to me. Even through the first say 150-200 pages, I didn't. But now, I sit here wearing my fitbit and considering ordering mundane things on Amazon and....it just really sneaks up on you. You **will** see the implications everywhere.

This story is told in three perspectives; three voices. They're completely unique. Each voice is so completely unique and distinct that you could open it up to any page and I could tell you which character is speaking. The way they see the world and the tone of the writing is so different. It's really pretty spectacular.

I've also been amazed by how much the author seems to understand about the experience of being a woman. The subtle things we deal with, the power dynamics, the decisions we make daily. I just want to commend him on that because I'm not sure I've ever seen a man understand that, let alone be able to weave it in to a story so seamlessly.

And my final comment on the ending: "that’s..that’s it?!?!?! That’s it? It’s just over like that? Oh. My. God. **screaming**"

Overall, I highly recommend this book. It will make you think while reading and long after you've put it down.

I kept sitting this one down and then picking it back up and then setting it back down and then picking it back up and then...

You get the picture.

It's a fantastic concept, and I think an important idea to put forward given the state of the world and where things seem to be heading. I appreciate the intent of offering a glimpse behind the curtain of what can happen when capitalism goes overboard and a monopoly becomes a mega-opoly. I assume that a lot of the monotony in the story is intentional, dragging you through the days of the characters as they struggle to live in the Cloud-controlled world, but it certainly does not make for an easy, enjoyable, or speedy read. I can appreciate that conceptually, but it doesn't make for a glowing recommendation...

I just never found myself able to connect with any of the characters, and when you add that to the monotonous tone, particularly for a book billed as a thriller, I found it a bit of a disappointment. To me this isn't a thriller, and it isn't a dark vision of the future, so much as a satiric look at what happens when capitalism is taken to the extreme.

I've seen comparisons to Animal Farm - to me, there is no comparison. Animal Farm was written as an engaging tale as well as a cautionary one. This felt entirely like the latter without much of the former. While it is definitely a thought-provoking and important consideration for our times, to me it did not exactly make for a compelling read...

A chilling, near-future representation of what our lives & country could easily be heading for. Every time Zinnia packed an item that I've personally ordered online, I got chills. My one small complaint is that this book follows the common trope of "fridging" multiple female characters, all in the pursuit of the lead male character's arc.

You know that fear that one day we'll all wake up to Amazon controlling every part of our lives in all the ways we feared big brother Google would? Take this to the level.

THIS IS THAT BOOK. Seriously....never felt more engaged in a story and utterly terrified by its premise. The Cloud is the biggest company around, making it possible for people to never leave their home for anything. Why venture out when they'll do everything for you, right? After a bunch of Black Friday Massacres, it seems like a pretty good idea anyways. To top it off, anyone working for The Cloud LIVE there. So it's really creepy and that kept my attention...how scarily possible this was (considering I don't even leave my house for groceries anymore).

Overall, I loved it. Personally, I would have tagged this as a science fiction/dystopian rather than General Fiction/Thrillers/Mystery.....because that's what it was.

I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Warehouse very vividly imagines a dystopia where climate change, retail dominance, and profit squeezing trends combine to create one massive online, drone delivering corporation called Cloud, whose distribution center/climate bubble/employee dorm/panopticons have become effectively the only places to live and work. They are also pseudo governments, with their own security force that is effectively the only law or government in town.

The story follows two new recruits with ulterior motives -- a corporate spy and an out-maneuvered inventory -- as they come to Cloud, get assigned to jobs, and get subsumed into the culture full of surveillance, ratings, and day-to-day obsessions that gradually impair their ability to imagine any other way of life.

We also get glimpses of the dying founder, as he blogs and tours Cloud facilities, reminisces about how he got to where he is and the many controversies that got washed over, forgotten, or spun like the various big tech scandals over privacy, pay, censorship, etc. in the real world.

The characters and plot twists are very compelling. There are definitely a few loose ends and complications that may have been intentional to show the complexity of these types of leaders, or may have been inadvertent.

Either way, it's a fun and thought-provoking story about making sure to keep perspective that the reality around you may not be the only one, and knowing when resistance and questioning is appropriate.

What would the world be like if Amazon ran everything: From housing to entertainment to food production? Rob Hart’s new novel The Warehouse gives a peak at that scenario with a thriller that explores a world governed with corporate diligence.

The Warehouse [digital galley, Random House] is set in the near future where The Cloud runs most of the economy by employing, housing and feeding workers in an environment regulated by technology. Those who can’t get jobs at The Cloud find themselves living in a dystopian world of chronic unemployment. But someone is suspicious of the corporation’s success and has infiltrated one of its facilities to find out what’s really powering the company’s success.

Unfortunately there are too many holes in the plot and an incongruous ending made me question whether the bad guys were really that bad after all. And if so, what was the point of all of the sneaking around early in the book.

The Warehouse

by Rob Hart

Blake Crouch told me to read this book.

Ok, not personally, but still.

Initially, I read the first chapter, shrugged and put it down, slightly discouraged by the glossy magazine-sheen styled tone.

Then I received a BookBub email with Blake Crouch’s recommendation to read The Warehouse.

Having just acknowledged in my last B3 post that I might in fact jump off a bridge if the man suggested, I figured it was reasonable to read his book recommendation instead.

Naturally, I finished The Warehouse within a couple days because as the narrators and perspectives switched so did the tone of the book, making it as palatable as a CloudBurger at LivePlay. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Enter a world where The Cloud is king. Naturally, said world has gone to pot: climate change makes temperatures unendurable, unemployment is ubiquitous, water unpotable, meat scarce, and prospects dire for small business. But at The Cloud, with fully stocked shelves of shiny goods, air-conditioned dorm rooms, built-in healthcare and tram cars, not to mention LivePlay entertainment and readily available Cloud Burgers, life is good. Well, not necessarily good, but tolerable. Well, not necessarily tolerable, but air-conditioned.

So what if the shifts are 12 hours long, or there’s a $6 bank transfer charge, or you get docked ratings for not volunteering for extra work time? And so what if the bathrooms are constantly out of order, or the cinderblock rooms are the size of closets or your every move is tracked with a wristband?

The Warehouse is like if The Circle were written about Amazon and Apple combined featuring Steve Jobs and Lisbeth Salander set to an employee training video.

But don’t you enjoy having everything delivered at the click of a button? And for a such a reasonable cost? Have you ever wondered after you click “buy now” who is paying for the deficit?

Terrifyingly Realistic

I haven’t read a book that had me thinking “oh, this is going to happen” since my last great Technothriller by Eliot Peper. I’d seen rumblings about this book when it first came out (and a lot of bloggers I knew had ARCs of it) but I don’t remember reading any of their reviews for it. Thankfully, I still took the dive on it and boy am I glad I did. This book is fantastic. Easily one of the best books I’ve read this year.

Hart is able to write a book that takes all of the things that big tech companies are doing today and take it one step further. The Warehouse is a combination of a lot of currently operating businesses but it really felt like if Apple and Amazon had a baby that was raised by the Walton (Walmart) family. The “no currency, but you can get paid in Cloud money” is straight from Apple. The entire business model is Amazon and the owner reminded me of the Walton’s if they got into tech. Just terrifying.

I honestly could write a paper on all of the topics within The Warehouse – it had so many little things going on that were fascinating to me. Just know if you’ve read any articles or watched any news stories about Amazon’s warehouses, their 1-day deliveries, the way they treat their employees, etc and thought “I won’t what will happen when Amazon gets even more powerful” – this book is definitely for you.

Hart doesn’t touch on it too much but the world outside of Cloud sounded realistic and scary – it felt like it was a post-collapse world where Cloud had pretty much caused almost every other store to go out of business. I kind of pictured run-down cities (but they couldn’t be too run down because Cloud was very busy with people ordering products).

"Cloud isn’t just a place to work. It’s a place to live. And when you’re here, you’ll never want to leave."

Wow... I felt like I was reading about Amazon! "Cloud" is extremely intriguing and messed up, especially how they balance work and personal living. Rob Hart created the perfect world balance of near-future, realistic, and a creep factor that makes you want to keep reading more. The perfect book for all dystopian readers! A complete page-turner. This will really make me think the next time I order from Amazon.

Highly Recommend!

*Many thanks to NetGalley & Crown Publishing for the ARC, all opinions are my own.

This book is disturbing....but a great read!

America has been taken over by Cloud, a corporation that has control of the economy and the government. Free enterprise is gone.....most private business was destroyed by Cloud. There are few jobs and people will do anything to secure one. Everything is controlled by Cloud in one way or another. What was touted as an effort to improve the world has become a destroyer instead. How far will the corporation go to protect its dark secrets?

Obviously, this story is a thinly veiled horror/dystopian tale about a company like Amazon growing so powerful and all-encompassing that it destroys American society and the economy. This book is like an updated, more modern version of Orwell's 1984. The corporation is always watching. The corporation controls everything. And those who challenge the corporation disappear. All hail the corporation. It's a scary picture of what society might become.

As someone who grew up in pre-internet days, I see the drastic changes in our daily life, culture and economy since computers have pretty much become a necessity. Our social interactions are different. Our economy is different. Education is different. Nearly everything is different. While instant access to information is an awesome tool....some changes cause me concern. After finishing this book, I sat back and just let those thoughts run through my head. Are the changes a good thing? Or are all the changes causing more stress, more difficulty and a loss of freedom, rather than the freedom we all thought instant information would bring?

Thought provoking. Distressing. Mesmerizing. Great story! Enjoyed it! I will definitely read more by this author, even though his tale made me extremely uncomfortable. I think I need to read a cute story about a talking dog or something now.....gotta get this cautionary tale out of my head.

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Crown Publishing via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

In a word: Fantastic. Believable. Frightening. Terrifying. Disgusting. Fantastic. (Yes, twice)

It’s a story about our world just a little ways down the road. We’re not there yet, but the way we’re all going, it’s a very possible endgame.

This particular future focuses on a company similar to Amazon called Cloud. We love our convenience, even if other people or the planet have to suffer for it. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to be self-righteous. I’m guilty. I have a Prime membership. I want my stuff approximately… NOW. While it’s not really ever preached about or harped on, this societal mentality is present throughout the entire narrative.

This book is much more than an interesting premise, though. There’s also a story about a man struggling over working for the very company that put him out of business, a woman who’s actually there as a corporate spy, and their subsequent meeting which turns into a relationship of convenience? Lies? Genuine feelings? Trick is, you don’t really know which ones are real and which are just BS. Even the characters we’re riding around with don’t seem to know completely.

Then there’s Gibson, the CEO of Cloud. We’re treated to a running series of blog entries from the entrepreneur as he gives us some history on himself and this massive mega-company he’s built. That probably sounds dry, but I have to be honest, they might be my favourite parts. Maybe it was satisfying the part of me that enjoys biographies, or maybe it felt like a beginners course in business and economics, but each time I turned the page to find a “blog post”, I got pretty excited.

In a First Impression Friday post, I predicted 4.5 stars and I’m happy to report I was wrong. This is a 5-star read all the way. I can’t think of a single thing to complain about. Not even a nitpick. I enjoyed this from the first page to the last.

Cloud is not just a place to work, but a place to live with a ranking and rating system to keep you striving to always be your best! We follow the creator of Cloud on his last tour, Paxton who thinks this is best opportunity though he’s not happy Cloud has essentially been a problem in his life and Zinnia who is undercover..but for what purpose?

This takes a harsh look at where our civilization is going and how some things unfortunately never change despite the lessons we should have already learned. Corporate America. The want and need of those high ratings because we are now virtually trained to react to these. It's like a mix of Facebook on crack salted with an itsy bitsy bit of Black Mirror. Not gonna lie, if the world went to (further) shit and I was afforded and opportunity to work in a place like this, I would be tempted. Just remember, everything comes at a price.

What an unexpected surprise! It’s written in 11 sections with chapters written in the voice of the three main characters and various chapters in the form of a message. I will say I glazed over sometimes during the owner’s chapters. I was way more intrigued with Paxton and Zinnia. Around the last couple chapters I had that “I KNEW IT!” moment, but I didn’t really know it y’all. 🤦🏻‍♀️. It’s in these last chapters that the book really captured me and I turned the last page seriously saying out loud, “Well now THAT was so good!” There’s not crazy twist but there are some verrrry interesting surprises. 🍔 And while I thought some sections dragged a tiny bit, once I finished I appreciated all the depth in the characters. Love it when a book surprises me in the unexpected ways.

Anybody wanna grab a Cloudburger? 😏