Review of Pulse: Book One
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Review of Pulse: Book One
[Following is a volunteer review of "Pulse: Book One" by B.A. Bellec.]
Warning: you might forgo sleep in favor of this book.
Award-winning author B.A. Bellec delivers a captivating thriller about a dystopian world, not far into the future, where the entire system is broken down by the same thing that once saved it: cutting-edge technology.
It all started with the bond between Mark and Eric. Two highly intelligent students, attending Harvard University, connected by their love for technology and music. Mark Sharpe had a keen eye for business, inherited from his father, Alan Sharpe, but Eric on the other hand was a genius: he envisioned an operating system that could cater to every aspect of life through automation. Thus, PulseOS was invented. Fast forward a few years, with a seemingly endless budget provided by Alan Sharpe, Pulse finally began to be accepted as just a part of life by everyone on the planet. Everybody wore a Pulseband, traded using PulseCoin, owned a P-7500 orb for assisting jobs, used the Pulsar social media platform, ate NutriPaste, and used PulseLife organ replacements, all fabricated by - you guessed it – Pulse.
Somewhere along the way, Alan`s greed has altered Pulse`s noble purpose though. Pulse factories worldwide have started to pollute the rivers, creating acidic conditions that pushed aquatic life to near extinction. Alan had also changed from eco-friendly hydro and solar energy to fossil fuels and uranium. Six billion people were dependent on NutriPaste, which was the main culprit for heart disease. Countless P-7500s malfunctioned causing deaths, which were eventually covered up by the corporation. Eric confronted the Sharpes but Alan bullied him out of the company instead. Alan`s ultimate plan was to grow Pulse into something that rose above the government and finally run the country.
The most profitable branch of the corporation is fracking and Alan Sharpe has found the perfect location: Caumsett State Park, drilling for coastal gas that was previously thought to be impossible to extract. Fracking here though unleashes something nobody ever had expected: a monster. An alien organism that morphs into something unearthly, operating on instinct only to feed, survive and thrive. The Caumsett State Park is also the venue for PulseFest, a huge music festival, promised to be the biggest event since Woodstock. More than one hundred thousand people are expected in this contaminated place, where Pulse has turned a blind eye to all the warning signs. All these factors are bound to lead to a catastrophe.
I truly enjoyed this book especially since it comes pretty close to our current situation: wildfires, global warming, greenhouse gases, short supply of food in some parts of the world, class struggle, misinformation, greed, corruption, and injustice. It`s scary how familiar they all sound. Society is run by rich and powerful people with no scruples or accountability, eager only for more power, control, and of course, wealth. These people feel entitled to what they have, with little to no regard for anyone but themselves. They have no shame in climbing the ladder by stepping over dead bodies to get ahead, avoiding taxes, bending rules, or greasing wheels. What`s important to them is keeping the wealth rolling in and protecting each other’s backs to keep this circle intact. B.A. Bellec has done an amazing job by intertwining our current reality with a fictional, dark, and mysterious future, allowing us to see what nightmare everything could turn out to be.
I also loved the fact that the author introduces hope; there is an Anti-P international movement, determined to fight tooth and nail against the Pulse corporation. They can`t prevent things like the festival from happening, but they can and will attack from multiple points at the same time. The message here is that humanity can be salvaged and the more people acknowledge the truth and join the cause, the bigger the impact they will have upon this plague called Pulse.
I did struggle a bit with the large number of characters and was afraid I would not be able to keep up. Everybody has a story and everything is connected. While it might feel overwhelming in the beginning, the author makes it easy by using a minimalistic approach and giving a concise description limited to physical features, state of mind, and surroundings. Another aspect that threw me off was that the timeline is not linear, the author continuously switches between past and present, so make sure you pay attention to timestamps.
Pulse: Book One was exceptionally well edited and deserves a solid 4 out of 4 stars. Even if written in a screenplay-like format the novel is a multi-genre one: thriller, sci-fi, dystopian, and horror. So, if you don`t consider yourself a fan of gory horror, you might not enjoy this story. I`m looking forward to a second book and seeing where B.A. Bellec takes us next.
******
Pulse: Book One
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Warning: you might forgo sleep in favor of this book.
Award-winning author B.A. Bellec delivers a captivating thriller about a dystopian world, not far into the future, where the entire system is broken down by the same thing that once saved it: cutting-edge technology.
It all started with the bond between Mark and Eric. Two highly intelligent students, attending Harvard University, connected by their love for technology and music. Mark Sharpe had a keen eye for business, inherited from his father, Alan Sharpe, but Eric on the other hand was a genius: he envisioned an operating system that could cater to every aspect of life through automation. Thus, PulseOS was invented. Fast forward a few years, with a seemingly endless budget provided by Alan Sharpe, Pulse finally began to be accepted as just a part of life by everyone on the planet. Everybody wore a Pulseband, traded using PulseCoin, owned a P-7500 orb for assisting jobs, used the Pulsar social media platform, ate NutriPaste, and used PulseLife organ replacements, all fabricated by - you guessed it – Pulse.
Somewhere along the way, Alan`s greed has altered Pulse`s noble purpose though. Pulse factories worldwide have started to pollute the rivers, creating acidic conditions that pushed aquatic life to near extinction. Alan had also changed from eco-friendly hydro and solar energy to fossil fuels and uranium. Six billion people were dependent on NutriPaste, which was the main culprit for heart disease. Countless P-7500s malfunctioned causing deaths, which were eventually covered up by the corporation. Eric confronted the Sharpes but Alan bullied him out of the company instead. Alan`s ultimate plan was to grow Pulse into something that rose above the government and finally run the country.
The most profitable branch of the corporation is fracking and Alan Sharpe has found the perfect location: Caumsett State Park, drilling for coastal gas that was previously thought to be impossible to extract. Fracking here though unleashes something nobody ever had expected: a monster. An alien organism that morphs into something unearthly, operating on instinct only to feed, survive and thrive. The Caumsett State Park is also the venue for PulseFest, a huge music festival, promised to be the biggest event since Woodstock. More than one hundred thousand people are expected in this contaminated place, where Pulse has turned a blind eye to all the warning signs. All these factors are bound to lead to a catastrophe.
I truly enjoyed this book especially since it comes pretty close to our current situation: wildfires, global warming, greenhouse gases, short supply of food in some parts of the world, class struggle, misinformation, greed, corruption, and injustice. It`s scary how familiar they all sound. Society is run by rich and powerful people with no scruples or accountability, eager only for more power, control, and of course, wealth. These people feel entitled to what they have, with little to no regard for anyone but themselves. They have no shame in climbing the ladder by stepping over dead bodies to get ahead, avoiding taxes, bending rules, or greasing wheels. What`s important to them is keeping the wealth rolling in and protecting each other’s backs to keep this circle intact. B.A. Bellec has done an amazing job by intertwining our current reality with a fictional, dark, and mysterious future, allowing us to see what nightmare everything could turn out to be.
I also loved the fact that the author introduces hope; there is an Anti-P international movement, determined to fight tooth and nail against the Pulse corporation. They can`t prevent things like the festival from happening, but they can and will attack from multiple points at the same time. The message here is that humanity can be salvaged and the more people acknowledge the truth and join the cause, the bigger the impact they will have upon this plague called Pulse.
I did struggle a bit with the large number of characters and was afraid I would not be able to keep up. Everybody has a story and everything is connected. While it might feel overwhelming in the beginning, the author makes it easy by using a minimalistic approach and giving a concise description limited to physical features, state of mind, and surroundings. Another aspect that threw me off was that the timeline is not linear, the author continuously switches between past and present, so make sure you pay attention to timestamps.
Pulse: Book One was exceptionally well edited and deserves a solid 4 out of 4 stars. Even if written in a screenplay-like format the novel is a multi-genre one: thriller, sci-fi, dystopian, and horror. So, if you don`t consider yourself a fan of gory horror, you might not enjoy this story. I`m looking forward to a second book and seeing where B.A. Bellec takes us next.
******
Pulse: Book One
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Natural Relief for Anxiety and Stress by Gustavo Kinrys, MD
