I absolutely love books set in what could be seen as the near-future and which take a topic that arguably maybe one day could actually become reality. The concepts that the author explores in this book, of constantly being watched and not being able to lie as everything is scrupulously recorded is not actually that far out there.

I really liked Lazlo as a character, he’s a bit of a loner, doesn’t like working with other people, dark, moody and all the things that make for a good lead character. But what I really liked is that I went on a journey with Lazlo throughout the book. He started off one way and by the end I really felt like he had grown and morphed into this new person. He has background to him that is delivered to us as the readers slowly as you progress through the book.

My only criticism is I would have liked to have learnt more about how things landed up the way they did, how did the ‘Golden State’ come to be? I feel like there is definitely scope for a follow-up book and I hope the author considers writing one as I feel this story could be explored further and I would like to read more about Lazlo and where he lands up.

Set in the future where the truth is everything. This sci fo novel is exciting and compelling. I gave it 5/5 on goodreads and would recommend anyone to buy this.

Golden State is a nation bound in truth. To tell a lie, or to deceive in any way, is the most heinous of crimes. It is policed by the Speculative Services who have the ability to detect untruths and punish those who spin them. Lazlo is one such officer, coming from a family of law enforcement and one of his jobs is to attend crime scenes and find the truth in what happened. At one such scene, an apparent accident, he feels there is something wrong and is determined to get to the bottom of things. But doing this proves to be trickier than even he could envisage. Used to working alone but having a trainee foisted onto him, can he get to the bottom of things once and for all and, more importantly, at what personal cost?
This was a bit different from my usual reads but recently I have been on the mark with selecting books that sit outside my comfort zone and been rewarded and this book turned out to be no exception to that!
Lazlo is a complex character. He is under the shadow of his brother who was the best at what they do. He is also still suffering from the loss of said brother so he is quite dark in nature. But he is still good at his job which may or may not be a good things as things progress. As things start to unwind, he starts to question the unquestionable and his ideals are shattered. His descent is very well tackled by the author and the whole plot, centred around the "accident" held me rapt from start to finish. Couple that with an ending, a truth if you wish, that was shocking, made this a very enjoyable read for me.
The world that the author has created to set his story in was very well crafted and wholly believable. As things are centred on the truth there are quite a few lessons to take insofar as fake news and spin that are both prevalent in life as we know it these days. It's not made clear exactly what happened to make things as they are in the book but enough is eluded to for that not to matter as the story starts to unfold. What is explained is what happens in the now with the people being monitored 24/7 and having to keep records of events and interactions in their lives. Records that need to be kept. Definitely a shade of Big Brother seeping in under the cracks here. But it puts its own spin on things with other events that happen, ones that I am not going into here as they might contain spoilers.
Yes it did take me a while to get into initially but I blame my lack of familiarity with the genre more than anything the author did or didn't do. But once I was fully on board with what was happening and why, I simply whizzed through the rest of the book, devouring every single word as it leapt off the page.
All in all, a good solid read that kept my attention nicely throughout and left me satisfied at the end. I'm definitely going to have a look at the author's back catalogue. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Ben H. Winters writes a thrilling dystopian novel with a central mystery that puts the protagonist on a challenging road that questions everything he has ever believed in. Golden State is a future version of California, a state where truth and objectivity is everything and to veer from this central tenet risks jail and exile. There is no past, no history, no documents, only what is. The concept of fiction no longer exists, and a novel is now understood to be a true history or truth, an interesting concept as storytelling is an integral part of what it is to be human. With echoes of Big Brother in Orwell's 1984 and Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, there is complete 24 hour surveillance, CCTV and more, with people keeping personal journals of their daily lives, countersigned by others present as the verifiable truth. A bureaucratic approach is central in this society with vital importance placed on record keeping as an objective plank to confirming the truth.

54 year old Laz Ratesic is an experienced law enforcer, part of the Speculator Service, the only ones allowed to speculate what the truth might be. Laz still carries grief over the death of his brother, a legendary fellow speculator. In this disturbing world, Laz and his new female black partner look into the death of a man who fell off a rooftop, is it an accident or something more sinister? Laz has had no reason to question the world he lives in, it is his truth and he stands by it. His perception slowly begins to shatter as he investigates, for bubbling beneath the surface are power struggles, corruption and resistance. The truth is open to manipulation, nothing is as it seems, and nothing can be relied on, including Laz himself. This is twisted and suspenseful storytelling, of conspiracy, with beautifully imagined world building from the author. It reflects our contemporary ailments, such as fake news whilst exploring the concepts of tyranny, absolute truth and objectivity. This is brilliant thought provoking fiction which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. Many thanks to Random House Cornerstone for an ARC.

Bizarre and brilliant. A really clever concept that keeps you hooked. Surely this has to be a movie? Fantastic!

I really enjoyed this book. It was a little bit different to the type of story I normally read, but, whilst it is set in the future, it was excellently written with strong characters. It was fast paced and reminded me ( in a good way) of Minority Report. Definitely recommended.

There are some thought-provoking ideas on display here as Winters creates a world that is based on a dystopian California where to lie is outlawed and where the whole state apparatus is geared to creating, demonstrating and validating a single and allegedly provable and objective truth and reality. Fiction no longer exists and the term 'novel' has been re-engineered to mean truthful story or history.

The problem is, I immediately started questioning a) how this could have come about, b) how human nature could be somehow distorted to eradicate our natural penchant for story-telling, and c) how the state has suppressed subjectivity. None of these issues were fully addressed and so the protagonist's journey towards asking questions about the desirability of his world had already been pre-empted by my own and it's a long haul as he catches up.

To a large extent, this follows the formula for dystopia: what looks workable on the surface reveals chilling truths that underpin the superficial status quo, there are power conspiracies and a resistance group...

So lots of interesting ideas, for sure, about truth and reality, fact vs. subjective or speculative thought, power and freedom - the story felt a bit longer than was warranted hence my 3-star rating: a tauter, leaner narrative would have held my interest more.

A random story but excellent in its writing and portrayal!

I thoroughly enjoyed this in sight into how different life could be...

This is a world where everyone tells the truth. It was a good read. I expected more out of it. I wanted it to be more gripping than it was. I did not feel totally immersed in the story.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

My interest was immediately piqued by the dystopian future and surprisingly disturbed by the thought that the truth could be so unsettling. Characters were introduced with little description, yet rich images formed in my mind's eye. I engaged with the story and moved quickly through the chapters, wanting more about this world to be revealed.

Sadly the opportunity wasn't taken as deeply and in the complexity I sought. Ultimately the end was disappointing although it clearly left the opportunity for a sequel. A chance to weave a world, complex in its nature.

Dystopian novels always have a very high benchmark in 1984 and The Handmaid's Tale. These are two of my favourite books so I had some trepidation when I started the Golden State, however, I was immediately engrossed. The bureaucracy and compulsive record-keeping used in a never-ending effort to ensure the truth prevailed, was both fascinating and disturbing. The journey of the protaganist from un-questioning to very aware, whilst inevitable, was completely absorbing. The only aspect I didn't like was the ending. Maybe the rationale for the Golden State's actions was too subtley put across for me, but I would have preferred more depth to it. If the author does a sequel, I'd love to read it.

The concept of ‘Big Brother’ is something as old as the date when the most memorable book from George Orwell, ‘1984’, was published. Unfortunately, I don’t think I have to explain much about it, as it has been used as a brand for an absolutely non-recommended TV programme. However, it can give anyone who have not read Orwell’s book the idea of what is about.


The word has gain more and more social relevance within the time. The creation and development of new technologies is allowing all of us to recreate most of Orwell’s imaginaries. Although this is a joy for many people it can actually cause some problems like those we are witnessing with the social networks and some massive personal data theft.


In this novel, ‘Golden State’, Ben H. Winters resumes the concept by taking us to a nation which could have been California. It has the same name as the novel, though. In this state all is under control. And when I say ‘under control’ I mean that all your life, doings and conversations are recorded in tapes, videos and writings. It even gets to the point of having to carry a recorder with you when you go out; just in case the microphones installed all around does not gather voices and sounds properly, you know.

Laszlo Ratesic in a Speculator. He is part of the Speculator Service in charge of giving light to all the events taking place in Golden State. In fact, only members of such Service can elaborate and publish theories about any event. They are the only ones with full access to all the mentioned tapes, documents and audios stored. This means they will have all the possible views for an event and therefore speculate about what happened.

The novel kicks off when a man falls from a roof and die. The blow in the head causes his death on the spot. Laszlo and his new colleague will have to research in order to clarify the event and try to figure out if someone is guilty.

This incident allows Ben H. Winters to display all the details behind the world that surrounds the characters. How the recordings and any other document are managed, where they are stored, which is the process to access them and, finally, figure out that even when you try to control everything, corruption remains. And it does not differ so much from the corruption we see around us daily.


‘Golden State’ alternates the explanation about the rules in this world with the criminal side of the story. In my opinion, the speculative side is far more interesting than the latter. The way the author gives you some of the clues about this world, bit by bit, allows the reader to create its own puzzle and therefore understand the society all the individuals are part of. The criminal plot is little more than an excuse to display this world showing all the pros and cons.

The easiest way to shelve this book would be by saying that this is a dystopian novel. However, this would be a bit unfair, as most of the events shown are not far from what we are starting to experience due to the bad use of some emerging technologies.

The novel loses some of its interest in the last third. This is because it is more focus on solving the mystery behind the death at the beginning rather than providing more details about the world where it is settled. I guess this feeling will absolutely depend on the reader.

I think it is worth mentioning the last chapter of the book. In order to avoid spoilers, I would just say that it adds clarification about some theories and mysteries mentioned within the read. However, I don’t think it was something the book really needed. While I was reading this I had the same feeling as when I read the end of ‘The Handmaid’s tale’. If you read ‘Golden State’ you will understand what I mean.

‘Golden State’ leaves me a good feeling at the end. Is a fast-reading novel, perfect both for those who are interested in some speculation about new technologies and societies and for an experienced thriller book reader. It is not new-fangled, but I think it does combine both features with some success. Just in one and only book.t in one and only book.

Golden State by Ben H. Winters a five-star read that has a golden edge to it. This was my first read by this author, but it wont be the last, I plan on going back and reading The Last Policeman trilogy as the writing was sublime, the world building second to none and this whole novel was well written there was a little section that took e a while to get through as it seemed more dribbly than the rest, like there where ten words when two would do, that being said a couple of chapters later and I was sunk back in and couldn’t put it down again. Even though the main character Laszlo is on a downer when we see the world through his eyes, he shows us his story and you see why he is the way he is as he sees the truth behind what people claim, that would put a darker shade on anyone. While reading this novel you will feel the walls closing in on you, its that compelling.

What a totally fascinating book with great characters too. Like 1984 and Metropolis, it is likely to make your head hurt (in a nice way) as you wriggle to get your synapses around what is a lie and. perhaps more important, what does 100% truth look like. Buy the book, find yourself somewhere quiet to read it and give yourself enough time to think this book through. You might very well find yourself seeing the world in a somewhat different light.

Bit slow to start but soon became a fascinating, gripping read that I thoroughly enjoyed.I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good, thought provoking read

This book is set in a future state that is not far from here. The most important thing is to establish the truth about any event or encounter. When people meet their greetings are facts "2 times 4 is 8" or something equally incontrovertible, to which the answer would be something equally factual. All citizens carry a daily diary in which they record any meetings they might have had, and they each countersign the other person's log. Everywhere is covered by CCTV which is kept in the archive so that there is never any doubt about what has happened. The only people who are allowed to investigate questions are the Speculators, who can detect an untruth just by sniffing the air. I was surprised to find myself completely absorbed by this story. It is set in a smaller USA and people who violate the laws of the state are ejected from the safety of its walls. It doesn't feel too farfetched from our present world where news channels employ factcheckers to ascertain whether we are being told fake news.
The book begins with a Speculator having breakfast in a diner when he senses somebody lying. He abandons his food to track down the culprit, and it turns out that a woman and her adult sons are having a conversation about her medication. Through this investigation we are introduced to the elaborate system of maintaining the Record. We soon discover that there is an anomaly that might be being covered up by someone high up in the organisation. The plot twists and turns, leading to a surprise ending. It made me think about the way our lives are being regulated, and I was completely engaged in the world the author created. I am very grateful to the publisher for giving me a review copy in return for an honest review. I would recommend this book as a great read for people who like crime fiction as well as anyone who enjoys science fiction.#goldenstate #netgalley

It’s not clear when it happened or what happened, but it was BIG. Now nobody talks about it, in fact everything before has been erased: there are no documents, there is no known history. This new world, in the same place as the old world, has rules that preclude lots of things and knowledge of the past is one of them. But the biggest sin is to lie, to lie about anything. To disobey this edict can result in serious jail time.

The place is called the Golden State and it’s what used to be California, or at least part of it, and it’s easy to recognise the centre in which most of this story plays out as Los Angeles. We see events through the eyes of Laszlo Ratesic. He’s a big guy with a gift: he can sense when people are not telling the truth. Laszlo job is to use this gift as part of the law enforcement team. There are cameras everywhere too – and I mean everywhere. Everything is recorded and each individual is compelled to document every interaction with people they come into contact with. Nothing is secret from the State.

It’s in this claustrophobic environment that we first encounter Laszlo as he addresses a minor lie he identifies whilst having breakfast at a restaurant. For this innocuous fib a young man will most likely serve a five-year sentence. They don’t mess around here! But soon Laszlo is called to the scene of what looks to be an accidental death: a man has fallen off a roof in what is most likely a simple working accident. But is it? From this point the story spreads out and we meet various characters including some of Ratesic’s colleagues, his ex-wife and various people loosely connected with the death. We will now see in more detail how things work in this new world.

It’s an interesting construction and I was drawn deeply into the story in the first third of the book. Laszlo is an unhappy man: haunted by the death of his brother (a fellow law officer, who also had ‘the gift’) and his estrangement from the love of his life. And he’s started to wonder about what came before the Golden State. But for a while book then seemed to struggle to balance time spent on resolving the mystery of the dead man versus the bigger picture of what the hell was going on in this place and how did we get here in the first place. I was impatient for the second element to be addressed. But in the final third the book delivered its big punches and supplied a satisfying (if not wholly surprising) finale.

I’m a little stuck between awarding four stars or five, but I’m going to settle of four simply because the midsection of the book dragged a little for me. But I do admire the invention and imagination employed here – and I might come back and upgrade my rating once I’ve spent a little longer reflecting on this thought-provoking tale.

Wouldn’t it be great to live in a world where everybody told the truth, where all that’s said and read is real? The book raises very interesting topics and makes you think about what it would be like if everything was “real”; there’d be no fiction to read, no tv programmes apart from the news, no dreaming...thought provoking book and a pleasant read about the novel of Laslo

This was really good! I’d never heard of this author before but was granted an ARC of this book from Netgalley. It is a commentary on truth- is there such a thing as absolute truth? Can it be determined through a society where everything is documented and recorded? Does everyone live by the same rules or are some exempt? How fear of the unknown can imprison us. Excellent read!

Seriously weird stuff ...

The Golden State (a future California that appears to exist alone) treats lying as the greatest crime (worthy of many years in prison or, ultimately, exile), with truth-telling elevated to the level of worship, such that even greeting one another with a fact (eg. Two squared equals four) is the proper thing to do. In this setting, it is the job of the Speculative Service to discover crimes of untruths and enforce truth-telling. To enable them, surveillance and recording of events are ubiquitous (to the point of individuals carrying constant-recorder devices) and we find ourselves in what the citizens might call a utopian state (because all things can be trusted) and the readers might call dystopian - I guess that depends on your point of view.

However, those trusting citizens might not be so right after all. Our here, Laslo Ratezic, is charged with 'speculating' on how a man came to die, who apparently fell off a roof by accident ... but all is not as it seems. As he delves deeper, Laz is taken on a terrifying journey of discovery, where truth becomes lies and lies become truth until he cannot rely on anything - even his own memories.

This was a highly unusual novel - at least for a traditionalist like me - and while I found some aspects interesting, I wasn't quite sure whether I was reading a thriller/detective novel (albeit in a strange setting) or a philosophical treatise. I found the former a little disappointing and slow-moving, and the latter mostly just weird - perhaps because I couldn't quite make myself believe in it as a reality that might one day be.

That said, I liked the character of Laz and wanted him to come out of it well, and there were some interesting twists and final denouement that I liked. I just wished all that more interesting stuff hadn't been saved for the very last chapter.

I'm sure some people will absolutely LOVE this book and I suspect there's no middle ground - you'll love it or you'll be left a bit unmoved. If you think this is your cup of tea, don't let me put you off!