”We gave them control. When they decided to buy up the grocery stores, we let them. When they decided to take over farming operations, we let them. When they decided to take over media outlets, and the internet providers, and the cell phone companies, we let them. We were told it would mean better prices, because Cloud only cared about the customer. That the customer was family. But we’re not family. We are the food that big businesses eat to grow bigger.”

“That’s the thing about freedom. It’s yours until you give it up.”

“This is some supervillain bullshit.... You’re going to take over the world?”

Thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for sending me an ARC of The Warehouse in exchange for an honest review.

Set several decades from now, The Warehouse paints a logical picture of Amazon’s future, and in many ways America’s future too. Greater concentration of power in corporations. Driverless cars. People in prison for failing to pay student loans and mortgages. Drones. Climate change affecting where people can live to the point that we see the return of company towns. So yeah, it’s dystopian, but a realistic one.

The story is told from the perspective of three characters: Gibson Wells, the CEO of Amazon—I mean, of Cloud; Zinnia, a corporate spy hired to expose a secret behind Cloud; and Paxton, a former prison guard who comes to work at Cloud even though he blames Cloud for destroying his start up business. Paxton’s character is the one I found to be emotionally resonant. He is angry at Cloud, yet cannot help trying to succeed in his new job there. When he is disillusioned, you feel it. His first scene with Gibson is almost heartbreaking. He doesn’t drive the plot forward as much as the other two, but I imagine the story would feel cartoonish without him.

The writing was typical of a thriller, though in some places Mr. Hart very skillfully communicates the monotony of his character’s lives. A couple of the twists at the end stretched credibility, but the ending of the book was still the strongest part. The story moves fast, and is very entertaining, but at its core is a warning about unchecked corporate power that resonates. Recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley, Rob Hart and Crown Publishing for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Paxton never thought he’d be working at the Cloud, the giant tech company that has bought out the majority of businesses in America. At least he gets perks to the job, he will live in their facilities and compared to what’s left on the outside, it’s amazing. It’s better than what everyone else is offering. Zinnia never thought she’d be infiltrating the Cloud, but now she is inside undercover, risking it all to uncover their secrets. Paxton working in security may just be the perfect little pawn for Zinnia to get what she needs. Zinnia has to gamble everything on a desperate scheme that will risk both of their lives. They will both find out how far this company will go to make the world a better place.

I picked this one up because they were comparing it a bit to Recursion, which I really loved so I was excited to dig into something a bit out of my comfort zone. I found myself so interested right from the beginning and wanted to know more about the Cloud and what it was exactly that they did to keep the world going and employ so many people. I was so interested in how they kept everything working and how they kept everyone happy. There are a few really good twists in this novel that I really enjoyed! I did find the middle a bit long, but it does serve a purpose and the lead up to the ending was amazing! I was a bit let down by the ending, only because I wanted to know more about what happened to both of the main characters after everything that transpired! It’s a quite different and interesting read, definitely worth a try!

Out August 20th!

An enjoyable, plausible look at what life might look like in another 20 years with unchecked capitalism. Refreshingly, capitalism isn't treated as an unambiguous 'bad guy', and there are some indications of the good that that can come from large-scale capitalism, if it is in the hands of ethical people.

I really, really enjoyed this book. It took the current and somewhat controversial entity of Amazon and to it to an extreme what if place. The whole world Hart created was fascinating and detailed, and echoed strongly of where things are headed for the US today. He wrote interesting characters, giving them enough personality and drive to be believable. I'll definitely check out Hart's other stuff.

Imagine a world where Amazon controls pretty much everything (its really not hard to do, right?). They are the only large employer, and they have managed to put just about every other retail company out of business. Most folks who need employment have to head to their nearest Cloud center (Amazon = Cloud), apply, and hope against hope they are accepted. This is the fate of our two main protagonists, Zinnia and Paxton. Paxton wants more than anything to keep his head down until he can get patent money for his invention, a business that was going well until Cloud forced him out of business. Zinnia’s reasons for working at Cloud are a bit more inspired (it would depend on your perspective) as she’s been hired to try to take Cloud down from the inside. As Paxton and Zinnia are thrown together, both will come to realize that the Cloud was more insidious than they thought and they’ll have to sacrifice more than they’re comfortable with the bring it down.

I read this book right after watching John Oliver’s sendup of this sort of corporate culture and dang, Rob Hart did his research. His version of Amazon matches quite closely with what Oliver presents as the actual version of Amazon. I mean, it’s not great. Its really fascinating to read this near-future take on what Amazon and their ilk could mean for our country and economy as, like I said, this is a future that is really easy to imagine.

The book takes turn between Zinnia, Paxton and Gibson Wells’ (think Jeff Bezos) narratives. The characters are believable and likable enough (save Wells, but that’s obviously intentional) that I was not overly fond of one perspective over the other and never found myself racing through one perspective to get to a different one. Nonetheless, the book ends up being a quick read. It was sort of John Grisham meets Brave New World, and I was not mad about it. It’d make a fantastic movie, and clearly someone agrees with me as the author thanks Ron Howard and Bryan Glazer in his afterword.

If you are looking for a quick summer read that’ll make you think (but not too hard), this dystopian thriller will suit your needs. 4 stars – I really liked it!

Thanks to Crown and Netgalley for the free eARC which I received in exchange for an unbiased review. The Warehouse will be release on 20 August, and you can put your copy on hold today!

Distressing! This dystonia is very close to home. Like "Vox," by Christina Dalcher, it aptly explains how this world could become a reality. In fact, we may already be halfway there. Haunting and compelling.

Imagine if Amazon had wiped out almost all other retail, so that the only options left were to starve or work in one of Amazon's vast, city-like warehouses. In this tale of modern-day indentured servitude, the inhabitants of Cloud's warehouses across the country are trapped in a cycle of mind-numbing work and meaningless relationships. Deep in the bowels of Cloud's premier warehouse lurks Zinnia, who has been sent to Cloud by an unknown source to get inside the machine and see what makes it tick. Inadvertently aiding her in this mission is Paxton, a one-time prison security guard and failed small business owner who reaches a dead end at Cloud, and finds salvation from the mediocrity of Cloud life with Zinnia.

Fascinating precisely because it hits so close to home, Warehouse will make you think twice before you hit "add to cart."

The Warehouse
Rob Hart

Imagine a future where, because of violence and mass shootings, malls and larger department stores no longer exist. Everything you need can be ordered from a worldwide fulfillment facility called Cloud, the brainchild of Gibson Wells, a mad genius who is dying of cancer. It is not only the safest way to shop, but to work and live. Cloud has facilities all over the world. Employment at the Cloud is highly sought after because of a wonderful sense of security. One never really has to leave the Cloud. As Well's Cloud grows, he successfully privatizes more services supplied by the government – including the FAA.

Sounds ideal, yes? Well, maybe. Is it a utopia when your life is controlled by your employer? Or, is it a dystopia? Are you willing to sacrifice your freedom for comfort and security?

I read an ARC of this contemporary and frightening Orwellian thriller courtesy of NetGalley and Crown Books. I was completely captivated by the story and its characters . The pacing is taut throughout and Hart's writing is vivid and strong. It is easy to envision a blockbuster movie coming soon to a movie screen near you!

Paxton, a former prison guard whose small business was financially destroyed by the Cloud has really no choice but to take a security job with the Cloud. He meet and falls in love with Zinnia, a corporate spy with deadly skills whose employment at the Cloud is only a means to an end.  Together they try to unravel the secrets behind the Cloud and its founder Gibson Wells. What they discover could change the world. If they are allowed to live.

Hart successfully and seamlessly intertwines Paxton's and Zinnia' stories with that of Gibson Wells and everyday life in the Cloud. There is a lovely flow to the book's structure. Much Like H.G. Wells's The Shape of Things to Come: The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind, Hart's novel is eerily prescient in its presentation of a dystopian future - think the retail domination of Amazon.com and its forthcoming drone delivery. Think the current US administration and the slow death of our nation's urban spaces. One of the joys of reading The Warehouse is that the world Hart creates is thoroughly believable. It CAN happen here. I highly recommend the book , just be prepared to be reading until the early morning.

Part dystopian/part thriller but it doesn’t feel like there was a clear plot line or resolution. Well written but something was lacking, as if I couldn’t figure out the point of the novel.

This novel is a dystopian look at a world where a large, online corporation (Cloud) has taken over. The government is small and ineffectual with Cloud taking over more and more control.

This novel is told from three POV's: Paxton, Zinnia and Gibson. Paxton is an ex-CEO of his own personal company and an ex-prison guard. His company went under due to Cloud's pressuring him to keep lowering the price of his product until he could no longer make a profit and had to declare bankruptcy. I liked him at the beginning of the novel but by the end I disliked him. Paxton is just too complacent and too naive at the end.

Zinnia is a corporate spy who has been hired by a mysterious company to learn the secret of Cloud's energy production. I really, really liked her. Shes strong, resilient, feisty and caring. I wish her ending wasn't so ambiguous but it fit perfectly with the mood of the novel. I did not guess the truth behind the energy production, even when she first saw the room I had no idea what it could be.

Gibson is the CEO of Cloud. I LOVED HIM! He is portrayed perfectly: two-faced and egotistical with superficial charm. When he is off the record and show his delusions and goals: PERFECTLY PORTRAYED!

This is an excellent dystopian novel which could reflect the future if the world isn't careful. One of the best novels I've read in 2019. I would strongly suggest it to everyone.

Thank you to Bantam Pres and Netgalley for the ARC.

There were a lot of things I liked about this book...
- Zinnia is a badass character that I adored!
- The concept is amazing and (sadly) realistic.
- It's monotony makes you feel like you are walking right alongside the characters.
Things I hated...
- The monotony is necessary and relatable, but it's also really hard to trudge through.
- I hate unanswered questions...
of this there are many when the book abruptly ends.
That kind of shit drives me bananas.
Thank you NetGalley and Crown Publishing for my ARC.

Great book from Rob Hart. Smooth writing, not formulatic.
Great concept with well developed characters
Highly recommend!

The Warehouse, by Rob Hart, is the type of Science Fiction I enjoy most. Reading The Warehouse you know it's not possible..... yet. With technology what it has become a place like The Warehouse could exist in our not too distant future. I was given an early copy to review.

Dave Eggers wrote a metaphorical novel in 2015 warning about the control users eagerly provide social media start-ups and search engine giants. In The Circle, employees live, work, eat, and play within a professional compound where their lives are transparently transmitted in return for likes and retweets. Rob Hart taps into that zeitgeist with The Warehouse, which is more thriller than notice. He presents a future where the world’s all-consuming online retailer, The Cloud, provides their employees work, housing, and healthcare to feed their consumption while video monitors proselytize the gospel of consumerism and fresh burgers ground out contentment.

Eggers’ Circle is Spielberg’s Minority Report (minus the chase scenes and Tom Cruise’s hair); Hart’s Warehouse is Michael Bay’s The Island with all the chase, hair, and explosions it can muster.

Aside from the PSAs and scripted commercials, which make for a jarring read but will work spectacularly in the upcoming Ron Howard adaptation, Hart splits the narrative between three main characters: Paxton, a former CEO now working the Cloud security beat; Zinnia, a corporate spy with killer looks and moves; Gibson Wells, the Bezos-ian All-Father of the Cloud, dying of cancer. Each have their own voice, a separate pattern that makes for an enjoyable read: Paxton’s defeatism; Zinnia’s mission-oriented goals; Gibson’s Republican rhetoric. Paxton and Zinnia learn to say hello to the Cloud, and each other, while Gibson embarks on his final victory lap.

Hart builds within the Cloud an environment that is both SciFi cool and hauntingly wanting. Whereas Eggers’ Circle wants to keep their drones happy and active and fresh, the Cloud provides the basest of lifestyles. And aside from its energy and news-based initiatives, the Cloud solely seems focused on consumerism – not media or communications or even space travel that all Prime members now expect. Hart digs deep into this environment but in doing so ignores any outside industry, religion, or even sports, which all must surely exist yet are never touched. Instead he presents a question. Does menial work, stable pay, and basic housing equate happiness? Zinnia’s answer is a rocket-fire of a no. Paxton’s response is murkier. Hart’s follow-up is even deeper. Can freedom be minimized in favor of security? The Warehouse is a surprisingly entertaining ride of an answer.



Thanks to NetGalley and Crown for this ARC. Wasn’t sent to me via drone, but I guess it’s all only a matter of time now…

I'll be honest - although the book description intrigued me, it was Blake Crouch's recommendation that made me want to read this novel. After finishing, I had to sit with it a few days because I honestly didn't know how I felt about it.

Few people will read this description and not immediately think of Amazon. The Warehouse is a cautionary tale, albeit extreme, that paints a harrowing futuristic picture. Cloud controls or has influence over nearly everything - the business environment, laws, politics. Seemingly nothing is out of its reach.

I didn't particularly care about these characters, but their moral ambiguity was intriguing and held me enthralled. Paxton harbors feelings of anger and retribution after his small business is crushed by Cloud - and yet he finds himself working for the tech company. Zinnia will sacrifice anything or anyone to accomplish her goals. And Gibson Wells, the multi-billionaire owner of Cloud, truly believes everything he's done has made the world a better place.

This is a well-paced thriller with some suprising plot twists, and the sections showing the monotony of Paxton's and Zinnia's lives are brilliant. The Warehouse is undoubtedly one of the most thought-provoking books I've read this year. It will leave you feeling unsettled, and I guarantee you'll still be thinking about it days after reading.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is a thriller set in the future, but not so far in the future that we can't exactly picture a business just like this. Global warming has proceeded, there is hunger, heat, millions of people displaced by rising water and few jobs to be had. One company has continued to thrive, Cloud. Three people tell this story: Paxton who needs a job after his company is forced into bankruptcy, Zinnia who has already been hired to obtain a job at Cloud and the man who started Cloud, Gibson.
It's a cautionary tale, it's a corporate spy thriller, it's a smuggling ring, it's a sci-fi book, it's an absolute page turner!
Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this early. I recommend this book!
#TheWarehouse #Netgalley

I saw the author interviewed on television alongside other authors and found his description of his book “The Warehouse” a fascinating premise. So due to NetGalley I have had the opportunity to read this book and came away with the following conclusions: (1) The premise is even more interesting than described by the author; (2) The author, Rob Hart, is a gifted writer who can develop his story clearly, albeit not too concisely; (3) Many years ago I taught a high school English class on comparative utopian novels and “The Warehouse” should be added to stories such as “Brave New World” and “1984;” and (4) “The Warehouse” can, and should, serve as a cautionary tale for the growing fear of mega-technology companies overarching power over the individual in the second decade of the 21st century. Readers should wake up, stop fearing the targets of the “Fake News” media, and actively push back against the monopolistic multinational tech companies that are managing way too much of our lives! Well done Rob Hart.

I received an ARC of The Warehouse at BookCon directly from Rob Hart, signed and all. BookCon was for sure the ComicCon for us book nerds! I heard many things about The Warehouse being the next big YA Thriller, there was some big hype to live up to. Did It?

I believe it did. I had to be in the right mood to start The Warehouse but once I was I finished it very fast. It took me awhile to digest the book, I was really thinking “WTF Rob?” The scary part is I could see what happens in The Warehouse actually happening to us in the world if things continue as they have been. Cloud is only too close to a certain online retailer that is currently taking over our world. Consumerism is key and that is the driving force behind what keeps Cloud in business.

The story is told through multiple viewpoints. Paxton and Zinnia who go to work at Cloud and the owner of the company. There was decent character development and the secret behind Cloud was sort of science fictionish but it made sense in the context. You won’t expect some of the events that occur in The Warehouse. I hope you’re like me at have a WTF face.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4 out of 5 stars) Not many books have taken me this long to digest.

Paxton didn’t want to work for Cloud. The superstore ruined his life and put him out of business. But he needs a job and Cloud is hiring. Zinnia is on a mission. She needs to infiltrate Cloud, and she can’t get caught. She meets Paxton, who has been selected to work for security. Soon, Paxton and Zinnia become embroiled in a scheme that will shake Cloud to its very foundation.

When I started reading The Warehouse, I was expecting it to be a book that explored how an online business ran with a dash of mystery thrown in. I was not expecting this book to suck me in from the first page. I finished this book within 2 hours. So yeah, it is a fast read. It also had a well-written plotline with almost no lag. There was a tiny bit of lag when Paxton and Zinnia took their trip, but the author was able to bring plotline back.

I liked Paxton. He seemed resigned to the fact that he was going to work for Cloud. He didn’t hold any resentment towards Cloud for making his business to go under. I thought that he was blind to Zinnia’s schemes. How could he not pick up that something wasn’t quite right with her? I mean, he walked in on her using the hospital computer after her accident!! That drove me nuts.

I didn’t quite like Zinnia, but I also didn’t dislike her either. Her reasons for infiltrating Cloud weren’t clear at first. I wasn’t happy that she was using Paxton, but if I were in her situation, I would have done the same thing. She was a strong individual, though. The beatdown that she gave that one guy was epic.

The mystery angle of the book was well written. While the middle of the book did Zinnia’s first part of her mission, there was a second part to it. The twist to that took me by surprise. I wasn’t expecting who it was!!

The dystopian angle of the book, I had no problem believing. I can picture what happened to the world in this book (climate change, gun violence, unemployment) happening in real life. I also have no issue seeing an online company (who I will not name) taking over the world.

I do want to add that I was grossed out about the burgers. I threw up a little in my mouth when it was revealed what they were made of. Talk about gross!!

The end of The Warehouse was pretty standard. There were no dropped storylines. But, I did wonder what happened to Zinnia. I was also thrilled for Paxton and a little mad. What happened to him was not right. I would have flipped my lid if that happened to me.

I would give The Warehouse an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread The Warehouse. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

The Warehouse is a sort of 1984 or Brave New World, updated and revisited. The premise of this page-turning easy-to-read story is that perhaps we are further along that path than we care to admit and we are going there willfully gladly and without much thought about the consequences.

We already live in a world where mom and pop shops are disappearing from main street, U.S.A. In fact, many cute main streets boast stores that are more welcoming to tourists than to locals' needs and the amazing thing is you can go into almost any mall or shopping center anywhere and find pretty much the same stores and same products. And, this is both great and crappy because we get the products everyone wants but perhaps not the endless variety we might want. For that, we only have to dial up the great web and there is one company with lots of warehouses that has everything we could want and can nearly instantaneously deliver it. And, we might not be okay with governmental surveillance of everything we do, at least Big Brother style, but we seem to be okay with giving up our privacy to Google, to Amazon, to Apple. Your phone tracks wherever you go. Your internet provider and search engine knows whatever you post, whatever you read, whatever you buy, whoever you interact with. And, we know that even now, Google at least and probably the other big guys too, censors things and makes things disappear from searches. Don't like what you see, just wait till they mess with the algorithms again and point you in the preferred direction. It's happening now as you read this. Your preferences and desires are being noted.

Hart gives us a story where one giant corporation controls nearly all commerce and employs thirty million people in its cloud villages where drones are sent out from warehouses every minute to everywhere to deliver product. And no other companies can survive the competition. Outside is a wasteland where global warming has baked everything beyond perfection. And, inside the Cloud village, conformity is the name of the game and go along and get along is the motto. Drudgery, being tracked by the watches, afraid to step out of line lest your star rating goes down. But, the price of giving up your freedom to roam, to think, to live, is to get a decent apartment and cloud burgers (although those are the subject of another treatise and i will not waste your time on it now).

Using several alternating voices is the latest rage by all modern authors, but here it actually works well and we get to know our characters and see the world through their eyes. Very enjoyable and easy read that makes you wonder where we are headed.

Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review.