I received this free through Netgalley for an honest review.. What a day to finish a book about 2020. This is the day that we found out the real identity of QAnon and I am glad that the author's prediction was wrong, though it is equally scary. I will admit I struggled at the beginning of this novel as I am not emotionally ready to read about 2020. It is a year that still makes me mad and I did not want to revisit all of those emotions. The story does pick up half way through and becomes less about the news and more about the characters and their personal struggles. Now this story takes place in six weeks so we do not find out how Adam and Julia survive quarantine and social distancing, but their marriage is a work in progress at the end.

This novel is about fear, both external and internal and how we cope with triggers in our lives. Adam is a computer scientist who is trying to uncover QAnon's identity, which is not what the government wants. Julia works for the ACLU and is battling an ex who is an INCEL blaming her for his issues, but threatens her life and family. These demons are creating an addictive situation and Julia must face this as the world shuts down. It would have been interesting to see how addition therapy worked in lockdown, but the book ends on March 13 when life stopped for most of us. I was sent home permanently on March 18 so know first hand that Zoom is the new normal for meetings. This is not a horrible book, but it does draw out the emotions from early in 2020.

My thanks to NetGalley for this advance copy. The subject was what drew my attention as being very recent events, ie the Covid19 crisis and the November 2020 US presidential elections.

Parts of the conspiracy aspects were confusing, possibly because I don’t follow or understand US politics. The concept was valid in view of recent events, but it came across that it had been hurriedly written. A good read, but sadly spoilt by descriptive sex scenes. Has this been written by two authors? On the one part the ups and downs of family life and the other from someone who knows and understands political conspiracies.

This book might be best read on a long haul flight, to pass the time or send you to sleep, but hopefully not before the ending.