Zero

Description

The gripping bestselling global thriller for fans of Dave Eggers' THE CIRCLE and Channel Four's BLACK MIRRORS. A GUARDIAN THRILLER OF THE MONTH ' Exposes the dark underbelly of social media giants' societal control via the manipulation of data. Elsberg is nothing if not prescient; this is all pre-Cambridge Analytica.' Barry Forshaw, Guardian ************************ The gripping bestselling global thriller for fans of Dave Eggers' THE CIRCLE and Channel Four's BLACK MIRROR. ************************ Welcome to the Freemee lifestyle app- They can give you confidence, power, fame and all the friends in the world. But what will they take in return? When a teenager is shot dead after chasing a criminal in the street, investigating journalist Cynthia Bonsant is led to the popular social media platform Freemee, a competitor to Facebook whose lifestyle app claims to give you everything you need to succeed in life. But there is someone who warns against its evils- Zero, the world's most-wanted activist, known for exposing the toxic truths behind social media giants and their pursuit of total control. As Cynthia gets closer to unravelling the evil mastermind behind the Freemee site, she herself becomes a target. But in this world of hidden cameras, data glasses and hyper-smart phones there is nowhere to hide . . .

Marc Elsberg is a former creative director in advertising. His debut thriller, the high-concept disaster thriller BLACKOUT, became a bestseller and one of the most successful thrillers of its kind in Germany. He has also given a TEDx talk on the subject of the horrors of an electrical grid failure. BLACKOUT and his follow-up, CODE ZERO were selected as Scientific Book of the Year in Germany. BLACKOUT was named Thriller of the Month by the Times. His latest bestselling thriller, GREED, contains cutting-edge research on the economy. He lives in Vienna, Austria.

A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE MONTH: [Exposes] the dark underbelly of social media giants' societal control via the manipulation of data. Elsberg is nothing if not prescient. -- Barry Forshaw * Guardian * A topical thriller set in the world of online activists pitted against corrupt IT companies who collect and analyse personal data. * Der Spiegel * A highly topical nightmarish scenario, which Elsberg says became a reality long ago. * Hit radio rt1 * A gripping thriller and a visionary story on the subject of 'Big Data' * rbb Kulturradio * With this thriller Elsberg qualifies as the spokesman for perhaps the most important debate in society today. * Bild *