Another Enjoyable Story
4 out of 5 stars
Where to start with this one. Veil was a slow burn of a story, the first third of the book building out who the characters where and what they did. It didn’t feel like a Peper book and I was curious if it was really going to involve technology at all like most of his other stories. But, it definitely picked up and I started to see the reason that Peper set it up that way.
It was harder to get into than the average story from him as well just due to the lack of really big “woah” moments early on. I think that Peper wanted to focus on storytelling more than just using technology as the wow factor (there’s still a wow factor, it’s just later in the book and the payoff for it is pretty sweet). He was able to introduce us to Zia and he group of friends. Explaining what each group member did and describing the cabal and how they knew each other.
As in all of Peper’s other books – this one ended up scaring me more than I expected it to. The main theme of this book was the climate and climate change. The technologies he talked about felt real and even the person who made them (and how they were made in secret) felt realistic. Just imagine someone like Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg making something new. You’d know that the new thing would work well but they could also do anything they’d like in secret and it would be hard to see it or hear about it.
Veil covers a lot of topics but the main ones where the fragility of relationships. Be it a father-daughter, a best friend, or something else. It can be over in the blink of an eye because they died, or lied, or much worse. Veil talks a lot about “doing the right thing” but talks about the cost. Just because you can’t see the cost or feel it doesn’t mean it’s not there.
Overall, a slightly atypical Peper book that I still really enjoyed. One that I’m sure I’ll go back and re-read to see the different approach that Peper took and try to respect it even more. While I think technically there could be a sequel to this, I don’t know if Peper has any plans to write one. I liked that it was a complete story and it didn’t take a bunch of books to get there. That said, I’d obviously be curious to see how everything pans out after the finale.
Book Description:
When her mother dies in a heat wave that kills 20 million, Zia León abandons a promising diplomatic career to lead humanitarian aid missions to regions ravaged by drought, wildfires, and sea level rise.
What Zia doesn’t know is that clandestine forces are gathering around her in pursuit of a colossal secret: someone has hijacked the climate, and the future of human civilization is at stake.
To avoid a world war that appears more inevitable every day, Zia must build a coalition of the powerless and attempt the impossible. But success depends on facing the grief that has come to define her life, and rediscovering friendship, family, and what it means to be true to yourself while everything falls apart.
Veil by Eliot Peper
Narrator: Jennifer O'Donnell
Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
Published by Self Published on May 20th 2020
Genres: Technothriller
Format: Audiobook
Also by this author: Version 1.0 (Uncommon Stock #1), Power Play (Uncommon Stock #2), Exit Strategy (Uncommon Stock #3), Cumulus
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