TOMORROW AND TOMORROW by Thomas Sweterlitsch

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher.

I feels as if I have been reading a lot of dystopian/futuristic novels lately. I may have reached a saturation point.  One thing I love about these types of books is the fact that I can see so many of them easily translating to the big screen. When I read TOMORROW AND TOMORROW, I couldn't help but envision Joseph Gordon Levitt as John Blaxton.

In the near future, everyone has Adware hardwired into their brains. This hardware also contains special lenses that go inside your eyeballs to not only project images in front of you everywhere you go such as commercial ads but also to record what you are viewing. The city of Pittsburgh has been destroyed by a terrorist attack but an Archive of the pre-apocalypse city has been preserved by creating a virtual city through the collected visual recordings of its inhabitants. John Blaxton lost his wife and unborn child when Pittsburgh was destroyed. He spends most of his free time in the Archive reliving his time with his wife. It has become an addiction for him. Blaxton works as a claims investigator who works within the Archive to verify insurance claims made on those who perished in the blast.  While in the Archive, Blaxton finds an unreported murder. He becomes fixated on finding the truth about this woman and it brings him into a greater mystery where his very life may be in danger.

This book is so hard to describe!!!  The world that Sweterlitsch has created is a bit complicated and it took a little while to catch on to what he was describing.  As someone who is a bit ad-phobic, the idea of the Adware was horrifying to me.  This neural network is embedded in your brain and makes ads pop up in front of your eyes everywhere you go.  The software component reads your mind and knows exactly how to customize ads to your preferences. For example, if you are a man who loves curvy blondes, the Adware would superimpose a live action image of a curvy blonde modeling lingerie if you looked over at a Victoria's Secret store. And, of course, this Adware is subject to hacking and tracking. The mystery is compelling and I loved the characters.  The book had the feel of "Blade Runner" in terms of style.  I could absolutely see this book being made into a movie.

BOTTOM LINE:  Recommended. A really creative and interesting mystery. I thought Sweterlitsch had a very compelling vision of the future. And it was scary!