Sunday 15 July 2018

REVIEW - 84K BY CLAIRE NORTH

Title: 84k
Author: Claire North
Genre: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Literary Fiction 
Publisher: Orbit, Little Brown Book Group UK
Release Date: 24th May 2018

BLURB from Goodreads
What if your life were defined by a number?

What if any crime could be committed without punishment, so long as you could afford to pay the fee assigned to that crime?

Theo works in the Criminal Audit Office. He assesses each crime that crosses his desk and makes sure the correct debt to society is paid in full.

But when Theo's ex-lover Dani is killed, it's different. This is one death he can't let become merely an entry on a balance sheet.

Because when the richest in the world are getting away with murder, sometimes the numbers just don't add up.


PURCHASE LINKS

REVIEW
I really loved the sound of this book when I read the blurb. It's dystopian society/futuristic theme described in the blurb had me really intrigued. I mean what would life be like if those people with enough money to pay a fine could quite literally get away with murder?! 

The book description made me think of All Rights Reserved by Gregory Scott Katsoulis and the Cell 7 series by Kerry Drewery where there are elements of the book that could quite easily happen in our own world in the not too distant future.
I find the cover very eye catching, its stark black background and the simplistic yet intriguing title 84K. I also love the vibrant blue butterfly, maybe to signify hope or a sense of freedom perhaps.

The book description mentions that Theo works at the Criminal Audit Office and I get the impression that he may be a little blase and unconcerned about the crimes he has to put a monetary value on. That is until someone he is close to is actually the victim of the crime as then it all feels more personal and closer to home. 

I began reading the book and without revealing points in what I read that may spoil the book for others, its rather difficult to explain. I felt confused by the character Theo, though I did feel awful for him having to attend the works trip for "team building". The whole divide between the different levels of staff. The management staying in the luxury of a hotel and their day not starting til mid morning. The "normal" "lowly" have to stay in dormitories and have to take part in the 5am team building run. I could definitely empathise with Theo's reluctance to join in and his resentment that the higher level staff were staying in more superior environment and were only expected to join in with certain exercises.

Then the book seemed to become slow paced and a little muddled for me. I was becoming irritated reading the book, I was wanting it to move and get on with the plot. I did have a couple of days break from reading the book and then picked it up and tried again but just couldn't seem to be drawn into the plot enough to want to continue reading. 

I feel that I do want to give the book another try sometime in the future, so this review may be added to at a later date. 

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