Title: Deleted
Author: Ruth Mitchell
Genre: YA, Speculative
Release Date: 7th January 2020
BLURB supplied by Silver Dagger Book Tours
Lucy Campbell is the last person you'd expect to hack minds. The college freshman prefers vintage technology, old books and retro fashion. But when she makes a fool of herself in front of her crush, Marco Han, she wishes she could erase the whole episode from his brilliant mind. She's shocked to learn that her older sister, Mollie, can do just that.
Mollie tells Lucy she's found a way to delete people's memories via Spex, the thought-activated successor to smart phones and Google Glass. Yet, when Mollie breaks into Marco's mind, she decides not to erase any embarrassing moments because he already has a crush on Lucy. Encouraged by her sister's discovery, Lucy stops avoiding Marco. Soon, the two are dating, and Marco, a tech guru in his own right, elevates Mollie's mind hacking from a guilty pleasure to an efficient crime-solving tool.
As the three infiltrate more minds, they realize they're not the only ones who can steal memories. Marco suddenly forgets Lucy; and Mollie forgets that she could ever mind hack. Lucy's mind should be safe because she doesn't wear Spex. But then the mysterious hacker, Nick Lethe, comes after her in person.
Lucy flees to the woods, the only place safe from the surveillance of the ubiquitous Spex. If Nick finds her, he'll erase her memories or worse. If she doesn't find him --and stop him -- no one will know that minds can be hacked and lives rewritten.
Lucy Campbell is the last person you'd expect to hack minds. The college freshman prefers vintage technology, old books and retro fashion. But when she makes a fool of herself in front of her crush, Marco Han, she wishes she could erase the whole episode from his brilliant mind. She's shocked to learn that her older sister, Mollie, can do just that.
Mollie tells Lucy she's found a way to delete people's memories via Spex, the thought-activated successor to smart phones and Google Glass. Yet, when Mollie breaks into Marco's mind, she decides not to erase any embarrassing moments because he already has a crush on Lucy. Encouraged by her sister's discovery, Lucy stops avoiding Marco. Soon, the two are dating, and Marco, a tech guru in his own right, elevates Mollie's mind hacking from a guilty pleasure to an efficient crime-solving tool.
As the three infiltrate more minds, they realize they're not the only ones who can steal memories. Marco suddenly forgets Lucy; and Mollie forgets that she could ever mind hack. Lucy's mind should be safe because she doesn't wear Spex. But then the mysterious hacker, Nick Lethe, comes after her in person.
Lucy flees to the woods, the only place safe from the surveillance of the ubiquitous Spex. If Nick finds her, he'll erase her memories or worse. If she doesn't find him --and stop him -- no one will know that minds can be hacked and lives rewritten.
PURCHASE LINKS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RUTH MITCHELL lives in San Diego with her
husband and four marvelous children. Whether she’s writing science fiction,
contemporary Rom Com or a women’s fiction ghost story, she strives to create
clean, smart books with lots of heart.
Currently her only published book is
DELETED.
AUTHOR LINKS
Goodreads
GUEST POST
EXCERPT
GUEST POST
When
Science Fiction Becomes
Reality-Tech in DELETED
When
I first came up with the idea of Spex (the thought-activated smart glasses
crucial to the plot of my YA novel, DELETED) Google Glass hadn’t hit the
market. No one was wearing air pods (similar to the Mindseye worn in everyone’s
ear in my book.) And the hyper-specific targeted advertising assisted by
smartphones was purely a marketer’s dream.
Now the future depicted in my book
is basically here. The week DELETED was published, Amazon started promoting
their new Echo Frames operated by voice commands to keep you connected with
your Echo where ever you go. The Frames are not as cool as the Spex in my book,
which are thought-activated, not voice-activated, and come in a wide-variety of
stylish frames. But still, the similarities are eerie. Likewise, with the
popularity of airpods everyone now has a little voice in their ear just like
they do with the Mindseye in my book. Also, the tech-assisted marketing, such
as Spex using GPS tracking to notify you about a lunch deal at a nearby
sandwich shop (an idea I thought so clever when I wrote this book in 2011) is
old news.
When I first started looking for an
agent or a publisher for my book, I worried that the tech in real life would quickly
catch up with the tech in my book. I was basically right. But now as more and
more of the things I predicted have become realities; it’s obvious that they
only make the book more relevant. In DELETED the main character, Lucy has
almost nowhere to hide because the mysterious hacker chasing her has access to
the memories of everyone wearing Spex. Even with her closest friends or family,
she is under surveillance. True our thoughts aren’t under surveillance--yet. But
sometimes when an ad pops up on Instagram for a movie you were just thinking
about, it feels like they are.
DELETED is not anti-tech. In fact, some of the
tech in the book, I would really like to own, such as the “Good With Names App,”
which use facial identity to remind you of people’s names and how you know
them. This YA book doesn’t condemn tech, rather it explores issues of identity,
privacy and reality in a world where everyone is continuously on-line. So pretty
much, our world.
EXCERPT
CHAPTER
1
Every night
before he goes to bed, Nick erases himself from everyone’s memory.
It can be
lonely having no one remember him, but it’s the only way he can accomplish his
work. And…it’s not a bad life. There’s incredible freedom in being anonymous.
Besides, memories and all the petty relationships people construct around them
are a total sham.
In truth, each
day is like a note with the instructions: burn after reading. Life is the
burning. The best part. By the time we hit our pillows most of the day is
obliterated. We’ve forgotten what we ate for breakfast, the exact words of a
conversation, the face of a stranger. All that remains are ashes and a few
random scraps that won’t burn. A look. A taste. A feeling. People hoard these
scraps, piece them together, string them into a narrative and pretend it’s
life. But it’s not. Life, reality—whatever you want to call it—has already gone
up in smoke.
Nick knows
this. He knows that none of the memories he scans is completely true. But
they’re his only chance to find her. Last night he didn’t sleep. He spent the
entire night searching for Lucy, the one person who remembers him, the only
mind he hasn’t been able to hack.
He stands in
his living room, surrounded by footage of a freckled girl with messy hair.
Discrete lenses in the ceiling project dozens of images on white walls. He
watches without sound or context, still catching the key details. This skill is
how, even as a college drop-out, Nick was able to purchase this oceanfront
condo before his twenty-first birthday. This morning the view’s nothing more
than thick fog, like the layer of clouds seen through an airplane window.
The memories of
those closest to Lucy flicker on the north wall. On the opposite side flash the
illicit memories of his clients. A large glass desk near the window reflects
and distorts images from both sides. The rest of the room is empty except for
some workout equipment: a stationary bike, a weight-lifting bench, and a
treadmill, each a lonely island in a sea of gray wood flooring. Nick works out
while he scans footage. He’s nothing, if not efficient.
He runs on his
treadmill, watching another Lucy memory, this one taken from her hot friend,
Karen.
The two girls
sit on a quilt on a sunny scrap of lawn outside the computer science
building—waiting.
“I can’t
believe it’s February.” Lucy wears a yellow sundress. Her freckled shoulders a
little pink with sunburn. “This morning my mom sent me pictures of her car buried
in snow.”
“I know, right?
This perfect weather is freaky,” answers Karen. “I don’t think I’ll ever get
used to living without seasons. But it does help stalking.”
“It’s not
stalking,” Lucy says with a self-deprecating laugh. “It’s caring.”
Nick laughs. Amen sister!
“Did I tell you
what happened Tuesday?” Lucy is too excited to wait for an answer. “He sat at
that very bench and, drum roll…” She plays air drums and hits an air cymbal.
“Ding! He smiled at me!”
“How do you
know he wasn’t watching something funny on his Spex?”
“Give me some
credit. Even if I don’t use Spex, I can tell when someone is on theirs. He
smiled right at me.”
“Congratulations!
But I still say you are doing this the hard way. Why don’t you sign up for his
class? That way you could gawk at him twice a week like the rest of us and get
credit for it.”
Nick can’t see
Karen in this memory. But after spending a night scanning recollections of
Lucy, he has a good idea what her best friend looks like. She’s short,
well-built, always wears workout clothes, and her white blonde hair is styled
in a pixie cut with a blue streak.
“Can you see me
in computer science? I’d be the only one without Spex.”
“Sweetie,
you’re the only one on campus without Spex.”
“That’s my
point. I don’t belong in computer science. I belong in a ratty, old armchair
reading the thoughts of dead men.”
“While spying
on live ones?”
“Something like
that.”
“Lucky for you,
I’m an excellent stalker and a good friend. I took some photos for you in class
today. I’m sending them now with a couple shots from the beach yesterday.”
Karen thinks, Charlotte: Send Lucy photos from yesterday
taken at La Jolla Shores and the ones from class today.
“With
pleasure!” A female voice with a slight Boston accent whispers in her earpiece.
“Sending Lucy Campbell eleven photos.”
Lucy takes her
phone out of her backpack. She pauses on the picture of Marco lecturing. Karen
leans over to admire it, too.
“You might be
right.” Lucy downloads the photos. “Maybe I should take his class.”
“You have to.
He’s the best TA. I mean it’s not just that he’s a genius and all that. His
enthusiasm is contagious, and he remembers everyone by name.”
“Of course, he
does. He made his fortune with his Good
with Names app.”
“And he’s not
even too old for you. He started college when he was like fifteen.”
“I know. Trust
me. I’ve Googled him plenty. What sort of stalker do you think I am?”
“We’ve already
established that you’re not a very good one. No one can truly stalk without Spex.
You should try mine. They’re the latest model. They have telescopic lenses.”
“Cool! Maybe I
will. Wait! That’s him!”
Marco Han’s
black mop of hair emerges from the building.
Karen thinks, Charlotte: Zoom. Immediately in her
right lens “Zoom 2x” appears. Marco’s wearing a faded blue Hawaiian shirt,
khaki shorts and frayed flip-flops. Karen’s left lens top corner, reads, “Marco
Han, 19, single, UCSD Grad Student” along with a link to his social network
page. Both girls let out an audible sigh.
What do they see in this
dude? thinks Nick. Look at how he dresses! It’s all because he’s rich. I’m rich!
Marco hops on
his board and skates across the wide pathway to the edge of the lawn to where
they are sitting.
“Hey Karen, new
Spex?” He flips up his board.
“Yeah, I got
them last week.” Karen stands up to greet him. Lucy remains on the blanket, her
eyes fixed on the ground. The afternoon sun illuminates her reddish-brown mane
of hair.
Marco and Karen
ooh and aah over the new Spex, Lucy sneaks a look at Marco who is trying on the
new glasses and appears ridiculous in the retro frames with rhinestones in the
winged tips. She stifles a laugh. He looks her way.
“No Spex, huh?”
She tries to
play it cool. “Not my thing.”
“Seriously? I
don’t think I’ve ever met anyone over eight without a mindseye.”
“Tell me about
it!” Nick hollers at the screen. What is
wrong with this girl? If she wore Spex, I’d have found her by now.
“I’m Marco, by
the way.” He returns Karen’s Spex and sits down next to Lucy.
“Lucy.”
“Right, I see
you all the time.”
“I bet you do.”
Karen snickers. Nick laughs too.
“So, why no
Spex?” he asks.
She takes a
steadying breath before answering. “I like to see the world through my own
eyes. I don’t want to be distracted.
“That’s
ludicrous,” says Marco. “That’s like going around with your eyes closed so
you’re not distracted by the clouds and the trees and meeting new people.” He
talks with his hands, pointing to the clouds and trees as he mentions them.
“My eyes are
wide open and I just met you.” She smiles big. “You’re new.”
“Sure, but
you’re closed to another layer of reality.” He waves a hand in front of her
face. “Spex bring the whole world to you.” He pops the iridescent earpiece out
of his ear. “This baby can hold every recording in the last century as well as
every movie made in my lifetime. Why wouldn’t you want one?”
“I have funny
ideas…”
“She wants to
keep her mind pure.”
“I just don’t
think it’s that big of a leap from our thoughts controlling Spex to Spex
controlling our thoughts.”
Marco laughs
outright. “We lost that battle long ago. All media directs our thoughts. Be it
a book or a movie. It doesn’t matter if you see that movie in a theater or
watch it while you’re walking to class. Or in class, like some of my students…”
She interrupts,
“‘It’s the movies that have been really running things in America.’”
“Nice! Andy
Warhol!” He points at her. “I love that quote. And it proves my argument.”
“Nah, it proves
mine. It’s harder to separate your thoughts from others’ when you hear their
ideas in your own head.”
“You’re hearing
my arguments in your head right now. Your brain’s translating the sound waves
picked up by your ears. What’s the difference?”
“He’s right,”
says Karen.
“The difference
is that the businesses who own apps and search engines want to suck up as much
of my time as they can. To make money, they need my attention. If I take too
much time to think for myself, they don’t make money. I don’t want Spex to
crowd out my own thoughts.”
“Heaven forbid!
It’s obvious you have a gorgeous mind. I appreciate your desire to protect it.
But Spex, used judiciously, only amplify a great mind.”
“That is…” She
gives him a saucy look. “…if you don’t spend your whole day, gaming or binging
on TV.”
“Point for
Lucy,” says Karen. “It’s a tie: one for Marco and one for you.”
“What I want to
know is how you manage your classes without Spex,” he asks.
“I remember
things.”
“I bet you do.
But you’d have to remember a lot. What was once called cheating is now applied
knowledge.
“When I don’t
know something, I look it up—the old-fashioned way.”
“You don’t
have?”
She pulls her
iPhone out of her backpack. “Yep, vintage.”
“Can I see it?
Everything still works?”
“Pretty much.
Whenever something breaks, my sister fixes it.” She hands him the phone. “She’s
a computer genius. She used to hack for the government.”
“Hey! 2048!” He
fiddles with the phone with childish delight.
“I used to play
that on my dad’s phone on my way to preschool. Can I play it on yours? It’s not
the same on Spex.”
“So, you
concede? Spex are not superior in all ways?”
“Only if you
let me play 2048!” He’s engrossed by the phone. “Hey, nice photo. You’re cute
in a swimsuit.”
“Don’t go
through my photos!” Lucy grabs her phone.
He gives it
back to her with a smirk. “You know, if you wanted my picture you could have
Googled me.”
Lucy doesn’t
answer. She stands up, turns around and runs.
Marco
chases after her. Karen laughs, so does Nick. And then he deletes the memory.
GIVEAWAY
$20 Amazon Gift Card
No comments:
Post a Comment