ILIBA UNRAVELS

A detective investigates a murder and a scary surveillance system in this thriller.

As in previous novels by Crutchley, including Procession(2019), this work set in the near future features an average person who gets drawn into a bizarre situation. The Iliba surveillance system tracks the activities of British citizens through a wrist monitor, with only the elite, such as government leaders, the military, and the police, “Exempt.” Detective Inspector Hubert Plon, an expatriate Frenchman, is one of the Exempt. That starts to change when Plon is assigned to look into a brutal murder. The victim, Adam Weaver, was developing a secret program to use Iliba data to predict people’s future behaviors. Plon locates and copies Weaver’s research. What Plon doesn’t know is that, despite being an Exempt, he too is under surveillance, as his new girlfriend, Freddie Phillips, has been assigned by Defense Intelligence to watch him. He refuses to close the Weaver case as ordered and gets fired as a result, being forced to become one of the Non-Exempt. Plon keeps studying Weaver’s program, but, after an attempt on his life, he and Freddie, who reveals her true identity, go on the run. They discover who is behind the attempt to steal Weaver’s work and seek to spread the word. Crutchley succeeds with this thought-provoking cautionary tale despite not having a particularly likable protagonist. Plon (whom his hated superior Hawley dubs “Plod”) is an earnest, methodical loner who is too arrogant. But he is accomplished at his job, so he gets away with that approach until he crosses the wrong people. His stolid sincerity is enough to get Freddie to flip sides and become an outlaw with him. The author gives a glimpse of what surveillance can become if society isn’t judicious with its use, as Plon is regularly thwarted by those monitoring his “wristpiece.” His journey also enables readers to experience the diversity of the British public. What results is a thrill ride pitting one lone, well-meaning couple against the country’s power-grabbing elite.

Not knowing who’s listening puts a nation on edge in this engrossing, provocative nail-biter.